Denmark - Constitution
{ Adopted on: 5 June 1953
}
{ ICL Document Status:
1992 }
Section
1 [Scope]
This Constitution applies
to all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark..
Section
2 [State Form]
The form of government shall
be that of a constitutional monarchy. The Royal Power is inherited by men
and women in accordance with the provisions of the Succession to the Throne
Act, 27th March, 1953.
Section
3 [State Powers]
The legislative power is
jointly vested in the King and the Parliament. The executive power is vested
in the King. The judicial power is vested in the courts of justice.
Section
4 [State Church]
The Evangelical Lutheran
Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and, as such, it shall
be supported by the State.
Section
5 [Reigning no Other Countries]
The King shall not reign
in other countries except with the consent of the Parliament.
Section
6 [Member of the State Church]
The King shall be a member
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Section
7 [Of Age With 18 Years]
The King shall be of age
when he has completed his eighteenth year. The same provision shall apply
to the Successor to the Throne.
Section
8 [Sworn on the Constitution]
The King, prior to his accession
to the Throne, shall make a solemn Declaration in writing before the Council
of State that he will faithfully adhere to the Constitution Act. Two identical
originals of the Declaration shall be executed, one of which shall be handed
over to the Parliament to be preserved in its archives, and the other shall
be filed in the Public Record Office. Where the Kin, owing to his absence
or for other reasons, is unable to sign the aforesaid Declaration immediately
on his accession to the Throne, the government shall, unless otherwise
provided by Statute, be conducted by the Council of State until such Declaration
has been signed. Where the King already as Successor to the Throne has
signed the aforesaid Declaration, he shall accede to the Throne immediately
on its vacancy.
Section
9 [Vacancy of the Throne]
Provisions relating to the
exercising of sovereign power in the event of the minority, illness, or
absence of the King shall be laid down by Statute. Where on the vacancy
of the Throne there is no Successor to the Throne, the Parliament shall
elect a King and establish the future order of succession to the Throne.
Section
10 [Civil List]
(1) The Civil List of the
King shall be granted for the duration of his reign by Statute. Such Statute
shall also provide for the castles, palaces, and other State property which
shall be placed at the disposal of the King for his use.
(2) The Civil List shall
not be chargeable with any debt.
Section
11 [Annuities]
Members of the Royal House
may be granted annuities by Statute. Such annuities shall not be enjoyed
outside the Realm except with the consent of the Parliament.
Section
12 [Supreme Authority]
Subject to the limitations
laid down in this Constitution Act the King shall have the supreme authority
in all the affairs of the Realm,. and he shall exercise such supreme authority
through the Ministers..
Section
13 [Responsibility of Ministers]
The King shall not be answerable
for his actions; his person shall be sacrosanct. The Ministers shall be
responsible for the conduct of the government; their responsibility shall
be determined by Statute.
Section
14 [Appointing Ministers]
The King shall appoint and
dismiss the Prime Minister and the other Ministers. He shall decide upon
the number of Ministers and upon the distribution of the duties of government
among them. The signature of the King to resolutions relating to legislation
and government shall make such resolutions valid, provided that the signature
of the King is accompanied by the signature or signatures of one or more
Ministers. A Minister who has signed a resolution shall be responsible
for the resolution.
Section
15 [Vote of No Confidence]
(1) A Minister shall not
remain in office after the Parliament has passed a vote of no confidence
in him.
(2) Where the Parliament
passes a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, he shall ask for
the dismissal of the Ministry unless writs are to be issued for a general
election. Where a vote of censure has been passed on a Ministry, or it
has asked for its dismissal, it shall continue in office until a new Ministry
has been appointed. Ministers who continue in office as aforesaid shall
do only what is necessary for the purpose of the uninterrupted conduct
of official business.
Section
16 [Impeachment]
Ministers may be impeached
by the King or the Parliament with maladministration of office. The High
Court of the Realm shall try cases of impeachment brought against Ministers
for maladministration of office.
Section
17 [Council of State]
(1) The body of Ministers
shall form the Council of State, in which the Successor to the Throne shall
have a seat when he is of age. The Council of State shall be presided over
by the King except in the instance mentioned in Section 8,
and in the instances where the Legislature in pursuance of Section 9
may have delegated the conduct of the government to the Council of State.
