38 
hagen — all this led to Icelandic laws being more and more assimi- 
lated with those of Denmark. 
Since the re-establishment of Althingi, and more especially since it 
was granted legislative power in 1874, its legislative work has been 
very great and varied, covering more or less completely almost the 
whole field coming within the purview of legislation, and thus to a 
great extent remedying the legal uncertainty of the eighteenth century 
and the first half of the nineteenth. As regards Icelandic law at present, 
a few of the Jénsbék provisions still remain in force, but, for the rest, 
the whole system of laws is composed of separate acts, there being 
no special code covering the whole field. The judicial system still rests 
partly on Christian V's Norwegian code, but the majority of the laws 
in force have been made since Althingi was re-established, The acts 
are not all equally comprehensive; in some cases all laws relative to 
certain matters have been embodied in single acts of Althingi, as e. 
g. the law of 1850 dealing with inheritance; the penal code of 1869; 
Maritime Law of 1914; the regulations for marriage and the relation 
of parents and children, contained in 4 acts of 1921 and 1923; the 
Law of Waters of 1923, and the Local Government Act of 1927. 
Present Icelandic legislation is greatly influenced by Scandinavian 
law, particularly by that of Denmark. Iceland, though taking no active 
part in inter-Scandinavian co-operation in the field of legislation, has 
in many points legislated on approximately the same lines, and adopted 
many laws which have been framed by the Scandinavian nations con- 
jointly, as, e. g,, the Bills of Exchange Act in 1882, laws respecting 
cheques in 1901; the Sale of Goods Act in 1911 (revised in 1922); 
Maritime Law in 1914. The laws (of 1921 and 1923) regarding family 
rights are largely based on the work of the inter-Scandinavian com- 
mittees in this field.