Danish Court Research Articles

Corruption in unlikely places

Corruption, defined as the “misuse of public position for private gain”, represents an act of deviance from official duties in the interest of self-enrichment. Denmark is ranked as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. Danish court records, however, show that corruption cases have appeared in the 21st century. Using Luhmann’s systems theory and Foucault’s method of genealogy, this article asks how this has happened. I argue that understanding corruption in Denmark may go back to changes in public administration ideas and practices since the 1990. New Public Management reform has increased the complexity in public administration where meaning horizons of communication related to different functional systems – especially the sub-systems of law and economy – clashes. I theorise and illustrate using court cases how the coexistence of different codes creates an environment for public employees that in some circumstances – however still rare – result in corruption.

A doctor for the crown princess: child mortality and women’s political agency at the Danish court, 1784–1797

ABSTRACT This article examines the entwined dynamics of gender, material bodies, and court politics at the Danish, absolutist court during what has been termed the reform reign, 1784–1797. The reform reign was inaugurated by a 1784 bloodless coup d’état, in which the crown prince took power in the royal Privy Council. During the following years, his leading advisers faced opposition from other factions at court and within the royal family, and the crown prince and his wife faced reproductive challenges, as they lost several children shortly after birth. The article explores the attempts at seeking influence made by two wives of leading advisers to the royal crown prince, Frederik (6.). Producing a male heir was imperative to the crown prince couple’s claim to power in the absolutist reign, and the advisers’ political positions therefore also hinged on the couple’s reproduction. I discuss how the advisers’ wives, the two sisters Sybille Reventlow (1753-1827) and Charlotte Schimmelmann (1757-1816), attempted to solve these issues and advance their group’s position at court. The article identifies several strategies employed by the women to help the crown prince couple’s situation, but primarily aimed at the crown princess; firstly, conversations on childrearing; secondly, the discussion of adoption; while a third strategy included traveling to the spa at Bad Pyrmont, where the advisers’ wives would engage the spa’s famous doctor Heinrich Mathias Marcard as accoucheur to the crown princess. The women’s struggles to gain influence show how those women who were not members of the royal household tried to navigate the political world of a hereditary and personal monarchy, where personal relationships and parenting experiences were also a political matter.

Ties that Sever: Losing the Right to Belong in Denmark

AbstractIn 2018, the Danish Supreme Court revoked Adam Johansen’s citizenship in conjunction with his conviction for terrorism. Applying a proportionality test adapted from European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisprudence for naturalised, not natural, citizens, the Danish court determined that Johansen’s Muslim faith tied him to Tunisia, his father’s country, rather than to Denmark. In March 2022, the ECtHR unanimously upheld this judgment. In so doing, the ECtHR solidified an emerging standard in cases of citizenship revocation for natural citizens, which standard is weaker than the protections enjoyed by naturalised citizens. This article reviews the Danish and ECtHR jurisprudence to show how the explosive expansion of citizenship revocation in relation to terror crimes, combined with the ECtHR’s emerging jurisprudence rejecting substantive review for such revocation, demonstrates a significant, multidirectional weakening of rights protections in Europe.

Decoding dramatic tension: the climax of tragedy in Shakespeare's Hamlet

This essay delves into the pivotal climax of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in Act III, Scene IV, known as the 'closet Scene,' emphasizing its significance in university literature courses. Focused on the strategic use of the mousetrap play as foreshadowing, the analysis explores five escalating events leading to the death of Polonius, a crucial figure in the Danish court. Gertrude's complex attitudes towards Hamlet and intricate familial dynamics add to the emotional complexity. The essay extends to Gertrude's awareness during the 'closet scene' and stresses the importance of understanding events before and after the climax for a comprehensive grasp of the narrative. Ultimately, it aims to critically examine the climax's role in character dynamics, themes, and the enduring relevance of Shakespearean works in literature curricula, providing a nuanced exploration of 'Hamlet' within the constraints of university studies.

