Supreme Court (Denmark)


The Supreme Court is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is based at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen which also houses the Danish Parliament and the Prime Minister's office.

History

The Supreme Court was founded on 14 February 1661 by King Frederik III as a replacement of King Christian IV's King's Court. It was based at first Copenhagen Castle later Christiansborg Palace, which was built in its place on the same site at Slotsholmen, and originally consisted of 30 justices. From its foundation and until the adoption of the Constitution of 1849, the court was formally an instrument of the king, only deciding cases by a majority vote in the king's absence, most kings only attended the first meeting each supreme court year. An office as justitiarius to lead the court was instituted as early as 1674. As absolute monarch the king retained the inherent power to overrule the court, which happened on one occasion. Aside from this the court routinely exercised the power to commute criminal sentences, a power that was written into the constitution of 1849.
After the 1794 Fire of the Christiansborg Palace, the Supreme Court moved first to the Prince's Mansion until 1854, now housing the National Museum of Denmark, and then to one of the four mansions of Amalienborg Palace, before moving back to Slotsholmen. After the fire of the second Christianborg Palace in 1884 the Supreme Court had to move once again and was based at Bernstorffs Palæ in Bredgade until 1919 when it could move back to the present Christiansborg Palace.
Since a rule change in 2007, the court have had a greater focus on test cases that establish precedent.

Function

The Supreme Court functions as a civil and criminal appellate court for cases from the subordinate courts. Since a decision cannot normally be appealed more than once, County Court cases rarely reach Supreme Court-level, though this may be the case if the independent Board of Appeals grants a leave of appeal.Significant civil cases with issues of principle, however, are typically deferred to one of the two Danish High Courts as courts of first instance. In those cases sentences from the Eastern or Western High Courts may be directly appealed to The Supreme Court.
As its name indicates, the Supreme Court is the highest Court in the Kingdom of Denmark and its judgments cannot be appealed to another Danish court. It is split into two chambers which both hear all types of cases. A case is heard by at least five judges. In all, the court consists of normally 15 judges and a President.
Unlike criminal cases in the lower courts, the Supreme Court does not deal with the issue of guilt. However, the basis on which the lower court reached its verdict may be brought into consideration and edited. In criminal trials by jury in the first instance, the defence may appeal on grounds of judicial error regarding the judges' direction to the jury.

Current members

There are 19 judges in the Supreme Court. One of the Supreme Court justices is president of the Supreme Court, appointed by the other judges. A judge is the chairman of the Appeals Permission Board and currently a judge is on leave to serve as a judge of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
The Judges of the Supreme Court, like other judges, are appointed by the Minister of Justice on the recommendation of the Independent Board of Judges.
Judges shall be retired at the end of the month in which they reach the age of 70, as according to section 5 of the Civil Service Act.
#NameBornAssumed officeComment
1Thomas Rørdam17 October, 19522002President of the Supreme Court from 1 February 2017.
2Marianne Højgaard Pedersen6 November, 19522002
3Jon Stokholm23 April, 19512003
4Lars Bay Larsen8 June, 19532003Leave since 2006: Judge of the European Court of Justice
5Poul Dahl Jensen21 June, 19562004
6Vibeke Steen Rønne7 March, 19532005
7Jens Peter Christensen1 November 19562006
8Henrik Waaben19 September 19522006
9Michael Rekling18 February, 19582007
10Hanne Schmidt9 March, 19602009
11Lars Hjortnæs16 September, 19602010
12Oliver Talevski23 March, 19642011Chairman of the Appeals Permission Board
13Jan Schans Christensen15 August, 19572012
14Kurt Rasmussen7 July, 19582012
15Jens Kruse Mikkelsen23 July, 19652013
16Lars Apostoli16 February, 19612014
17Anne Louise Bormann25 August, 19672016
18Kristian Korfits Nielsen4 April, 19682017
19Jørgen Steen Sørensen21 April, 19652019