Human rights in Denmark

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Human rights in Denmark are protected by Danish law and international treaties.

1. Laws

 Human rights in Denmark are protected by both international and national treaties. Grundloven, the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, was adopted on 5 June 1849 and has subsequently been amended three times – most recently in 1953. The Danish Constitution guarantees various human rights and related rights, primarily civil and political rights, such as: 

Freedom of expression (Section 77) [7] “Any person shall be entitled to publish his thoughts in printing, in writing, and in speech, provided that he may be held answerable in a court of justice. Censorship and other preventive measures shall never again be introduced.”

Freedom of association (Section 78) [7]

(1) The citizens shall be entitled without previous permission to form associations for any lawful purpose.

(2) Associations employing violence, or aiming at attaining their object by violence, by instigation to violence, or by similar punishable influence on people of other views, shall be dissolved by judgment.

(3) No association shall be dissolved by any government measure. However, an association may be temporarily prohibited, provided that proceedings be immediately taken against it for its dissolution.

(4) Cases relating to the dissolution of political associations may without special permission be brought before the highest court of justice of the Realm.

(5) The legal effects of the dissolution shall be determined by Statute.

Freedom of assembly (Section 79) [7] The citizens shall without previous permission be entitled to assemble unarmed. The police shall be entitled to be present at public meetings. Open-air meetings may be prohibited when it is feared that they may constitute a danger to the public peace. As a part of European Union, Denmark also provides protection of Human Rights by ‘The European Convention on Human Rights’ from 1 July 1992. It is an is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe and guarantees the following rights: [6]

Article 2 – Right to life

Article 3 – Prohibition of torture

Article 4 – Prohibition of slavery

Article 5 – Right to liberty and security

Article 6 – Right to a fair trial

Article 7 – Prohibition of retroactive criminalisation of acts and omissions

Article 8 – Right to privacy

Article 9 – Freedom of thought, conscience and religion

Article 10 – Freedom of expression

Article 11 – Right to freedom of assembly and association

Article 12 – Right for women and men of marriageable age to marry and establish a family

Article 13 – Right for an effective remedy before national authorities for violations of rights under the Convention

Article 14 – Prohibition of discrimination

Article 15 – Derogations

Article 16 – Allowance to restrict political activity of foreigners

Article 17 – Prohibition of abuse of rights

Article 18 – Permitted restrictions

2. Discrimination

Women’s Rights Danish women were granted the right to vote on June 5, 1915. Female enfranchisement was part and parcel of a major overhaul of the 1849 Danish Constitution. [11] The demand for women’s suffrage was first raised in 1886, when Danish parliament member Fredrik Bajer tabled a bill designed to give female taxpayers in Copenhagen the right to vote in elections to the Copenhagen City Council. The bill was initially received positively, but was criticised for including married women. It did not reach a final reading. Bajer re-introduced a revised version of the bill in 1887. The bill now only applied to widows’ and unmarried women’s right to vote in local elections. It passed in the lower parliamentary house, but failed in the upper. [11] During the following years the Women’s Suffrage Association, an activist group founded by prominent members of the Danish Women’s Society, arranged public meetings to discuss women’s enfranchisement and to interrogate parliamentary candidates about their opinion on the voting issue. With the arrival of a new, more liberal government in 1901, the Women’s Suffrage Association was able to negotiate women’s right to vote in local elections by 1908. After this breakthrough, continuous pressure by suffrage supporters caused opposition the idea of women voting in national elections slowly decreased, until women were finally granted this right in 1915. [11] The granting of women’s suffrage in Greenland automatically extended suffrage to women in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, as well as Iceland, which was part of the Kingdom of Denmark until 1918. [11]