Prison leave and access to justice: Some insight into Danish and German law in action

In this article, we use the example of prison leave to discuss prisoners’ access to justice. Based on a functional comparative analysis between Denmark and Germany, we study the law in action. In Germany, prisoners have a legally prescribed right of access to the courts in cases of denial of prison leave. However, in Denmark prisoners face more barriers when trying to access the court. In our analysis, we have compared Danish court cases with letters from German prisoners referring to their struggles with prison administrations and courts. The materials from both countries show more similarities than one would expect, given the significant differences between the substantive law in the two jurisdictions. While acknowledging the need for further empirical investigation, we introduce a concept we term “genuine justice”, with the aim of paving the way for other and more radical remedies supplementing the economic, legal and social measures already in place.

The Danish Court Case Database: a data source in forensic mental health?

Abstract Grey literature complementing evidence from common scientific sources, such as journals, may serve to provide a broader range of evidence, fill in commercial literature gaps and reduce publication bias in research. However, grey literature from legal sources has been used only to a limited extent in forensic mental health research. In this paper, we presented the newly established Danish Court Case Database in the light of forensic mental health. A systematic review was conducted and 15 cases focusing on forensic mental health issues were identified. The cases contained information about indictment, explanations and testimonies and also the court’s decision and underlying reasoning. The different included case types provided a broad range of information about current issues in forensic mental health regulation and the interpretation of Danish law. The database is thus a relevant grey source in forensic research. However, this paper also demonstrated that the database may be improved in terms of its current coverage and ease of use.

When a King of Norway Became a King of Russia

When a King of Norway Became a King of Russia

Hamlet

Reviewed by: Hamlet Hassana Moosa Hamlet Presented by The Centre for Creative Arts, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, and Daniel Galloway Consulting, hosted at https://www.kknk.co.za/eng/hamlet/, in partnership with VR Theatrical, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), and the Tsikinya-Chaka Center. 31 May 2021. Adapted and directed by Neil Coppen, with translations by Buhle Ngaba and Fundile Majola. Technical production and design by Jaco van Rensburg and Wessel Odendaal. Soundscapes by Wessel Odendaal. With Anelisa Phewa (Hamlet), Buhle Ngaba (Ophelia), Rehane Abrahams (Laertes), Royston Stoffels (Polo-nius), Tony Bonyani Miyambo (Horatio), David Dennis (Claudius), Faniswa Yisa (Gertrude), Richard September (Rosencrantz/Osric), Jemma Kahn (Guildenstern), Tshego Khutsoane (Player King), Wiseman Sithole (Ghost/Gravedigger), and with stage directions read by Bianca Amato (narrator). Neil Coppen’s Hamlet was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, which necessitated several lengthy national lockdowns that saw many of the country’s cultural institutions, like those in other parts of the world, deprived of social and financial support. The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) website, on which this one-off online reading was hosted, explains that Hamlet was due to run at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town in 2020, but with the onset of the pandemic and the resultant closure of the Fugard—a devastating loss to the South African theater world which broke the hearts of many—the production turned into an online reading. As a pandemic-influenced online production of Shakespeare in South Africa, the reading was not the first of its kind. In 2020, the ShakespeareZA project (reviewed in SB 38.3) supported the performances of a series of Shakespearean monologues presented online by actors from across South Africa. Like these earlier online performances, Coppen’s Hamlet proved to be a compelling demonstration of how digital mediums can be used to keep South African performances of Shakespeare alive in an unstable pandemic world. On entering the host website, audiences were met with two messages that were alternating against the black screen, which served as the backdrop for the play. The first message dutifully indicated that the actors and [End Page 139] IT team were in their respective homes preparing for the online reading to begin, while the second offered a witty cautionary note about both the temperamental nature of technology and the eeriness of the play ahead in the brief statement: “Anything can happen . . .” This strategy of communicating to the audience by using text on the black screen was employed throughout the reading to identify times and locations in the play. The start of the reading was accordingly signaled by the fading of the welcome messages, as the words “Prologue, The Funeral” were typed onto the screen. Before any actors appeared, the narrator set the scene for the reading by describing to us how these first moments of the play might have looked in a theater. Stage props included a faintly lit, “mounted Kudu head” hanging mid-air, and a “coffin dressed in a South African flag” positioned center stage. As the audience entered, they would have seen a gravedigger standing in a pit, smoking a cigarette, listening to “Zulu Gospel music” as he shoveled earth. The speaker proceeded to describe the emergence of the company of actors from the wings of the stage “dressed as dignitaries,” including “Kings, Chiefs, Government officials” and members of the “SADF” (South African Defence Force). Then, as the “house lights” dimmed, both men and women from the group on stage would have been singing and praying, and the characters of Gertrude, Hamlet, and Claudius would have become apparent from their position in the funeral procession. The narration spoken at the opening of the play made it clear that this was not simply going to be a reading of the original play-text, but also an imaginative “reading” of the theatrical performance originally envisioned by the director. The narrator became a fixed feature of the production and regularly embellished scenes with details of characters’ actions and settings. The set that audiences were invited to imagine in the prologue also highlighted the most defining feature of the production, namely its setting in contemporary South Africa. The Danish court...

