Electronic publishing of documents in criminal and judicial cases

This digital publishing initiative aims to align government communication with the public, reduce case-processing times across the justice system, and strengthen security through more precise access controls for sensitive data — without compromising legal certainty. It also reduces the need for individuals to be physically present at their homes or workplaces in order to receive official notifications from the police and the courts.

What does this mean for me?

• If I am indicted and receive a court summons?
You will receive a document in your mailbox on My Pages on Ísland.is, which states what you need to do. There, you can read the indictment and any claim for damages that may accompany the case. You can also confirm receipt of the summons and choose a defence counsel. Information about your case will then be accessible under the Law and order button on My Pages on Ísland.is.

• If I receive a judgment?
You will find the judgment under the Law and order button on My Pages on Ísland.is, along with instructions that accompany the court's decision. You can receive the judgment and decide your position on it. Currently, judgments that go through the digital case procedure are published on Ísland.is.

Implementation that yields results

The first digital indictments were published for traffic violations in 2024, and in 2025, the electronic publishing of judgments began in cases where the police handle it. There is good experience with this communication channel, and the results are visible – 80% of indictments and judgments in traffic violations are now served to individuals digitally, with the person concerned confirming receipt of the documents themselves. In this context, manpower is no longer needed for the sole purpose of delivering documents to people in a verifiable manner.

This practice offers unequivocal efficiency gains. For example, around 1,800 indictments and summonses are served nationwide each year.

Close collaboration

The Ministry of Justice has been a leader in digitising processes that span across the agencies of the justice system. This development is the result of collaboration between the prosecution, the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police (NCIP), the Judicial Administration, and Digital Iceland, a project office within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs that is responsible for the government's information technology (IT) policy. The project is being carried out with software development companies in Iceland that operate under a framework agreement with Digital Iceland. Through close collaboration, it has been possible to move processes that were previously cumbersome and time-consuming into a digital environment, where speed, traceability, and efficiency are paramount.

The core services of Digital Iceland, such as the common Ísland.is service portal, Digital Mailbox, My Pages, and the login and authorisation system, are now in widespread use by public entities, which use them to reduce duplication of effort and potential fragmentation in technological solutions. Behind electronic publishing like this lies extensive technical development and implementation involving many agencies and parties – connecting different information systems, ensuring security and access control, and traceability of communications. A key prerequisite for the success of large development projects is strong collaboration between stakeholders and software teams – both within government agencies and in the teams operating under Digital Iceland's framework agreement.

A clear legal basis

With the Act on a Government Digital Mailbox in 2021, a centralised and secure communication channel was established between the public sector and individuals, and between legal entities and the public sector.

This was further followed up with amendments to the Act on Criminal Procedure in 2024, which specifically authorised the publishing of indictments and summonses in the digital mailbox.

This text was translated from Icelandic using a machine translation. Be advised that content generated by machine translation can be inaccurate or flawed.