Court of Impeachment of the Realm (Denmark)

The Court of Impeachment of the Realm (also called The High Court of the Realm[1] or simply The Court of Impeachment[2]) (Danish: Rigsretten) is a special court of the Kingdom of Denmark, that the Danish Parliament (The Folketing) can assemble, to hear and deliver judgments against ministers accused of unlawful misconduct and maladministration of office[3]. According to the wording of the Constitutional Act, the Queen can also demand that Ministers be impeached and brought before the Court of Impeachment. However, in practice only Government has this right.[4]

Kingdom of Denmark
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The Court consists of up to 15 Supreme Court judges appointed on seniority, as well as 15 members appointed by the Folketing's parties from outside the Parliament. These members shall be appointed for a period of 6 years.[5]

The Court of Impeachment was established by the Danish Constitution in 1849. The Court of Impeachment differs from the ordinary courts (see Courts of Denmark) in its particular composition and in that indictments, unlike in ordinary criminal proceedings, aren't arisen by the Danish Prosecution Service but by the Folketing or the Monarch.[6] The Court of Impeachment can only hear cases relating to a minister's tenure – if charges are to be brought against a minister for other forms of crime, the indictment must be brought in the ordinary courts. While the Danish Constitution allows the Court of Impeachment to deal with such cases, it has never been used.[5]

In the interests of confidence in the party-political independence and impartiality of the judges of the Court of Impeachment, it may be problematic that the non-judicial judges of the Court of Impeachment are chosen by party-political politicians of the Danish Parliament. Historical experience shows that politically appointed members of the Court of Impeachment have tended to judge according to the party-card.[7] Several members of the Court of Impeachment are former members of parliament.

Since the Court of Impeachment was instituted in 1849, five cases have been brought before the Court, but only two Ministers have been found guilty. In 1910, the former Minister for the Interior Sigurd Berg, was ordered to pay a fine for negligence in his supervision of Den Sjællandske Bondestands Sparekasse (The Zealand Farmers’ Savings Bank) (the Alberti case). In 1995, the former Minister for Justice Erik Ninn-Hansen, was given a suspended sentence of four months imprisonment for having prevented Tamil refugees from bringing their families to Denmark (the Tamil Case).[4]

References
  1. The constitutional act of Denmark ;The act of succession of June 5, 1953 of March 27, 1953. Danmark. Folketinget. Copenhagen: The Folketing. 1999. ISBN 87-89756-31-2. OCLC 461364024.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. The constitutional act of Denmark ;The act of succession of June 5th, 1953 of March 27, 1953, amended on June 12th 2009. Danmark. Folketinget, Birgitte Wern ([New edition] ed.). Copenhagen: The Folketing. 2013. ISBN 978-87-7982-161-3. OCLC 870249943.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. Int'L Business Publications, Usa. (2015). Denmark criminal laws, regulations and procedures handbook : strategic information, regulations ... procedures. [Place of publication not identified]: Intl Business Pubns Usa. p. 84. ISBN 1-5145-0690-4. OCLC 910985759.
  4. Pedersen, Susannah (March 2014). "My Constitutional Act". The Communications Section, Danish Parliament. 12: 7.
  5. Int'L Business Publications, Usa. (2015). Denmark criminal laws, regulations and procedures handbook : strategic information, regulations ... procedures. [Place of publication not identified]: Intl Business Pubns Usa. p. 83. ISBN 1-5145-0690-4. OCLC 910985759.
  6. "Retsinformation - Order of the Law on The Court of Impeachment (Bekendtgørelse af lov om rigsretten)". www.retsinformation.dk. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  7. "Rigsretten | lex.dk". Den Store Danske (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-05-30.
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