State Immunity in Danish Law

Abstract With a primary focus on civil law, the article provides a general overview of the most important legislation, court decisions and other state practice in explaining how international law on state immunity applies in Denmark today. Although Danish court practice has been quite sparse, there have been a number of important decisions effectively implementing international state immunity law into Danish law. The article also reflects on the application and development of customary international law in Danish law outside Danish courts with a particular focus on the 2004 UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunity of States and Their Property, which Denmark has signed, but not ratified. Other examples of Danish practice are briefly highligthed, underscoring the conclusion that Denmark has broadly embraced the restrictive approach to international law on state immunity.

Kan et frivilligt samleje være strafbart?

Abstract:This article examines some conceptual challenges associated with the content and possible demarcation of the notions of consent and voluntariness in recent Danish legislation on rape. It is argued that free will or voluntariness, and the expression thereof, should be seen as occurrences on a spectrum, and that the expression of consent or free will is at least partially necessary if such subjective concepts are to be useful in a legal context. The paper examines some general implications of this for possible outcomes of case law. Uncertainties include what should be made of the use of the »presumptions« mentioned in the bill. Some implications for the evaluation of a defendant’s mens rea are also touched upon. It is concluded that the Danish court enjoys a margin of discretion that allows it the ability to criminalise instances of intercourse even when they are not necessarily non-voluntary.

Anna of Denmark: The Material and Visual Culture of the Stuart Courts, 1589–1619, by Jemma Field

Anna of Denmark, wife of James VI and I from 1590 until her death in 1619, was one of the most notable European queens of her time, particularly after James’s succession to the English throne in 1603. She was politically adroit, determined and well-connected. Raised in the rich surroundings of the Danish court, daughter of Christian IV and his sophisticated queen, Sofie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, she was a prominent member of the extensive Oldenburg dynasty, her numerous siblings populating multiple courts in northern Europe. Anna brought the strengths of that upbringing and connections to her role as royal consort, an active player in the febrile politics of the Scottish and then the English courts, and in their cultural worlds too. She is an excellent exemplar of early modern practices in the politics of diplomatic marriage-making, and, in her myriad royal relations, of the connectivity of early modern Europe which involved Scotland...

"All that lives must die": Gertrude, Ophelia, and the Idea of a Poisoned Royal Body Politic

In this article, I consider representations of Gertrude and Ophelia in three recent film adaptations of the Hamlet story: Hamlet (Douglass, 2017), Hamlet in the Golden Vale (Hasse and Myers, 2019), and Ophelia (McCarthy, 2018). These films comprise a community-based arts project, an independent theatre enterprise, and a limited release feature. Drawing on the notion of rhizomatic structures, I locate my reading of the films in the context of my consumption of the Hamlet story and consider the connections between these films and the broader textual landscape. Central to my considerations is the precarity of the women in the homosocial world of the Danish court at Elsinore, as it is imagined in the films. In particular, I look at Gertrude and Ophelia as participants in the body royal through the use of their physical bodies for reproductive purposes. With Gertrude already successful as the mother of Hamlet, while Ophelia holds the potential to become a mother, I apply a feminist reading that questions the implications of the women's motherhood within a patriarchal system. Finally, I briefly consider how representations of the precarity of the fictional Gertrude and Ophelia might extend to members of the current British royal family, with a specific focus on Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.

