Iceland Court Records

Court Records (Þingbækur, Dómsbækur)
Research use: Records locate persons to places of residence and give relationships; some records also give marriage information. These records are of greatest value before 1800 when many parish church books were not yet being kept or were incomplete.

Record type: Records of civil proceedings which include marriage settlements, disputes between executors, property and land settlements, real estate transactions, and so forth; also include criminal offences against the crown whereby property could be confiscated.

Time period: The earliest records date from 1597 to 1612; a few records date from the mid-1600s; The majority of preserved court records do not start until the early 1700s and continue to 1805.

Contents: Civil and criminal action containing names of persons involved, relationships, if any, to other persons mentioned, places of residence, dates; personal, legal, and moral circumstances.

Location: National Archives and local courts.

Percentage in Family History Library: 66% of the records through the cut-off date of 1805. For the earlier time period up to 1785 the library has 83% of the court records.

Population coverage: 20 to 30%.

Reliability: Very good.

Accessibility: Many records are accessible on microfilm through the Family History Library. Records are also accessible through a professional researcher or through on-site examination.

Diplomatarium Islandicum (Íslenzkt Fornbréfasafn)
Research use: These records identify names of individuals to places of residence; they also document events in the lives of early officials.

Record type: Judgements and case reports from early courts, appointments of various governmental officials and correspondence between them.

Time period: 834 to 1580.

Contents: Old documents and correspondence, court judgements, appointments, names of persons and places of residence.

Location: National Archives.

Percentage in Family History Library: 100%.

Population coverage: Less than 2%.

Reliability: Good.

Accessibility: These records are accessible on microfilm through the Family History Library. They are also accessible through private researchers in Iceland.