LGBT Rights LGBT Rights in Greenland Main article: LGBT Rights in Greenland Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Greenland are very similar to those in Denmark. In 1979, Denmark granted Greenland autonomy under the Home Rule Act and in 2009 extended self-government, although it still influences the island's culture and politics. [4] Same-sex sexual activity is legal, with an equal age of consent. Same-sex couples have had access to registered partnerships, which provide them with nearly all of the rights provided to married opposite-sex couples, since 1 July 1996. On 1 April 2016, a law repealing the registered partnership law and allowing for same-sex marriages to be performed came into effect. LGBT individuals in Greenland are protected by broad anti-discrimination laws, as well as specific policies regarding family planning. On 1 June 2009, step-child adoption for same-sex couples became legal. On 19 January 2016 the Folketing approved a proposal which would allow same-sex couples to adopt children, and the bill was given Royal Assent on 3 February, 2016. This part of the law went into effect on 1 July, 2016. [4] LGBT Rights in the Faroe Islands Main article: LGBT Rights in the Faroe Islands Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Greenland are very similar to those in Denmark. Legislative progress in this area, however, has been slower. While same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the Faroe Islands since the 1930s, same-sex couples never had a right to a registered partnership. In April 2016 the Løgting passed legislation legalizing civil same-sex marriage on the Faroes, recognizing same-sex marriages established in Denmark and abroad and allowing same-sex adoption. This was ratified by the Folketing in April 2017. The law went into effect on July 1, 2017. While Denmark (incl. the County of Greenland) lowered the age of consent to 15 in 1977, making it gender-neutral, the autonomous Faroe Islands did not change its law until 1988. A bill prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was not passed by the Faroese parliament until 15 December 2006. The Faroe islands have a reputation with surrounding countries for being homophobic and hostile to LGBT individuals, in part due to the islands’ high rates of religious observance compared to other areas in the region. Since 2005, there have been a number of high-profile homophobic incidents. Prior to 2012, LGBT rights was not a high-profile issue in the Faroe Islands. [4]

LGBT Rights in Denmark Main article: LGBT Rights in Denmark The rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Denmark are some of the most extensive in the world and a high priority. [4] Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1933, and since 1977, the age of consent is 15, regardless of sexual orientation or gender. Denmark was the first country in the world to grant legal recognition to same-sex unions, in the form of "registered partnerships", in 1989. On 7 June 2012, the law was replaced by a new same-sex marriage law, which came into effect on 15 June 2012, and Denmark recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was entirely prohibited in 2004.[4] Danish anti-discrimination law includes hate crimes legislation, which adds extra penalties for crimes committed against people because of their sexuality and for their gender identity or form of gender expression. Openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers also serve without hindrance in all branches of the Danish military. [4] Denmark also has some of the most extensive legal protections for transgender individuals. In June 2014, the Danish parliament voted 59-52 to remove the requirement of diagnosis with a mental disorder and surgery with irreversible sterilization during the process of a legal sex change. This makes Denmark the first European country to remove the Gender Identity Disorder diagnosis as a necessary requirement in the gender recognition process. [4]

Minority Discrimination The Danish constitution includes protections against religious discrimination. A number of EU-based anti-discrimination laws intended to protect other minority demographics are incorporated into Danish legislation, including the Danish Act on Non-discrimination and the Danish Act on Equal Treatment. These laws prohibit discrimination on grounds including race, skin colour, religion or faith, political beliefs or national, social or ethnic origin. In practice, the government generally enforces these protections. [5] In recent years, there have been occasional reports of anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic insults, harassment, and vandalism, as well as tensions between young Muslims and other young Danes. [5]

3.International Organisations International human rights organizations based in Denmark include: [10]

Danish International Human Settlement Service

Danish Peace Foundation

Danish Institute for Human Rights

International human rights organisations operating in Denmark include: [10]

