Abstract
In Denmark the law courts were only professionalized at the end of the eighteenth century. A long tradition of lay judges was then broken, and a new discussion as to the introduction of juries in Denmark was only started in the nineteenth century. In 1919 Danish court procedure rules were reformed and lay judges were introduced. This article comments on the current Danish discussion as to the relation between lay judges and professional judges.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Under Article 61, ‘The exercise of judicial power shall be governed only by Statute. Extraordinary courts of justice with judicial power shall not be established’; under Article 63, ‘The courts of justice shall be entitled to decide any question bearing upon the scope of the authority of the executive power. However, a person who wants to query such authority shall not, by bringing the case before the courts of justice, avoid temporary compliance with orders given by the executive power. Questions bearing upon the scope of the authority of the executive power may be referred by Statute for decision to one or more administrative courts provided that an appeal from the decision of the administrative courts shall lie to the highest court of the Realm. Rules governing this procedure shall be laid down by Statute’; under Article 65, ‘In the administration of justice all proceedings shall be public and oral to the widest possible extent. Laymen shall take part in criminal procedure. The cases and the form in which such participation shall take place, including what cases are to be tried by jury, shall be provided for by Statute’.
- 2.
See the Danish Judicial Appointments Council Annual Report 2012 ‘Dommerudnævnelsesrådet Årsberetning’ (Copenhagen, Danish Judicial Appointments Council, 2012). According to the Danish Judicial Appointments Council Annual Report 2013, 41 out of 47 applicants for permanent positions as a judge were law clerks or persons employed by institutions under the Ministry of Justice.
- 3.
The so-called ‘Tvind case’, see Ugeskrift for Retsvæsen 1999 at 841H.
- 4.
See the Constitutional Commission Report, Beretning om Forhandlingerne paa Rigsdagen (1849) at 2481.
Reference List
Chapters, Journals, Articles and Reports
Constitutional Commission, Beretning om Forhandlingerne paa Rigsdagen (1849) http://grundlov.dab.dk/.
Danish Judicial Appointments Council, 2013 Annual Report (Dommerudnævnelsesrådet Årsberetning) (Copenhagen, Judicial Appointments Council, 2013).
Danish Judicial Appointments Council, 2012 Annual Report (Dommerudnævnelsesrådet Årsberetning) (Copenhagen, Judicial Appointments Council, 2012).
Case Law
Judgment of 19 February 1999, the ‘Tvind case’, Ugeskrift for Retsvæsen 1999 841H.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tamm, D. (2015). Lay Judges and Professionals in Danish Courts. In: Turenne, S. (eds) Fair Reflection of Society in Judicial Systems - A Comparative Study. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18485-2_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18485-2_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-18484-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-18485-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawLaw and Criminology (R0)