(2) All Bills and important
government measures shall be discussed in the Council of State.
Section
18 [Council of Ministers]
If the King should be prevented
from holding a Council of State he may entrust the discussion of a matter
to a Council of Ministers. Such Council of Ministers shall consist of all
the Ministers, and it shall be presided over by the Prime Minister. The
vote of each Minister shall be entered in a minute book, and any question
shall be decided by a majority of votes. The Prime Minister shall submit
the Minutes, signed by the Ministers present, to the King, who shall decide
whether he will immediately consent to the recommendations of the Council
of Ministers, or have the matter brought before him in a Council of State.
Section
19 [Foreign Affairs]
(1) The King shall act on
behalf of the Realm in international affairs. Provided that without the
consent of the Parliament the King shall not undertake any act whereby
the territory of the Realm will be increased or decrease, nor shall he
enter into any obligation which for fulfillment requires the concurrence
of the Parliament, or which otherwise is of major importance; nor shall
the King, except with the consent of the Parliament, terminate any international
treaty entered into with the consent of the Parliament.
(2) Except for purposes
of defence against an armed attack upon the Realm or Danish forces the
King shall not use military force against any foreign state without the
consent of the Parliament. Any measure which the King may take in pursuance
of this provision shall immediately be submitted to the Parliament. If
the Parliament is not in session it shall be convoked immediately.
(3) The Parliament shall
appoint from among its Members a Foreign Affairs Committee, which the Government
shall consult prior to the making of any decision of major importance to
foreign policy. Rules applying to the Foreign Affairs Committee shall be
laid down by Statute.
Section
20 [Delegation of Powers]
(1) Powers vested in the
authorities of the Realm under this Constitution Act may, to such extent
as shall be provided by Statute, be delegated to international authorities
set up by mutual agreement with other states for the promotion of international
rules of law and co-operation.
(2) For the passing of a
Bill dealing with the above a majority of five-sixths of the Members of
the Parliament shall be required. If this majority is not obtained, whereas
the majority required for the passing of ordinary Bills is obtained, and
if the Government maintains it, the Bill shall be submitted to the Electorate
for approval or rejection in accordance with the rules for Referenda laid
down in Section 42.
Section
21 [Introduction of Bills]
The King may cause Bills
and other measures to be introduced in the Parliament.
Section
22 [Royal Assent]
A Bill passed by the Parliament
shall become law if it receives the Royal Assent not later than thirty
days after it was finally passed. The King shall order the promulgation
of Statutes and shall see to it that they are carried into effect.
Section
23 [Provisional Laws]
In an emergency the King
may when the Parliament cannot assemble, issue provisional laws, provided
that they shall not be at variance with the Constitution Act, and that
they shall always immediately on the assembling of the Parliament be submitted
to it for approval or rejection.
Section
24 [Prerogative of Mercy and Amnesty]
The King shall have the
prerogative of mercy and of granting amnesty. The King may grant Ministers
a pardon for sentences passed upon them by the High Court of the Realm
only with the consent of the Parliament.
Section
25 [Grants]
The King may either directly
or through the relevant Government authorities make such grants and grant
such exemptions from the Statutes as are either warranted under the rules
existing before the 5th June, 1849, or have been warranted by a Statute
passed since that date.
Section
26 [Coinage]
The King may cause money
to be coined as provided by Statute.
Section
27 [Appointment of Civil Cervants]
(1) Rules governing the
appointment of civil servants shall be laid down by Statute. No person
shall be appointed a civil servant unless he is a Danish subject. Civil
servants who are appointed by the King shall make a solemn declaration
to the effect that they will adhere to the Constitution Act.
(2) Rules governing the
dismissal, transfer, and pensioning of civil servants shall be laid down
by Statute, confer Section 64.
(3) Civil servants appointed
by the King shall only be transferred without their consent if they do
not suffer any loss in the income accruing from their posts or offices,
and if they have been offered the choice of such transfer or retirement
on pension under the general rules and regulations.
