ABSTRACT
The process of constitutional rewriting in Iceland was an innovative transitional mechanism to introduce political and democratic reforms in response to the banking collapse. Since politicians had failed to carry out the long-awaited revision of the constitution, many believed that was an opportunity to adopt a constitution, a covenant on the organization of the state and the position of its citizens, deriving from the nation itself. The election to the Constitutional Assembly was disputed on the grounds of various alleged flaws in its execution. The Constitutional Councils proposals entailed a number of changes to the existing constitution. People's decision was the final word, in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution itself, and the electorate set its seal of approval on the work done by its elected representatives. At the end of the day, parliamentary intervention was inevitable, with the political parties needing to take a stance on the substance of a new constitution before its final adoption.
