Organization

The Socialist Party of Iceland aims to be a powerful mass movement of the public and to actively participate in its struggle for freedom, equality, equal rights, and human dignity in all areas of society. The purpose of the following Organization is to promote democracy, transparency, and decentralization of power within the party's operations. No political movement is immune to problems such as factionalism, secrecy, and the concentration of power, and this Organization is also intended to curb these issues.

Equality shall always be a guiding principle in the party's work, whether in the work of boards or in the implementation of random selection, and randomly selected groups shall have equal gender representation. This Organization has the status of party bylaws.

The Socialist Congress

The Socialist Congress determines the political policy of the Socialist Party of Iceland based on proposals from Policy Groups, and other party bodies derive their mandate from it regarding policy formulation and implementation. A majority of votes cast at the Socialist Congress decides matters, but attending members have voting rights.

The Socialist Congress shall be held at least annually and also serves as the venue for the annual General Meeting, as described in the Bylaws. The Socialist Congress may decide to postpone the continuation of General Meeting activities until a specified date within the operational year as often as deemed necessary.

The Socialist Congress is authorized to organize an open agenda, invite speakers from outside the party to address the meeting, and utilize other opportunities to make the Socialist Congress a public event that draws attention to the activities of the Socialist Party.

Normally, the Executive Board shall be responsible for the organization of the Socialist Congress (convening, promotion, venue provision, agenda setting, etc.), but the Policy Board, the Shadow Cabinet, the Membership Board, the Struggle Board, and the Trust Council are also authorized to convene the Socialist Congress on their own initiative if there is cause, and in such cases, the Executive Board shall assist them.

As specified in the bylaws, the Socialist Congress may convene an Extraordinary General Meeting, and the rules of the General Meeting shall then apply to it.

The Executive Board

The Executive Board manages the party's bylaws, organization, and structure and handles all party matters not explicitly assigned to other boards or groups within the party by the bylaws, organization, or resolutions of the Socialist Congress. The Executive Board oversees the random selection for the Election Committee and the Trust Council and supports the work of these groups. The Executive Board monitors the development of work within the party, intervenes if boards become inoperable, and ensures that their work complies with the party's bylaws, organization, and resolutions of the Socialist Congress.

The Executive Board manages the work of collaborative groups such as the Socialist Congress Oversight Committee, where the chairs and secretaries of all boards hold seats; the Legal and Data Committee, where the secretaries of all boards sit; and the Finance Council, which all treasurers comprise, in addition to individuals responsible for fundraising.

Policy Groups and the Policy Board

To support the party's policy formulation, the Policy Board operates, and it is responsible for carrying out policy development work between Socialist Congresses and under its mandate. The Policy Board appoints randomly selected groups of members ("Policy Groups") who draft policies on specific issues. The Policy Board shall actively support the work of Policy Groups and strive to ensure good working practices and high-quality outcomes from their efforts.

The election of the Policy Board takes place at the Socialist Congress. It shall consist of 9 principal members and 4 alternates. The board distributes tasks among its members and shall appoint a chair, vice-chair, and secretary. The chair convenes meetings. The Executive Board shall assist the Policy Board as needed but shall not interfere with its work beyond what has been approved by the Socialist Congress.

The Election Board

The Election Board manages the Socialist Party's candidacies for parliament and municipal councils and is responsible for selecting candidate lists using methods approved at a general meeting or a membership meeting, formulates election policy based on the party's policies, and conducts election campaigns for parliament and municipal councils.

Candidate lists shall be approved by the Socialist Congress or a membership meeting, and election policy by a joint meeting of all party boards. The Election Board may form sub-groups and sub-committees to handle election oversight, election management in individual constituencies and municipalities, and other groups as needed.

The Election Board shall manage political discourse on the party's website, train party spokespersons, organize political meetings, and facilitate discussion on the Socialist Party's policies and priorities across a broad platform.

The Election Board is elected at the Socialist Congress and shall consist of 9 principal members and 4 alternates. The chair of the Election Board is elected separately at a membership meeting and also serves as the party's political leader in the realm of parliament and municipal councils. Otherwise, the Election Board distributes tasks among its members, electing a vice-chair, secretary, and treasurer.

Within the Election Board, a nine-member Candidate List Nomination Committee operates, whose role is to propose candidate lists for parliamentary elections in all constituencies to a membership meeting for approval.

The Nomination Committee nominates two responsible individuals who lead the committee.

The Nomination Committee is authorized to specifically propose leaders for candidate lists and/or the campaign's vanguard team based on proposals from the chair of the Election Board, who also serves as the political leader of the campaign.

Those who run for the Nomination Committee undertake not to run for the top five positions on candidate lists. The Nomination Committee is authorized to form sub-groups in individual constituencies and municipalities if deemed necessary.

The 2024 membership meeting defined the mandate of the Nomination Committee upon its election: "The Nomination Committee for the 2024 parliamentary elections is elected to arrange candidate lists in all constituencies and submit them to a membership meeting. The committee receives proposals from the political leader regarding the top three candidates in each constituency. The committee receives nominations for other positions from all party members and ranks candidates for all positions from the 4th position downwards. The committee submits proposals for a leadership team in one or more constituencies to a membership meeting, and complete lists as they become ready."