Section
28 [Membership]
The Parliament shall consist
of one assembly of not more than one hundred and seventy-nine Members,
of whom two Members shall be elected on the Faeroe Islands and two Members
in Greenland..
Section
29 [Right to Vote]
(1) Any Danish subject whose
permanent residence is in the Realm, and who has the age qualification
for suffrage provided for in Subsection (2) shall have the right to vote
at Parliament elections,. provided that he has not been declared incapable
of conducting his own affairs. It shall be laid down by Statute to what
extent conviction and public assistance amounting to poor relief within
the meaning of the law shall entail disfranchisement.
(2) The age qualification
for suffrage shall be such as has resulted from the Referendum held under
the Act dated the 25th March, 1953. Such age qualification for suffrage
may be altered at any time by Statute. A Bill passed by the Parliament
for the purpose of such enactment shall receive the Royal Assent only when
the provision on the alteration in the age qualification for suffrage has
been put to a Referendum in accordance with Section 42
(5), which was not resulted in the rejection of the provision.
Section
30 [Eligibility for Membership]
(1) Any person who has a
right to vote at Parliament elections shall be eligible for membership
of the Parliament, unless he has been convicted of an act which in the
eyes of the public makes him unworthy of being a Member of the Parliament.
(2) Civil servants who are
elected Members of the Parliament shall not require permission from the
Government to accept their election.
Section
31 [Elections]
(1) The Members of the Parliament
shall be elected by general and direct ballot.
(2) Rules for the exercise
of the suffrage shall be laid down by the Elections Act, which, to secure
equal representation of the various opinions of the Electorate, shall prescribe
the manner of election and decide whether proportional representation shall
be adopted with or without elections in single-member constituencies.
(3) In determining the number
of seats to be allotted to each area regard shall be paid to the number
of inhabitants, the number of electors, and the density of population.
(4) The Elections Act shall
provide rules governing the election of substitutes and their admission
to the Parliament, and also rules for the procedure to be adopted where
a new election is required.
(5) Special rules for the
representation of Greenland in the Parliament may be laid down by Statute.
Section
32 [Period]
(1) The members of the Parliament
shall be elected for a period of four years.(
2) The King may at any time
issue writs for a new election with the effect that the existing seats
be vacated upon a new election. Provided that writs for an election shall
not be issued after the appointment of a new Ministry until the Prime Minister
has presented himself to the Parliament.
(3) The Prime Minister shall
cause a general election to be held before the expiration of the period
for which the Parliament has been elected.
(4) No seats shall be vacated
until a new election has been held.
(5) Special rules may be
provided by Statute for the commencement and determination of Faeroe Islands
and Greenland representation in the Parliament.
(6) If a Member of the Parliament
becomes ineligible his seating the Parliament shall become vacant.
(7) On approval of his election
each new Member shall make a solemn declaration that he will adhere to
the Constitution Act.
Section
33 [Validity of Election]
The Parliament itself shall
determine the validity of the election of any Member and decide whether
a Member has lost his eligibility or not.
Section
34 [Inciolability]
The Parliament shall be
inviolable. Any person who attacks its security or freedom, or any person
who issues or obeys any command aiming thereat shall be deemed guilty of
high treason.
Part V [Procedures of the Parliament]
Section
35 [Constitutional Session]
(1) A newly elected Parliament
shall assemble at twelve o'clock noon on the twelfth week-day after the
day of election, unless the King has previously convoked a meeting of its
Members.
(2) Immediately after the
proving of the mandates the Parliament shall constitute itself by the election
of a President and Vice-Presidents.
Section
36 [Sessional Year]
(1) The sessional year of
the Parliament shall commence on the first Tuesday of October, and shall
continue until the first Tuesday of October of the following year.
(2) On the first day of
the sessional year at twelve o'clock noon the Members shall assemble for
a new session of the Parliament.
Section
37 [Location]
The Parliament shall meet
in the place where the Government has its seat. Provided that in extraordinary
circumstances the Parliament may assemble elsewhere in the Realm.
Section
38 [Account of the General State of the Country]
(1) At the first meeting
in the sessional year the Prime Minister shall render an account of the
general state of the country and of the measures proposed by the Government.
(2) Such account shall be
made the subject of a general debate.
