A/HRC/28/59/Add.1 F. Office of the Special Prosecutor 42. The capacity of the judicial system to scrutinize criminal financial and economic conduct was inadequate in comparison to the size of Iceland’s international banking operations. Parliament passed Act No. 135/2008 establishing the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate alleged criminal conduct, before and during the banking collapse, relating to the financial undertakings of the Icelandic financial institutions, including the activities of their owners. Since 2011, the Office has also been tasked with investigating economic crimes and tax evasion. The Office deals with complex cases, involving many suspects, witnesses and a huge amount of documentation relating to alleged fraud, embezzlement, market manipulation and insider trading. In 2012, it had up to 110 staff supporting its investigations; staffing and funds have been reduced since then. As of 1 December 2014, 184 cases relating to the banking collapse had been investigated by the Special Prosecutor, including 27 cases, involving 62 individuals, prosecuted by district or higher courts, six cases ruled on by the Supreme Court and 35 cases still under investigation. 43. The efforts of the Special Prosecutor to combat impunity for economic crimes and ensure justice in relation to alleged criminal conduct before and during the banking collapse is commendable and will hopefully promote law-abiding behaviour in the financial sector. However, individuals who have been under investigation, and the lawyers representing them, expressed concerns to the Independent Expert, including about telephone tapping of privileged telephone conversations between suspects and their lawyers.25 The Independent Expert was informed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor that telephone tapping of suspects’ conversations had been stopped after it had become apparent that such communication between lawyers and their clients was not excluded. Adequate resources for the work of the Office are needed to ensure a timely rule-of-law-based exercise of the Special Prosecutor’s mandate, including the conduct of investigations into past, current and future criminal economic activities. G. Participation of citizens and accountability 44. In the aftermath of the banking collapse, Icelandic citizens took to the streets and protested in front of the Parliament building. The Government resigned and parliamentary elections were held in early 2009, which brought a new coalition to power until April 2013. Many citizens had, however, lost trust in the established political and public institutions and new forms of citizens’ participation emerged. 45. For the first time in Icelandic history, referenda were held on the question as to whether and to what extent the Government should pay back deposits by foreigners in Icesave, a branch of the former Landsbanki. As most of the concerned savers in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands were covered by national banking guarantees, individuals residing in those countries were protected up to their national guarantees from losing all their deposits. 46. After the banking crash, there was a huge turnover in senior management at the Financial Supervisory Authority and the Central Bank of Iceland, to a large degree through resignations. However, there appear to have been hardly any sanctions in relation to any criminal or non-criminal aspects of negligent behaviour on the part of officials. 25 See also Johannes Sigurdsson and Dorir Juliusson, “Hriktir i studum rettarrikis?”, Timarit lögfraedinga, vol. 64, No. 2 (2014), pp. 105–168. 15