Iceland: Office of the Prime Minister

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EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale YPFS Resource Library 1-6-2009 Statement from the Icelandic Government Concerning Legal Proceedings Against UK Authorities Iceland: Office of the Prime Minister https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ypfs-documents2/2005  This resource is brought to you for free and open access by the Yale Program on Financial Stability and EliScholar, a digital platform for scholarly publishing provided by Yale University Library. For more information, please contact ypfs@yale.edu. January 06, 2009 The Government of Iceland has decided to examine any and all possibilities of Iceland seekingredress before the European Court of Human Rights for the application by UK authorities of theAnti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 against Landsbanki last year.Furthermore, the Government repeats its previous declaration of strong support for legalproceedings by Kaupthing Bank’s Resolution Committee against actions taken by the UK FinancialServices Authority (FSA) on 8 October 2008, on which date the FSA took control of the operationsof Singer & Friedlander, resulting in the insolvency of the parent company. The ResolutionCommittee has decided to bring suit, on the Bank’s behalf, against the UK authorities and enjoysthe full support of the Icelandic government in its suit. This support is provided in accordancewith an Act of the Icelandic parliament Althingi, adopted on 20 December [2008], authorising theMinister of Commerce to provide  nancial support for such litigation.The Government of Iceland will also support possible legal action taken by the ResolutionCommittee of Landsbanki against UK authorities; such action, however, is not entirely subject tothe same time constraints as is the suit to be brought by the Resolution Committee of KaupthingBank.It should be pointed out that the Government of Iceland has obtained an opinion from the UKlegal of ce of Lovells concerning possible legal action by the Icelandic state against UKauthorities to test the legitimacy of the Landsbanki Freezing Order issued by the authorities on 8October 2008 on the basis of this same Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act. The UK legalcounsel were requested to assess whether the Freezing Order could be invalidated by a UK courton the grounds that it was illegal and whether the Icelandic state could sue for damages resultingfrom the Freezing Order in a UK court. Legal counsel were of the opinion that there was scantpossibility that the Icelandic government could have the Freezing Order invalidated by a UK court.They provided detailed grounds for this conclusion, based on legal principles and precedent inPrime Minister's Of ce/Statement from the Icelandic GovernmentConcerning Legal Proceedings Against UKAuthoritiesLogo Government of Icelandthe UK, and were of the opinion that the legislation granted the UK authorities very broadauthorisation to apply the provisions on freezing of assets. They were also of the opinion thatthere was no probability of the Icelandic state being awarded compensation by a UK court as aresult of the Freezing Order. The Icelandic Attorney General and the Foreign Ministry’s expert ininternational law agreed with this opinion.As a result, the Icelandic government has decided not to bring suit against the UK authorities in aUK court at this stage. As previously mentioned, however, it intends to examine exhaustivelyother options for international legal action, including in particular the European Court of HumanRights.In addition, the Government of Iceland reiterates its steadfast conviction that the above-mentioned actions by the UK authorities were wrongful and unjusti ed, and has made a formalrequest to the UK authorities that the Freezing Order be cancelled.Reykjavik 6 January 2009

Statement from the Icelandic Government Concerning Legal Proceedings Against UK Authorities

https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/context/ypfs-documents2/article/3000/viewcontent/Prime_Ministers_Office_2009_Statement_from_the_Icelandic_Government_Concerning.pdf

Statement from the Icelandic Government Concerning Legal Proceedings Against UK Authorities

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