Investigation

How is the investigation process?

In a police investigation, data is collected so that the case can be brought before the district court. During the investigation, the police follow up on the case, either by phone call or visit. The more open you are with the police, the easier it is to investigate the case.

Location of the offense

The police in the area (also called district) where the offense occurred investigate the case.

• When the police are called to the scene and assess that domestic violence has occurred, an investigation begins immediately.
• If the offense occurred abroad, it is usually the police in the district where you have your legal domicile who investigate the case.

Classifaction og the offense

First, the offense is classified under the relevant legal provisions. Categories of offenses are defined by law, and your legal rights protection officer can inform you about the relevant provisions. Examples of offense categories include: sexual offenses, bodily injury, property damage, threats, and violations of child protection laws.

The classification is based on your description of the offense in your statement and the data collected. The police try to match the offense with the correct legal provision. It might be surprising how the offense is classified. How people talk about offenses in everyday language and how the law defines offenses are often different.

Collection of data

The role of the police is to uncover the truth and record evidence. For example:

• Photographs taken of the scene and injuries of the survivor and the perpetrator.
• Use of recordings from police body cameras at the scene.
• Statement taken from the perpetrator.
• Statements taken from witnesses and close associates.
• Your testimony compared with the testimony of the perpetrator and witnesses.

Data is collected, for example:

• Phone data or phones are copied, with your permission.
• Communications on social media, with your permission.
• Certificates from doctors, psychologists, and similar professionals, with your permission.

Returning for another statement

The police may call you in for another statement to shed light on something that has come up in the investigation or ask you for further information. In that case, the police will contact your legal rights protection officer.

After the investigation

Fully investigated case

The police investigate all offenses in the same way, regardless of whether it is likely that the perpetrator will be convicted or not. When an investigation is complete, the case is sent to the prosecution. However, it is not certain that charges will be filed in the case; there can be several reasons for this, which are discussed in the next step.

Investigation discontinued by the police

The police can discontinue an investigation if there is not considered to be a basis for continuing it. The decision to discontinue an investigation is made by a legally trained representative in the police prosecution division. This is done when there is not considered to be enough evidence to proceed further with the case and that further investigation will not further clarify the matter.

This does not mean that your experience is not true or that the violence did not occur. You can appeal this decision to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Your legal rights protection officer will assist you with that process.

Request to reopen an investigation

It is difficult to pick up where things left off when a case has been fully investigated. New evidence needs to emerge that was not available when the investigation was discontinued. You can request that the investigation be reopened, but the police will assess based on the evidence whether this is possible.

Investigation discontinued at the survivor's request

You can request that the investigation be discontinued. You will then need to go to the police with your legal rights protection officer and explain the reason. However, the police can decide to continue the investigation if they believe there is reason to do so. If an investigation is stopped, it can be resumed later if new evidence emerges.

Access to information

While the case is under investigation, you have the right to receive information about its status and access to documents, as long as it does not harm the investigation. Your legal rights protection officer requests this information on your behalf. The perpetrator also has the same right, and their defense attorney does so on their behalf.

When the investigation is complete, you can also gain access to the case documents, unless special considerations for the protection of others involved in the case argue against it. The same applies to the perpetrator.

It is not possible to view documents containing sensitive personal information of others unless the person demonstrates a legitimate interest to protect. If you are denied access, you can appeal the decision to the Director of Public Prosecutions within 14 days.

Access of others

The police, prosecution, courts, and prison authorities have access to the case documents for use in their work.

Information disclosure

Notifications about the status of the case, such as whether the case has been forwarded, sent back for investigation, or the investigation has been dropped, will be sent to you and your legal rights protection officer through island.is.

Duration

The investigation and the decision on charges can take 2–4 months. Often, the cases are complex, requiring interviews with many witnesses and the collection of data. The length of an investigation can vary greatly, but this does not indicate its quality but rather the complexity of the case.

Waiting for the investigation to conclude can be a difficult time for many survivors. It is recommended to try to recover from the trauma regardless of the progress of the case investigation.

Good to keep in mind

• On your journey through the legal system, you will receive assistance from a legal rights protection officer.
• People with disabilities have the right to receive assistance from the Rights Protection Agency for People with Disabilities.
• The police will interview you, which is called giving a statement. If the police come to the scene, this is done immediately on-site. Sometimes you need to give a statement more than once. Then you recount the offense and related events.
• An investigation can be discontinued, or your case can be dropped. This does not mean that your experience is being downplayed or that you are not believed. It simply means that there is not enough information to proceed with the case.
• You can expect it to take about one year from the time an offense is reported until the case is heard in district court, possibly longer. After the proceedings are completed in district court, the perpetrator may appeal to the Court of Appeal (Landsréttur), which will further lengthen the processing of the case.
• You will need to testify in district court and recount your experience again in front of others, possibly even the perpetrator.

Impartial system

The role of the legal system (police, prosecution, and courts) is to investigate cases, including by collecting data, evaluating it, and making judgments based on it impartially. The process can therefore seem impersonal – and this is how survivors sometimes describe their experience of legal proceedings.