Regional Associations and the Membership Board

Regional Associations shall operate within the Socialist Party. A Regional Association shall never be smaller than one municipality and may cover several municipalities within a constituency. Regional Associations elect their own regional boards with a chair, secretary, and treasurer. Regional Associations manage municipal elections in their respective areas. Regional Associations within a constituency shall form a constituency council whose role is to manage parliamentary elections. Members have voting rights and are affiliated with the Regional Associations where they have legal domicile or residence, but enjoy freedom of speech and the right to propose motions at meetings of all Regional Associations. Funding for Regional Associations shall take into account the number of members, projects, and the party's financial situation at any given time.

Election management includes list arrangement and everything related to the election campaign for the respective elections.

The Socialist Party of Iceland strives to maintain the strongest possible ties with its members and support them in regular activities and responsible roles within the party. To fulfill this role, the Socialist Congress appoints the Membership Board.

The Membership Board supports Regional Associations to which members in a given residential area automatically belong. The Regional Associations strengthen the party's ties with members and their local communities and shall strive to hold regular meetings and particularly welcome new members there. The Regional Associations shall also seek ways to recruit new members.

The Executive Board shall provide the Membership Board with access to the membership register and regularly inform it about the registration of new members.

The Membership Board is elected at the Socialist Congress and shall consist of 9 principal members and 4 alternates. It distributes tasks among its members but shall include a chair, vice-chair, and secretary. The Socialist Congress may decide to allocate funds to the Membership Board to cover costs such as meeting room rental and refreshments. In such a case, the Membership Board shall appoint a treasurer, who shall submit financial reports to the treasurer of the Executive Board.

Struggle Groups and the Struggle Board

Members of the Socialist Party are authorized to establish independent struggle groups such as Young Socialists, the Master League, the Workers' Council, the Immigrant Council, and the Disability Council. These groups are independent and operate according to their own policy statements, able to issue resolutions in their own name but not in the name of the party itself.

Anyone is authorized to establish struggle groups, but permission for their establishment must be sought from the Executive Board. Each group must appoint a board of at least five members, and members of the Socialist Party shall sit on the board. It shall consist of a chair, vice-chair, secretary, treasurer, and one or more board members, and these roles shall connect with the party's Struggle Board (chair, vice-chair), the party's Finance Council (treasurer), and the party's Legal Committee (secretary).

The party's Struggle Board is the liaison between the struggle groups and the Socialist Congress and other party boards and supports the struggle groups in their work and development. The Struggle Board comprises the chairs and vice-chairs of all authorized struggle groups, and the board members elect their own chair, vice-chair, and secretary. The Struggle Board is independent and does not report to other party boards but is accountable to the grassroots at the Socialist Congress.

The Trust CouncilThe Trust Council is the movement's confidential and oversight body. Its role is to resolve disputes that may arise between members. The Trust Council shall promote sound working practices, good communication, respect for individuals, and equality among individuals in the party's work.

Cases that the Trust Council might need to address could concern, for example, alleged misconduct by board members in office or alleged inappropriate behavior by a member towards other members or in a public forum. To the best of its ability, the Trust Council shall endeavor to facilitate reconciliation in disputes. Submissions to the Trust Council shall be sent to the email address:trunadarrad@sosialistaflokkurinn.is, to which only elected trustees shall have access at any given time. However, submissions received by the Trust Council through informal channels shall also be addressed, and full confidentiality shall be maintained in sensitive matters.

The Trust Council has the right of initiative to promote a healthy working culture within the movement, including through education, discussions, and mediation. Otherwise, the Trust Council shall use the party's Bylaws, Organization, and other written resolutions as a reference for its decisions, but shall also be guided by fairness, proportionality, and common sense. Its decisions shall be supported by objective considerations.

The board of the Trust Council consists of three principal members and two alternates who are elected at a general meeting.

A provisional Trust Council is currently active, comprising: Júlíus K Valdimarsson, Katrín Baldursdóttir, and Silja Sóley Birgisdóttir.

The Trust Council may, depending on the circumstances, employ the following measures:

Towards members of boards, policy groups, and general members: Issue a written warning.

As a rule, members shall not be expelled from the party or removed from office without at least one warning, unless in particularly serious cases.

To expel an individual from the party, the Trust Council shall generally activate a randomly selected group of 30 people to review the matter and assess its validity. The individual concerned always has the right to respond to explain their side to the Trust Council or the randomly selected group, should the group be convened. If all parties to the case agree that the matter should be resolved confidentially, the case shall be settled by the Trust Council without the involvement of a randomly selected group. The member has the right to appeal the decision of their expulsion to a general meeting.

Eligibility for Board Membership

A member may at any given time only serve on one elected board (the Executive Board, the Membership Board, the Struggle Board, the Policy Board, or the Election Board). A member's service on an elected board does not preclude them from serving on a randomly selected committee (for example, the Election Committee or Policy Groups) or on individual project committees that report to boards. Nor does service on one randomly selected committee preclude service on another randomly selected committee. An elected board member on one board may attend meetings of other boards as an observer.

No member shall serve as a principal member or alternate for more than twelve years on any single board and shall not hold the position of chair on any committee for more than eight years. A member who is ineligible for one board for these reasons remains eligible for other committees.