Iceland

Enforcing Contracts in

Iceland

Listed below is a detailed summary of the efficiency of contract enforcement. It follows the evolution of a sale of goods dispute, tracking the time, cost and number of procedures involved from the moment the plaintiff files the lawsuit until actual payment.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Court Name (English): Reykjavík District Court
  • City: Reykjavik

About This Topic

To see indicator data for all economies, see the Enforcing Contracts page. To see how economies rank, see the Rankings page.

Indicator
Time (days) 417
Filing and service 45
Trial and judgment 292
Enforcement of judgment 80
Cost (% of claim) 8.2
Attorney cost (% of claim) 5.9
Court cost (% of claim) 2.1
Enforcement Cost (% of claim) 0.18
Procedures (number) 27
Filing and service
1      Plaintiff requests payment: Plaintiff or his lawyer asks Defendant orally or in writing to comply with the contract.
2      Plaintiff’s hiring of lawyer: Plaintiff hires a lawyer to represent him before the court.
*      Plaintiff’s filing of summons and complaint: Plaintiff files his summons and complaint with the court, orally or in writing.
*      Plaintiff’s payment of court fees: Plaintiff pays court duties, stamp duties, or any other type of court fee.
3      Registration of court case: The court administration registers the lawsuit or court case. This includes assigning a reference number to the lawsuit or court case.
*      Assignment of court case to a judge: The court case is assigned to a specific judge through a random procedure, automated system, ruling of an administrative judge, court officer, etc.
4      Delivery of summons and complaint to person authorized to perform service of process on Defendant: The judge or a court officer delivers the summons to a summoning office, officer, or authorized person (including Plaintiff), for service of process on Defendant.
5      First attempt at physical delivery: A first attempt to physically deliver summons and complaint to Defendant is successful in the majority of cases.
*      Proof of service: Plaintiff submits proof of service to court.
Trial and judgment
6      Defendant’s filing of defense or answer to Plaintiff’s claim: Defendant files a written pleading which includes his defense or answer on the merits of the case. Defendant's written answer may or may not include witness statements, expert statements, the documents Defendant relies on as evidence and the legal authori
7      Deadline for Plaintiff to answer Defendant's defense or answer: Judge sets the deadline by which Plaintiff will be allowed to answer Defendant's defense or answer.
*      Court appointment of independent expert: Judge appoints, either at the parties' request or at his own initiative, an independent expert to decide whether the quality of the goods Plaintiff delivered to Defendant is adequate. (see assumption 6-b of this case)
8      Notification of court-appointment of independent expert: The court notifies both parties that the court is appointing an independent expert. (see assumption 6-b of this case)
*      Delivery of expert report by court-appointed expert: The independent expert appointed by the court delivers his or her expert report to the court. (see assumption 6-b of this case)
*      Setting of date(s) for oral hearing or trial: The judge sets the date(s) for the oral hearing or trial.
*      List of (expert) witnesses: The parties file a list of (expert) witnesses with the court. (see assumption 6-a)
9      Summoning of (expert) witnesses: The court summons (expert) witnesses to appear in court for the oral hearing or trial. (see assumption 6-a)
10      Adjournments: Court proceedings are delayed because one or both parties request and obtain an adjournment to prepare for the oral hearing or trial.
11      Oral hearing (prevalent in civil law): The parties argue the merits of the case at an oral hearing before the judge. Witnesses and a court-appointed independent expert may be heard and questioned at the oral hearing.
*      Final arguments: The parties present their final factual and legal arguments to the court either by oral presentation or by a written submission.
12      Notification of judgment in court: The parties are notified of the judgment at a court hearing.
13      Writing of judgment: The judge produces a written copy of the judgment.
14      Registration of judgment: The court office registers the judgment after receiving a written copy of the judgment.
15      Appeal period: By law, Defendant has the opportunity to appeal the judgment during a period specified in the law. Defendant decides not to appeal. Judgment becomes final the day the appeal period ends.
16      Reimbursement by Defendant of Plaintiff's court fees: The judgment obliges Defendant to reimburse Plaintiff for the court fees Plaintiff has advanced, because Defendant has lost the case.
Enforcement of judgment
*      Plaintiff’s hiring of lawyer: Plaintiff hires a lawyer to enforce the judgment or continues to be represented by a lawyer during the enforcement of judgment phase.
17      Plaintiff's approaching of court enforcement officer or (private) bailiff to enforce the judgment: To enforce the judgment, Plaintiff approaches a court enforcement officer such as a court bailiff or sheriff, or a private bailiff.
*      Plaintiff’s request for enforcement order: Plaintiff applies to the court to obtain the enforcement order ('seal' on judgment).
18      Plaintiff’s advancement of enforcement fees: Plaintiff pays the fees related to the enforcement of the judgment.
19      Request to Defendant to comply voluntarily with judgment: Plaintiff, a court enforcement officer or a (private) bailiff requests Defendant to voluntarily comply with the judgment, giving Defendant a last chance to comply voluntarily with the judgment.
20      Plaintiff’s identification of Defendant's assets for attachment: Plaintiff identifies Defendant's assets for attachment.
21      Attachment: Defendant’s movable goods are attached (physically or by registering, marking or separating assets).
22      Call for public auction: The judge calls a public auction by, for example, advertising or publication in the newspapers.
23      Sale through public auction: The Defendant’s movable property is sold at public auction.
24      Judge's decision on bids: The judge determines the adequacy of the bids presented at public auction.
25      Distribution of proceeds: The proceeds of the public auction are distributed to various creditors (including Plaintiff), according to the rules of priority.
26      Reimbursement of Plaintiff’s enforcement fees: Defendant reimburses Plaintiff's enforcement fees which Plaintiff had advanced previously.
27      Payment: Court orders that the proceeds of the public auction or the direct sale be delivered to Plaintiff.
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