Rule of law

Participants in this session considered that the overall situation regarding the rule of law in Denmark was good, recalling notably that the country ranked first in the global Rule of Law Index. Participants agreed that corruption and conflicts of interests were a very limited phenomenon, which did not mean that attention should not be paid to this. The independence and quality of the judiciary was considered as good and not an area of particular concern. A challenge that was mentioned was the need to ensure more accessibility of legal aid and justice in general to members of marginalised groups.

However, a participant also shared concerns with regards to what was qualified as a slow but steady regression of the rule of law over the last years. While the parliamentary system was seen as solid, the participant pointed out to an increasing political offer of anti-human rights ideas, mostly on the extreme sides, but with an influence on mainstream politics. A significant recent increase in hate speech and attacks against Muslims and Jews were mentioned as examples.

Participants covered the security-related aspects of the rule of law. The already discussed Bill on "Security for all Danes" was also evoked in this session and was associated with risks of discriminatory implementation because of its vague conceptualisation of what was meant by "creating insecurity in public spaces". Participants also mentioned a trend towards the extension of surveillance in the public sphere and the handling of data retention contrary to European standards. A participant also mentioned a lack of oversight of the intelligence services, which could have been involved in the transfer of data of Danish citizens to foreign services.

Participants explained that while the original legislation adopted to address the COVID-19 epidemic organised an excessive transfer of power to the Ministry of Health, the views of CSOs and the national human rights institution were well taken account of at a later stage, which led to a second much more balanced version of the law. They however pointed to concerning instances of illegal instructions ordered by the authorities. One was related to the COVID-19 situation, and led to the massive culling of minks in the country without a legal basis. The other example referred to whether the former Minister for Immigration and Integration issued an illegal order to separate married and cohabiting couples at asylum centres, where one of the parties was a minor – which has not yet been finally clarified. Consequences for these actions were under discussion at the moment of the visit. Participants considered that such examples showed that Denmark was not free from concerns and that vigilance was appropriate.