Amnesty International

Save the Children

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network

4. Events On December 12, 2009 the world knew one of its biggest climate demonstrations in Copenhagen with over 100,000 participants. It had a strong anti-capitalist character. Danish police in Copenhagen made mass arrests of protesters breaking four human rights laws as the protesters were subjected to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and had their freedom of association and the right to engage in peaceful assembly restricted. The demonstrators have right to compensation of between 2,200 and 5,500 DKR (300-740 euros) and 4,000 euros for human rights’ abuses.On January 2016, Ai Weiwei (a chinese artist who was presented Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2015) decided to close his exhibition ‘Ruptures’ at Faurschou Foundation Copenhagen, Denmark as a sign of protest against a new law recently approved by the Danish parliament. This law states that the police would treat refugees and migrants in the same way it’s treating its unemployed Danish citizens allowing it to confiscate their personal possessions and force them to sell assets before receiving benefits from the Danish government. Integration Minister Inger Stojberg insisted that items of certain emotional value won’t be taken away from refugees. This bill will also delay family reunifications for some cases by up to three years. Inger Stojberg has faced criticism over the plans to search migrants' bags for gold and other valuables comparing Denmark to Nazi Germany and reminiscing the confiscation of valuables from Jews during World War II. The government has proceeded with these plans despite acknowledging that they risk violating Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to family life. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has also warned that these proposals risk violating other articles of the European Convention and the global Convention on the Rights of the Child. The measures – including amendments passed in November 2015 making it possible for police to detain asylum-seekers and migrants without judicial oversight – are part of the government’s stated aim to make Denmark less attractive to asylum-seekers. “It’s simply cruel to force people who are running from conflicts to make an impossible choice: either bring children and other loved ones on dangerous, even lethal journeys, or leave them behind and face a prolonged separation while family members continue to suffer the horrors of war,” said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia. While there have been an international outcry for the measures adopted by the Danish government, there are a variety of other equally regressive actions among them are further restrictions on eligibility requirements for permanent residency, reductions to the length of temporary residence permits and the introduction of fees for family reunification applications (currently 7,000 Danish Krone or approximately 900 euro per application), as well as the travel costs of family members to Denmark.

References

[1] A. (2016, January 12). Danish government secures backing for bill on taking migrants' valuables. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/12096104/Danish-government-secures-backing-for-bill-on-taking-migrants-valuables.html

[2] Amnesty International. (n.d.). Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/danish-parliament-should-reject-changes-to-refugee-law/

[3] Amnesty International ‘Denmark Human Rights’ https://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/denmark/

[4] “Anti-Discrimination Laws in Denmark.” L&E Global Knowledge Center, L&E Global, 2 Nov. 2016, knowledge.leglobal.org/anti-discrimination-laws-in-denmark/.

[5] “Denmark.” U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 13 Sept. 2011, www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2010_5/168306.htm.

[6] European convention on human rights. http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf

[7] Jayasinghe, A.M. “My Constitutional Act”. 22 July 2016. Folketinget. p. 45

[8] Reporters from ‘Offensiv’ (Weekly paper of Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna, CWI Sweden). (2012, April 22). Denmark: Police found guilty of violating European Convention on Human Rights. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from http://www.socialistworld.net/index.php/other-topics/environment/5713-Denmark--Police-found-guilty-of-violating-European-Convention-on-Human-%20------Rights

[9] Rothwell, J. (2016, January 26). Denmark approves law on seizing refugees' valuables and delaying family reunions. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/12122572/Danish-parliament-set-to-approve-law-on-seizing-refugees-valuables.html

[10]The Danish Institute for Human Rights ‘Human Rights in Danish law’ https://www.humanrights.dk/about-us/human-rights-in-denmark/human-rights-in-danish-law

[11]Nielsen, Jytte. “How Danish women got the vote.” How Danish women got the vote | Kvinfo.Dk, The Danish Institute for Research and Information on Gender Equality and Diversity, kvinfo.org/history/how-danish-women-got-vote.

[12]Boult, A. (2016, January 27). Ai Weiwei closes down Danish exhibition in protest at country's plans to confiscate asylum seekers' valuables. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/12125599/Ai-Weiwei-close-down-Danish-exhibition-in-protest-at-countrys-plans-to-confiscate-asylum-seekers-valuables.html

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