Compensation for Procurement Damage in Icelandic Law: Recent Developments

Abstract

In September 2012 an important Icelandic case on compensation for public procurement damage came to an end, after being on-going for almost a decade. More precisely the case concerned a claim for loss of profit due to termination of a tender procedure in 2003 that concerned the making of a road tunnel in northern Iceland (here after referred to as the Road Tunnel Case). The case led to three district courts’ rulings and three Supreme Court judgments, in addition to ruling of the Public Procurement Complaints Commission. 
It is worthwhile to reflect briefly on the case, since it is the leading Icelandic case on compensation for public procurement damage. Moreover the case concerns interesting questions about tenderers’ options to sue for loss of profit and the burden of proof in such cases. Finally, the case mirrors an increasing trend in how claims for compensation, in the field of pure economic damage (n. rene formuestap), are pursued in Iceland.