Iceland: police & security agencies
01 January 1991
Iceland: police & security agencies
bacdoc July=1995
The information in this country file was first published in the
handbook "Statewatching the new Europe" (November 1993). It was
compiled by Peter Klerks and extracted from a longer report which
is available from: The Domestic Security Research Foundation, PO
Box 11178, 1001 GD, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Iceland
103,000 km², 259,742 inhabitants
Long-form name: Republic of Iceland
Type: republic
Capital: Reykjavik
Administrative divisions: 23 counties (syslar, singular--sysla)
and 14 independent towns (kaupstadhir, singular--kaupstadhur).
Constitution: 16 June 1944
Legal system: civil law system based on Danish law; does not
accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Althingi with an Upper House (Efri
Deild) and a Lower House (Nedri Deild)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Haestirettur). The legal system
is based on Danish law and is modified to reflect local custom.
POLICE STRUCTURES
Government responsibility for the police lies with the Ministry
of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs, except for policing at
Keflavir Airport, for which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is
responsible (most information derived from Reykjavik NCB 1989).
The Chiefs of Police are responsible for the execution of police
tasks in their districts, independently and on their own
responsibility and answer directly to the Minister of Justice.
There is only on type of police officer, the State Police
Officer, six hundred of whom are located at 35 different police
stations in 26 police districts. In Reykjavik, police duties are
divided between the Chief of the State Criminal Police, who is
the head of the CID, and the Chief of Police, who is in charge
of all other police functions. According to Kurian (1989), the
Chief of the State Criminal Police is also the Chief Judge of the
Criminal Court. In the bigger police districts, with twenty to
thirty officers, two or three are specifically assigned to the
Criminal Investigation Branch. The Reykjavik CID assists other
districts in technical matters and in serious and difficult
cases.
The Icelandic Police is normally only armed with a baton. In
cases of violence and riots longhandled sticks are issued. Only
in dangerous assignments is the use of firearms or teargas
permitted. Iceland has no army and the police are organized on
non-military lines.
Source: Statewatch database on the WWW