Section
39 [Meetings]
The President of the Parliament
shall convene the meetings of the Parliament, stating the Order of the
Day. The President shall convene a meeting of the Parliament upon a requisition
being made in writing by at least two-fifths of the Members of the Parliament
or the Prime Minister, stating the Order of the Day.
Section
40 [Privileges of Ministers]
The Ministers shall ex officio
be entitled to attend the sittings of the Parliament and to address the
Parliament during the debates as often as they may desire, provided that
they abide by the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament. They shall be entitled
to vote only when they are Members of the Parliament.
Section
41 [Bills]
(1) Any Member of the Parliament
shall be entitled to introduce Bills and other measures.
(2) No Bill shall be finally
passed until it has been read three times in the Parliament.
(3) Two-fifths of the Members
of the Parliament may request of the President that the third reading of
a Bill shall not take place until twelve week-days after its passing the
second reading. The request shall be made in writing and signed by the
Members making it. Provided that there shall be no such postponement in
connection with Finance Bills, Supplementary Appropriation Bills, Provisional
Appropriation Bills, Government Loan Bills, Naturalization Bills, Expropriation
Bills, Indirect Taxation Bills, and, in emergencies, Bills the enactment
of which cannot be postponed owing to the intent of the Act.
(4) In the case of a new
election and at the end of the sessional year all Bills and other measures
which have not been finally passed, shall be dropped.
Section
42 [Referendum]
(1) Where a Bill has been
passed by the Parliament, one-third of the Members of the Parliament may
within three week-days from the final passing of the Bill request of the
President that the Bill be subjected to a Referendum. Such request shall
be made in writing and signed by the Members making the request.
(2) Except in the instance
mentioned in Subsection (7), no Bill which may be subjected to a Referendum,
confer Subsection (6), shall receive the Royal Assent before the expiration
of the time limit mentioned in Subsection (1), or before a Referendum requested
as aforesaid has take place.
(3) Where a Referendum on
a Bill has been requested the Parliament may within a period of five week-days
from the final passing of the Bill resolve that the Bill shall be withdrawn.
(4) Where the Parliament
has made no resolution in accordance with Subsection (3), notice to the
effect that the Bill will be put to a Referendum shall without delay be
given to the Prime Minister, who shall then cause the Bill to be published
together with a statement that a Referendum will be held. The Referendum
shall be held in accordance with the decision of the Prime Minister not
less than twelve and not more than eighteen week-days after the publication
of the Bill.
(5) At the Referendum votes
shall be cast for or against the Bill. For the Bill to be rejected a majority
of the electors taking part in the voting, however, not less than thirty
per cent of all persons entitled to vote, shall have voted against the
Bill.
(6) Finance Bills, Supplementary
Appropriation Bills, Provisional Appropriation Bills, Government Loan Bills,
Civil Servants (Amendment) Bills, Salaries and Pensions Bills, Naturalization
Bills, Expropriation Bills, Taxation (Direct and Indirect) Bills, as well
as Bills introduced for the purpose of discharging existing treaty obligations
shall not be subject to a decision by Referendum. This provision shall
also apply to the Bills referred to in Sections 8,
9,
10, and 11, and to such resolutions
as are provided for in Section 19, if existing in
the form of a law, unless it has been provided by a special Act that such
resolutions shall be put to a Referendum. Amendments of the Constitution
Act shall be governed by the rules laid down in Section
88.
(7) In an emergency a Bill
that may be subjected to a Referendum may receive the Royal Assent immediately
after it has been passed, provided that the Bill contains a provision to
that effect. Where under the rules of Subsection (1) one-third of the Members
of the Parliament request a Referendum on the Bill or on the Act to which
the Royal Assent has been given, such Referendum shall be held in accordance
with the above rules. Where the act is rejected by the Referendum, an announcement
to that effect shall be made by the Prime Minister without undue delay
and not later than fourteen days after the Referendum was held. From the
date of such announcement the Act shall become ineffective.
(8) Rules for Referenda,
including the extent to which Referenda shall be held on the Faeroe Islands
and in Greenland, shall be laid down by Statute.
