A/HRC/28/59/Add.1 grounds that the Convention was not part of domestic law.9 To date, only relatively few cases relating to economic and social rights have been decided by the European Court.10 12. The Office of the Althing Ombudsman is empowered to deal with complaints relating to the administration of the State and local authorities, but may also investigate a particular administration-related matter or practice on its own initiative (see Act No. 85/1997). In the context of the banking crisis, complaints to the Althing Ombudsman increased significantly from about 300 complaints per annum (before 2008) to around 500 per annum (2011–2013), which limited its ability to take up investigations on its own initiative.11 The increase in complaints may partly be attributed to a general disillusionment within Icelandic society with public institutions, in the aftermath of the banking collapse, so that more citizens may have been motivated to use existing mechanisms for redress. The complaints included cases relating to access to social security, welfare and unemployment benefits, housing, financial matters and banking, as well as delays in administrative action. Despite capacity constraints, the Ombudsman launched one ex-officio investigation relating to social housing in the city of Reykjavik. 13. In relation to the banking crisis, the Supreme Court took decisions on some important matters. In June 2010, it ruled that foreign currency-indexed loans that had been offered by Icelandic banks to many clients in order to purchase vehicles and houses were illegal and violated the laws designed to protect borrowers from exchange rate risks. On 28 October 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the Emergency Act of 6 October 2008 which authorized the Government to take over the management of collapsing financial institutions. 14. The Debtors’ Ombudsman was established in 2010 in response to the dramatic increase of household debt during the financial crisis. It plays an important role in protecting the economic and social rights of over-indebted individuals and households in Iceland. 15. Disputes between citizens and State institutions relating to economic and social rights frequently come before the Unemployment Insurance and Labour Market Measures Complaints Committee, the Social Security Ruling Committee, the Social Services and Housing Complaints Committee, the Complaints Committee on Debt Mitigation and the Complaints Committee on Gender Equality. Individuals can usually file complaints with those bodies free of charge within three months after a decision affecting them is taken. The respective complaints committees are usually made up of three members appointed by the Minister of Welfare, and their respective Chair must fulfil the eligibility requirements for appointment as a judge to a district court (see, for example, Unemployment Insurance Act No. 54/2006, art. 11). 16. The effect of the banking crisis is also reflected in the number of complaints decided by those bodies. For example, in 2009, the Unemployment Insurance and Labour Market Measures Complaints Committee decided only 17 cases, while in 2014, it rendered decisions in 101 cases, including overturning six decisions of the Directorate of Labour. In 2009, the complaints committee for social housing dealt with seven cases, while in 2014, it 9 10 11 See for example, the judgment by the Reykjavik District Court in case No. 968/1959, Olafson v. The Minister of Finance, 28 June 1960; and Supreme Court judgment 1975.601. See, for example, European Court of Human Rights, Kjartan Ásmundsson v. Iceland (Application No. 60669/00), judgement of 12 October 2004. Iceland, Skýrsla umboðsmanns Alþingis fyrir árið 2013 (Annual report of the Althing Ombudsman 2013) available from http://umbodsmaduralthingis.is/Assets/Skyrsla2014.pdf. 7