How cool can Méndez get: investigative interviewing practices – an Icelandic perspective

In the isolated and small community of Iceland, investigative interviewing practices have slowly evolved over a long period of time. Iceland has not seen many high-profile miscarriages-of-justice cases. However, this chapter provides coverage of the most infamous miscarriage-of-justice case in Iceland. Lessons learned from this case have influenced developments in investigative interviewing practices and moved away from confrontational and coercive practices that were found present in interviews with the six suspects. However, investigative interviewing practices have been found to have only slowly evolved. Major policy changes in training occurred in the early 2000s, followed by legislative changes in 2009. More recent research has shown improvements and that less oppressive methods are being used. However, as we discuss in the chapter, improvements still need to be made in many areas such as policy, training, and practice to fully implement ethical interviewing that is compliant with the Méndez Principles.