The leaking of news about the extensive, and controversial, investments by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and three other justices, which local media, including Iceland Insider, covered last night, are an attempt to undermine the credibility of the court, the chairman of the Icelandic Judges Association told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RÚV. Skúli Magnússon speculated that the news had been leaked in an attempt to influence the court and increase the likelihood of past rulings over jailed bankers will be invalidated.
Skúli argued it was not obvious whether the judges in question, especially the Supreme Court Chief Justice, Markús Sigurbjörnsson, had neglected their duty to report all investments to the Commission on Judicial Qualifications as required by law. However, Markús will have to clear up any questions himself, and ensure there were no questions about his qualifications to rule on difficult and controversial cases, Skúli pointed out. According to law judges are not allowed to have any significant business investments which could raise questions about his impartiality or jeopardize his judicial qualifications. Judges must receive a special waiver for investments from the commission.
In a statement to local media (pdf) Markús emphasized he had reported all of his stock trades as required by law, and that the commission gave him a waiver as the law requires. He further points out that he was not required by law to report his holdings in money market funds, since the law only applies to shares, not certificates in funds which invested in bonds.
The leaking of news about the extensive, and controversial, investments by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and three other justices, which local media, including Iceland Insider, covered last night, are an attempt to undermine the credibility of the court, the chairman of the Icelandic Judges Association told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RÚV. Skúli Magnússon speculated that the news had been leaked in an attempt to influence the court and increase the likelihood of past rulings over jailed bankers will be invalidated.
Skúli argued it was not obvious whether the judges in question, especially the Supreme Court Chief Justice, Markús Sigurbjörnsson, had neglected their duty to report all investments to the Commission on Judicial Qualifications as required by law. However, Markús will have to clear up any questions himself, and ensure there were no questions about his qualifications to rule on difficult and controversial cases, Skúli pointed out. According to law judges are not allowed to have any significant business investments which could raise questions about his impartiality or jeopardize his judicial qualifications. Judges must receive a special waiver for investments from the commission.
In a statement to local media (pdf) Markús emphasized he had reported all of his stock trades as required by law, and that the commission gave him a waiver as the law requires. He further points out that he was not required by law to report his holdings in money market funds, since the law only applies to shares, not certificates in funds which invested in bonds.