Liability in Joint Military Operations—The Green Desert Case

Abstract Almost all international military operations today are joint military operations where several states collaborate to carry out concrete operations, such as combat or arrest operations. This raises pertinent and difficult questions in relation to state responsibility if international law obligations are breached during the operation, not least: Which state or states are responsible? In June 2018, a Danish High Court found Denmark responsible in its complicity for Iraqi ill-treatment of 18 Iraqis who were detained by the Iraqi military in a joint Danish–Iraqi military operation in Iraq in November 2004. Danish soldiers did not exercise control over the Iraqi troops; the detainees were not captured by Danish soldiers or at any time subject to their control or jurisdiction; and Danish forces did not participate in or witness any ill-treatment during the operation. Nevertheless, the Danish High Court found that the Danish defence forces were liable to pay compensation to the 18 Iraqi detainees because Danish defence forces ‘should have known’ that there was a real risk of Iraqi ill-treatment of detainees and paid to little attention to the risk when planning and participating in the operation. The article discusses the Danish High Court judgment. Is it a problem that the High Court decided the case on the basis of Danish compensation law and largely ignores international law standards? And would the Danish defence forces have been responsible if assessed on the basis of State responsibility standards in international law?

Rady Sądownictwa w Danii

COUNCILS FOR THE JUDICIARY IN DENMARKThe purpose of this study is to discuss the political position, composition and competences of two independent judicial institutions operating in Denmark, namely the Danish Court Administration and Council for Judicial Appointments. Their establishment in 1998 they began operating on 1 July 1999 was undoubtedly the implementation of the constitutional guarantees of independence of judges, and in practice it also became an important factor in the very high level of confi dence of Danish society in the justice system. Both Danish judicial councils are statutory bodies because the 1953 constitution does not require the establishment of such institutions.

Johann Adolph Scheibe: A Catalogue of His Works by Peter Hauge

Reviewed by: Johann Adolph Scheibe: A Catalogue of His Works by Peter Hauge Jennifer A. Ward Johann Adolph Scheibe: A Catalogue of His Works. By Peter Hauge. (Danish Humanist Texts and Studies, vol. 58.) Copenhagen: Danish Centre for Music Editing, Royal Danish Library, and Museum Tusculanum Press, 2018. [xviii, 555 p. ISBN 9788763545600 (hardcover), $92.] Music examples, bibliography, indexes. This catalog has a surprise ending, but I will spoil it up front: it is entirely available as a free, online database. Peter Hauge's Johann Adolph Scheibe: A Catalogue of His Works, produced by the Danish Centre for Music Editing (DCM) at the Royal Danish Library, is the DCM's third thematic catalog to make the leap from free digital database to print publication, following Catalogue of Carl Nielsen's Work (ed. Hauge along with Elly Bruunshuus Petersen, Bjarke Moe, Niels Krabbe, Axel Teich Geertinger, and Neils Bo Foltmann) in 2016 and J. P. E. Hartmann: Thematic-Bibliographic Catalogue of his Works (ed. Inger Sørensen [reviewed below]) in 2017. Implications of purchasing the book will be explored later in this review. It is most welcome that a fundamental research tool such as a thematic catalog has been created for Scheibe (1708–1776), the "most important composer and Kapellmeister in Denmark in the eighteenth century," as Erland Kolding Nielsen writes in the "Series Editor's Foreword" (p. [vi]). The catalog arrives thirty-eight years after George J. Buelow issued a plea for a [End Page 615] "fresh evaluation" of Scheibe's output in New Grove, calling his compositional oeuvre "unknown" and noting that a proper appraisal of his ideas has been overshadowed by a criticism that he once famously leveled against Johann Sebastian Bach (George J. Buelow, "Scheibe, Johann Adolph," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians [London: Macmillan, 1980], 16:600). With all known compositions and writings (excluding correspondence) by Scheibe now represented in this catalog, Hauge has laid the groundwork to fully explore the musician and author's life, compositions, and thought. The introduction to the catalog starts with a short biography that takes readers through Scheibe's early years in Leipzig and Hamburg, time as Kapell-meister at the Danish court in Copen-hagen, retreat from the capital, and eventual return. Hauge estimates that Scheibe may have composed up to 1,200 works, but a 1794 fire in Christiansborg Palace and the posthumous dispersal of his manuscripts have resulted in an unfavorable source situation for the modern musicologist. Only about 340 compositions and about 40 writings are documented in the present catalog, and of these, music for about 140 of the works is considered lost. Despite this, Hauge produced a volume of over five hundred pages on the basis of a seemingly small number of surviving documents, a considerable achievement (the list of "Source Locations" fits on a single page [p. 555]). Hauge also draws on secondary evidence that attests to musical works or performances, including a large number of preserved librettos and writings in which Scheibe used his own music as examples. Hauge divides the catalog into three categories, each of which receives the abbreviation "SchW" followed by a letter designation: "A" for instrumental music, "B" for vocal music, and "C" for texts; collections are listed separately. A number for the genre, then a number identifier for the work, follows. SchW B1:002 is thus vocal music (B), opera (1), the second work listed (002). The numbering system leaves open the possibility for new discoveries: category A3 has been established for overtures but is awaiting its first entry. Each entry contains an introduction that elucidates the circumstances that brought about the work in question. In the absence of a book-length biography in English about Scheibe, the introductions offer fascinating and detailed background information that connect the work with events in Scheibe's life, people who moved in his intellectual sphere, and other of his compositions and writings. Hauge succeeds in drawing a lot of information out of works for which no music survives. Mithridat (SchW A5:001), we learn, is one of two plays for which Scheibe wrote music (both lost). Discussions with theater director Caroline Neuber in Hamburg motivated him to introduce...

