When the case reaches the prosecution, a decision is made whether to file charges in the case or drop it.
This page is a part of a guide to the Icelandic justice system for survivors of domestic violence.
After the investigation is completed, the case is sent to a prosecutor who assesses whether charges will be filed and the case will go to court.
A prosecutor is the one who brings a case against a party for a legal offense. The prosecution is in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions, district prosecutors, and the Chief of Police.
The nature of the case determines who holds the prosecution authority in your case.
When the prosecutor receives the case, they ensure that the investigation is complete. If they believe that the case needs to be investigated further, they can send it back for further investigation.
When the prosecutor considers the case fully investigated, they assess whether sufficient evidence exists and whether it is likely that the perpetrator will be convicted. If so, they issue an indictment.
If a conviction is unlikely, the case is dropped. When deciding whether to file charges, it is taken into account that it is not in your interest to continue with the case if it is unlikely that the perpetrator's guilt can be proven. The prosecutor will notify you if this happens, and you can request a justification for the decision.
This does not mean that the violence did not occur – not at all. The role of the legal system (police, prosecution, and courts) is to evaluate the available evidence and whether it can be proven in court. These institutions are simply not allowed to interpret the circumstances of a case based on anything else.
If the prosecution dismisses a complaint, discontinues an investigation, or drops a case, you can appeal the decision to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Director of Public Prosecutions will then review the case documents again within three months of receiving the appeal. They can either overturn the decision or uphold it.
It may surprise you what the perpetrator is ultimately charged with. This depends on legal provisions and what the prosecution believes can be proven in court.
The perpetrator is called a "suspect" (sakborningur) from the beginning of the investigation but is called the "accused" (ákærði) if the case goes to court.
Information is communicated to you in different ways depending on whether the case is with the police or the district prosecutor.
Notifications from the police prosecution division about whether the case has been forwarded, sent back for investigation, or the investigation has been dropped are sent to you and your legal rights protection officer on My Pages on Ísland.is.
The district prosecutor will contact your legal rights protection officer, not you personally. If charges are filed, a notification will be sent to your legal rights protection officer, who will then forward the information to you.
If your case is dropped, the reasons behind it will be discussed with you and your legal rights protection officer.
The recovery process after intimate partner violence takes a long time, and the journey through the legal system can take 1–2 years. Victim support centers can suggest various ways to help with the recovery process.
The handling of the case by the police, in the investigation division and the prosecution division, usually takes about 2–3 months. The handling of the case by the district prosecutor then typically takes about an additional half-year. It is therefore common that about 9 months have passed since the offense was committed until a decision is made whether or not to file charges.