Section
43 [Taxes]
No taxes shall be imposed,
altered, or repealed except by Statute; nor shall any man be conscripted
or any public loan be raised except by Statute.
Section
44 [Naturalization]
(1) No alien shall be naturalized
except by Statute.
(2) The extent of the right
of aliens to become owners of real property shall be laid down by Statute.
Section
45 [Finance Bill]
(1) A Finance Bill. for
the next financial year shall be laid before the Parliament not later than
four months before the beginning of such financial year.
(2) Where it is expected
that the reading of the Finance Bill for the next financial year will not
be completed before the commencement of that financial year, a Provisional
Appropriation Bill shall be laid before the Parliament.
Section
46 [Finance Act]
(1) Taxes shall not be levied
before the Finance Act or a Provisional Appropriation Act has been passed
by the Parliament.
(2) no expenditure shall
be defrayed unless provided for by the Finance act passed by the Parliament,
or by a Supplementary Appropriation Act, or by a Provisional Appropriation
Act passed by the Parliament.
Section
47 [Auditing of Public Accounts]
(1) The Public Accounts
shall be submitted to the Parliament not later than six months after the
expiration of the financial year.
(2) The Parliament shall
elect a number of Auditors. Such Auditors shall examine the annual Public
Accounts and see that all the revenues of the State have been duly entered
therein, and that no expenditure has been defrayed unless provided for
by the Finance Act or some other Appropriation Act. The Auditors shall
be entitled to demand all necessary information, and shall have a right
of access to all necessary documents. Rules providing for the number of
Auditors and their duties shall be laid down by Statute.
(3) The Public Accounts
together with the Auditors' Report shall be submitted to the Parliament
for its decision.
Section
48 [Rules of Procedure]
The Parliament shall lay
down its own Rules of Procedure, including rules governing its conduct
of business and the maintenance of order.
Section
49 [Publicity]
The sittings of the Parliament
shall be public. Provided that the President, or such number of Members
as may be provided for by the Rules of Procedure, or a Minister shall be
entitled to demand the removal of all unauthorized persons, whereupon it
shall be decided without a debate whether the matter shall be debated at
a public or a secret sitting.
Section
50 [Participation]
In order to make a decision
more than one-half of the Members of the Parliament shall be present and
take part in the voting.
Section
51 [Committees]
The Parliament may appoint
committees from among its Members to investigate matters of general importance.
Such committees shall be entitled to demand written or oral information
both from private citizens and from public authorities.
Section
52 [Proportional Representation in Committees]
The election by the Parliament
of Members to sit on committees and of Members to perform special duties
shall be according to proportional representation.
Section
53 [Discussion]
With the consent of the
Parliament any Member thereof may submit for discussion any matter of public
interest and request a statement thereon from the Ministers.
Section
54 [Petitions]
Petitions may be submitted
tot he Parliament only through one of its Members.
Section
55 [Control of Civil and Military Administration]
By Statute shall be provided
for the appointment by the Parliament of one or two persons, who shall
not be Members of the Parliament, to control the civil and military administration
of the State.
Section
56 [Freedom of Members]
The Members of the Parliament
shall be bound solely by their own conscience and not by any directions
given by their electors.
Section
57 [Immunity of Members]
No Member of the Parliament
shall be prosecuted or imprisoned in any manner whatsoever without the
consent of the Parliament, unless he is caught in flagrante delicto. Outside
the Parliament no Member shall be held liable for his utterance in the
Parliament save by the consent of the Parliament.
Section
58 [Remuneration]
The Members of the Parliament
shall be paid such remuneration as may be Provided for in the Elections
Act.
Section
59 [Membership]
(1) The High Court of the
Realm shall consist of up to fifteen of the eldest -- according to seniority
of office -- ordinary members of the highest court of justice of the Realm,
and an equal number of members elected for six years by the Parliament
according to proportional representation. one or more substitutes shall
be elected for each elected member. No Member of the Parliament shall be
elected a member of the High Court of the Realm, nor shall a Member of
the Parliament act as a member of the High Court of the Realm. Where in
a particular instance some of the members of the highest court of justice
of the Realm are prevented from taking part in the trial of a case, an
equal number of the members of the High Court of the Realm last elected
by the Parliament shall retire from their seats..
