Legal aid in Iceland

The aim of the chapter is to give a brief overview of the development of legal aid in civil cases in Iceland. The current law, which came into force in 1992, allows for legal aid to be granted not only on the basis of low economic status, but also if the outcome of the case is deemed to have great public or individual significance. The latter criterion, however, remains contested, seemingly as a matter of right-wing vs. left-wing politics. The discussion on legal aid has, however, mostly been framed in narrow legalistic terms in response to suggestions to cut state costs. It is therefore difficult to discern whether and to what extent legal aid in Iceland is conceptualised as a charity, right, or individual responsibility.