The Fidelity Funds Case: A Commentary on the ECJ’s Decision and Its Potential Impact on the Köln-Aktienfonds Deka Case

This article deals comprehensively with the Fidelity Funds case. The decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the referring Danish court will be considered in detail. Furthermore, the impact of these decisions on the Köln-Aktienfonds Deka case and similar cases pending in the Netherlands will be discussed.

From Mid 16th Century French Court to End 18th Century Danish Court: The Fatal Power of the Mammillary Process.

Two Royal events marked the history of the mastoid process between the 16th and 18th centuries. The first was the death of François II, King of France, following a complication of a chronic running left ear at the age of 16 years, and the second the death of Justus von Berger, Court physician of Christian VII, King of Denmark, after a trepanation of the mastoid process to heal his right-sided deafness at the age of 68 years. The aim of this study is to analyze these two events again with only original references and to replace them in their historical context. Historical review of original literature dealing with the subject. These two Royal events marked the history of the mastoid process, but they were unlikely to have been avoided during their specific era. Medical knowledge was insufficient to avoid these fatal outcomes. Because of their societal impact, they were known of and largely discussed, notably in the medical world, leading to the eventual modification of medical practice during that time. François II's death had no medical impact but von Berger's death practically stopped, for more than a half century, the development of mastoid surgery.

Anna of Denmark: Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland

Anna of Denmark (1574–1619) had her own household in Scotland in the years 1590–1603 separate from that of the King. Costume accounts shed light on this household and its hierarchy, detailing clothes for servants, gentlemen and gentlewomen. Around twenty-five Danish servants had positions, including her secretary, maidens of honour, cooks and stable men. The dress of her riding entourage of pages, lackeys, gentlewomen and maidens of her chamber offered the most conspicuous opportunity for display. Some costume may have been Danish in fashion or in colours representing Anna’s family. Fashioning a Danish-style court may have been a deliberate choice to emphasise the value of the royal marriage as an international union, strengthening Anna’s identity and promoting her independent agency as a royal person.

Danish Court: Consortium Agreement and Joint Bidding Permissible under Competition Law

The legality of consortium agreements and joint bidding for public contracts under competition law has been a widely debated subject over the past couple of years. On 27 August 2018, the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court rendered a much anticipated judgment on this subject. The judgment is now under appeal to the Danish Supreme Court. In its judgment, the Court repealed the Danish competition authorities’ decisions in a case regarding a consortium agreement between two companies relating to their joint bid on a public tender for road marking works in Denmark. According to the competition authorities’ decisions, the consortium agreement and the joint bid was a by object infringement of competition law. However, the Danish Maritime and Commercial High Court disagreed and held that the agreement did not infringe competition law. This article sets out the background to the proceedings, summarises the key findings of the court and comments on the legality of consortium agreements and joint bidding for public contracts under competition law.

Introduction: Shakespeare's Mediterranean

Introduction: Shakespeare's Mediterranean