(2) The High Court of the
Realm shall elect a president from among its members.
(3) Where a case has been
brought before the High Court of the Realm, the members elected by the
Parliament shall retain their seats in the High Court of the Realm for
the duration of such case, even if the period for which they were elected
has expired.
(4) Rules for the High court
of the Realm shall be provided by Statute.
Section
60 [Actions]
(1) The High Court of the
Realm shall try such actions as may be brought by the King or the Parliament
against Ministers.
(2) With the consent of
the Parliament the King may cause to be tried before the High Court of
the Realm also other persons for crimes which he may deem to be particularly
dangerous to the State.
Section
61 [Exercise of Judiciary Power]
The exercise of the judiciary
power shall be governed only by Statute. Extraordinary courts of justice
with judicial power shall not be established.
Section
62 [Separation of Powers]
The administration of justice
shall always remain independent of the executive power. Rules to this effect
shall be laid down by Statute.
Section
63 [Control of Executive Power]
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Section
64 [Independence of Judges]
In the performance of their
duties the judges shall be directed solely by the law.. Judges shall not
be dismissed except by judgment, nor shall they be transferred against
their will, except in the instances where a rearrangement of the courts
of justice is made. However, a judge who has completed his sixty-fifth
year may be retired, but without loss of income up to the time when he
is due for retirement on account of age.
Section
65 [Publicity]
(1) In the administration
of justice all proceedings shall be public and oral to the widest possible
extent. (2) 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.
Section
66 [Church Constitution]
The constitution of the
Established Church shall be laid down by Statute.
Section
67 [Right to Worship]
The citizens shall be entitled
to form congregations for the worship of God in a manner consistent with
their convictions,. provided that nothing at variance with good morals
or public order shall be taught or done.
Section
68 [Church Contributions]
No one shall be liable to
make personal contributions to any denomination other than the one to which
he adheres.
Section
69 [Regulation of Other Religious Bodies]
Rules for religious bodies
dissenting from the Established Church shall be laid down by Statute.
Section
70 [Freedom of Religion]
No person shall for reasons
of his creed or descent be deprived of access to complete enjoyment of
his civic and political rights, nor shall he for such reasons evade compliance
with any common civic duty.
Section
71 [Personal Liberty]
(1) Personal liberty shall
be inviolable. No Danish subject shall in any manner whatever be deprived
of his liberty because of his political or religious convictions or because
of his descent.
(2) A person shall be deprived
of his liberty only where this is warranted by law.
(3) Any person who is taken
into custody shall be brought before a judge within twenty-four hours.
Where the person taken into custody cannot be releasee immediately, the
judge shall decide, stating the grounds in an order to be given as soon
as possible and at the latest within three days, whether the person taken
into custody shall be committed to prison, and in cases where he can be
released on bail, the judge shall determine the nature and amount of such
bail. This provision may be departed from by Statute as far as Greenland
is concerned, if for local considerations such departure may be deemed
necessary.
(4) The finding given by
the judge may at once be separately appealed against by the person concerned
to a higher court of justice.
(5) No person shall be remanded
for an offence that can involve only punishment consisting of a fine or
mitigated imprisonment.
(6) outside criminal procedure
the legality of deprivation of liberty which is not by order of a judicial
authority, and which is not warranted by the legislation dealing with aliens,
shall at the request of the person who has been deprived of his liberty,
or at the request of any person acting on his behalf, be brought before
the ordinary courts of justice or other judicial authority for decision.
Rules governing this procedure shall be provided by Statute.
(7) The persons mentioned
in Subsection (6) shall be under supervision by a board set up by the Parliament,
to which board the persons concerned shall be permitted to apply.
Section
72 [Inviolability of the House]
The dwelling shall be inviolable.
House searching, seizure, and examination of letters and other papers as
well as any breach of the secrecy to be observed in postal, telegraph,
and telephone matters shall take place only under a judicial order unless
particular exception is warranted by Statute.
Section
73 [Right to Property, Expropriation]
(1) The right of property
shall be inviolable.. No person shall be ordered to cede his property except
where required by the public weal. It can be done only as provided by Statute
and against full compensation.
(2) Where a Bill relating
to the expropriation of property has been passed, one-third of the Members
of the Parliament may within three week-days from the final passing of
such Bill demand that it shall not be presented for the Royal Assent until
new elections to the Parliament have been held and the Bill has again been
passed by the Parliament assembling thereupon.
(3) Any question of the
legality of an act of expropriation and the amount of compensation may
be brought before the courts of justice. The hearing of issues relating
to the amount of the compensation may by Statute be referred to courts
of justice established for such purpose.
Section
74 [Free and Equal Access to Trade]
Any restraint of the free
and equal access to trade which is not based on the public weal, shall
be abolished by Statute.
Section
75 [Right to Work]
(1) In order to advance
the public weal efforts should be made to afford work to every able-bodied
citizen on terms that will secure his existence.
(2) Any person unable to
support himself or his dependants shall, where no other person is responsible
for his or their maintenance, be entitled to receive public assistance,
provided that he shall comply with the obligations imposed by Statute in
such respect.
Section
76 [Compulsory Schooling]
All children of school age
shall be entitled to free instruction in the elementary schools. Parents
or guardians who themselves arrange for their children or wards receiving
instruction equal to the general elementary school standard, shall not
be obliged to have their children or wards taught in elementary school.
Section
77 [Freedom of Speech]
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.
Section
78 [Freedom of Association]
(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.
Section
79 [Freedom of Assembly]
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.
Section
80 [Dissolution of Assemblies]
In case of riots the armed
forces, unless attacked, may take action only after the crowd in the name
of the King and the Law has three times been called upon to disperse, an
such warning has been unheeded.
Section
81 [Military Duty]
Every male person able to
carry arms shall be liable with his person to contribute to the defence
of his country under such rules as are laid down by Statute..
Section
82 [Local Autonomy]
The right of the municipalities
to manage their own affairs independently under the supervision of the
State shall be laid down by Statute.
Section
83 [Abolishing of Privileges]
All privileges by legislation
attached to nobility, title, and rank shall be abolished.
Section
84 [Abolishing of Estate Tails]
In future no fiefs, estates
tail inland or estates tail in personal property shall be created.
Section
85 [Exemptions for Military Forces]
The provisions of Sections
71,
78, and 79 shall only be applicable
to the defence forces subject to such limitations as are consequential
to the provisions of military laws.
Part IX [Local Governments, Iceland]
Section
86 [Local Governments]
The age qualification for
local government electors. and congregational council electors shall be
that applying at any time to Parliament electors. With reference to the
Faeroe Islands and Greenland the age qualification for local government
electors and congregational council electors shall be such as may be provided
for by Statute or fixed in accordance with Statute.
Section
87 [Iceland]
Citizens of Iceland who
enjoy equal rights with citizens of Denmark under the Danish-Icelandic
Union (Abolition), etc. Act, shall continue to enjoy the rights attached
to Danish citizenship under the provisions of the Constitution Act.
Part X [Constitutional Amendments]
Section
88 [Constitutional Amendments, Electors' Vote]
When the Parliament passes
a Bill for the purposes of a new constitutional provision, and the Government
wishes to proceed with the matter, writs shall be issued for the election
of Members of a new Parliament. If the Bill is passed unamended by the
Parliament assembling after the election, the Bill shall within six months
after its final passing be submitted to the Electors for approval or rejection
by direct voting. Rules for this voting shall be laid down by Statute.
If a majority of the persons taking part in the voting, and at least 40
per cent of the Electorate has voted in favor of the Bill as passed by
the Parliament, and if the Bill receives the Royal Assent it shall form
an integral part of the Constitution Act.
Part XI [Enacting the Constitution]
Section
89 [Abolishment of the Rigsdag]
This Constitution Act shall
come into operation at once. Provided that the Rigsdag last elected under
the Constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark Act, 5th June, 1915, as amended
on the 10th September, 1920, shall continue to exist until a general election
has been held in accordance with the rules laid down in Part IV. Until
a general election has been held the provisions laid down for the Rigsdag
in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark Act, 5th June, 1915, as amended
on the 10th September, 1020, shall remain in force.