Constitution of Denmark
The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark, also known as the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution, is the constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark, applying equally in the Realm of Denmark: Denmark proper, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The first democratic constitution was adopted in 1849, replacing the 1665 absolutist constitution. The current constitution is from 1953. The Constitutional Act has been changed a few times. The wording is general enough to still apply today.
The constitution defines Denmark as a constitutional monarchy, governed through a parliamentary system. It creates separations of power between the Folketing, which enact laws, the government, which implements them, and the courts, which makes judgment about them. In addition it gives a number of fundamental rights to people in Denmark, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom of assembly. The constitution applies to all persons in Denmark, not just Danish citizens.
Its adoption in 1849 ended an absolute monarchy and introduced democracy. Denmark celebrates the adoption of the Constitution on 5 June—the date in which the first Constitution was ratified—every year as Constitution Day.
The main principle of the Constitutional Act was to limit the King's power. It creates a comparatively weak constitutional monarch who is dependent on Ministers for advice and Parliament to draft and pass legislation. The Constitution of 1849 established a bicameral parliament, the Rigsdag, consisting of the Landsting and the Folketing. The most significant change in the Constitution of 1953 was the abolishment of the Landsting, leaving the unicameral Folketing. It also enshrined fundamental civil rights, which remain in the current constitution: such as habeas corpus, private property rights and freedom of speech.
The Danish Parliament cannot make any laws which may be repugnant or contrary to the Constitutional Act. While Denmark has no constitutional court, laws can be declared unconstitutional and rendered void by the Supreme Court of Denmark.
Changes to the Act must be passed by the Folketing in two consecutive parliamentary terms and then approved by the electorate through a national referendum.
History
Background
During the late Middle Ages and the renaissance, the power of the king was tempered by a håndfæstning, a coronation charter each king had to sign before being accepted as king by the nobility. This tradition was abandoned in 1665 when King Frederick III of Denmark managed to establish a hereditary absolute monarchy by Lex Regia. This was Europe's only formal absolutist constitution. Under Lex Regia, absolute power was inherited for almost 200 years.In the beginning of the 19th century, there was a growing democratic movement in Denmark and King Frederick VI only made some small concessions, such as creation of Consultative Estate Assemblies in 1834. But these only served to help the political movements, of which the National Liberals and the Friends of Peasants were the forerunners. When Christian VIII became king in 1839, he continued the political line of only making small democratic concessions, while upholding the absolute monarchy.
At this time Denmark was in a personal union between kingdom of Denmark and the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg called The Unitary State, but the Schleswig-Holstein question was causing tension. Under the slogan Denmark to the Eider, the National Liberals campaigned for Schleswig to become an integral part of Denmark, while separating Holstein and Lauenburg from Denmark. Holstein and Lauenburg were then part of the German Confederation, while Schleswig was not. On the other side, German nationalists in Schleswig were keen to keep Schleswig and Holstein together, and wanted Schleswig to join the German Confederation. Christian VIII had reached the conclusion that, should the Unitary State survive, a constitution covering both Denmark, Schleswig and Holstein was necessary. Before his death in January 1848, he advised his heir Frederick VII to create such a constitution.
In March 1848 following a series of European revolutions, the Schleswig-Holstein question became increasingly tense. Following an ultimatum from Schleswig and Holstein, political pressure from the National Liberals intensified, and Frederick VII replaced the sitting government with the March Cabinet, where four leaders of the Friends of Peasants and the National Liberals served, among those D.G. Monrad and Orla Lehmann, both National Liberals. The ultimatum from Schleswig and Holstein was rejected, and the First Schleswig War started.
Drafting and signing of the first constitution (1849)
Monrad drafted the first draft of the Constitution, which was then edited by Lehmann. Sources of inspiration included the Constitution of Norway of 1814 and the Constitution of Belgium. The draft was laid before the Constitutional Assembly of the Realm. This assembly, which consisted of 114 members directly elected in October 1848, and 38 members appointed by Frederick VII, was overall split in three different groupings: the National Liberals, the Friends of Peasants, and the Conservatives. A key topic for discussion was the political system, and the rules governing elections.On 25 May 1849, the Constitutional Assembly approved the new constitution, and on 5 June 1849 it was signed by Frederick VII. For this reason, it is also known as the June constitution. Today, 5 June is known as Constitution Day.
The new constitution establish the Rigsdag, a bicameral parliament, with an upper house called the Landsting, and a lower house called the Folketing. While the voting rights for both chambers were the same, the elections to the Landsting was indirect, and the eligibility requirements harder. The constitution gave voting rights to 15% of the Danish population. Due to the First Schleswig war, the constitution was not put into force for Schleswig; instead this question was postponed to after the war.
Parallel constitution for the Unitary State (1855–1866)
Following the First Schleswig war, which ended in Danish victory in 1852, the London Protocol reaffirmed the territorial integrity of the Unitary State, and solved an impending succession issue, since Frederick VII was childless. Since the June constitution was not put into force in Schleswig, the Schleswig-Holstein question remained unsolved. Work for creating a common constitution for the Unitary State started, and in 1855 the rigsdag accepted Helstatsforfatning, which covered affairs common to Denmark, Schleswig and Holstein. At the same time, the June constitution was limited to only be applicable in Denmark.In 1863 this constitution was changed, the new one was called Novemberforfatningen. This was shortly before Second Schleswig war, where Denmark lost control of Schleswig and Holstein, rendering the parallel constitution void.
The Revised Constitution (1866)
In 1866, the defeat in the Second Schleswig War, and the loss of Schleswig-Holstein led to tightened election rules for the Upper Chamber, which paralyzed legislative work, leading to provisional laws.The conservative Højre had pressed for a new constitution, giving the upper chamber of parliament more power, making it more exclusive and switching power to the conservatives from the original long standing dominance of the National Liberals, who lost influence and was later disbanded. This long period of dominance of the Højre party under the leadership of Jacob Brønnum Scavenius Estrup with the backing of the king Christian IX of Denmark was named the provisorietid because the government was based on provisional laws instead of parliamentary decisions. This also gave rise to a conflict with the Liberals at that time and now known as Venstre. This constitutional battle concluded in 1901 with the so-called with the liberals as victors. At this point the king and Højre finally accepted parliamentarism as the ruling principle of Danish political life. This principle was not codified until the 1953 constitution.
Universal suffrage (1915)
In 1915, the tightening from 1866 was reversed, and women were given the right to vote. Also, a new requirement for changing the constitution was introduced. Not only must the new constitution be passed by two consecutive parliaments, it must also pass a referendum, where 45% of the electorate must vote yes. This meant that Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning's attempt to change the Constitution in 1939 failed.Reunion with Schleswig (1920)
In 1920, a new referendum was held to change the Constitution again, allowing for the reunification of Denmark following the defeat of Germany in World War I. This followed a referendum held in the former Danish territories of Schleswig-Holstein regarding how the new border should be placed. This resulted in upper Schleswig becoming Danish, today known as Southern Jutland, and the rest remained German.Current Constitution (1953)
In 1953, the fourth constitution abolished the Upper Chamber, giving Denmark a unicameral parliament. It also enabled females to inherit the throne, but the change still favored boys over girls. Finally, the required number of votes in favor of a change of the Constitution was decreased to the current value of 40% of the electorate.Summary of the constitution
The Danish constitution consists of 89 sections, structured into 11 chapters. The Folketing have published the constitution with explanatory annotations; it is available in both Danish and English through their website.Constitutional institutions
The Constitution establishes Denmark as a constitutional monarchy, where the monarch serves as a ceremonial Head of state. The title of monarch is hereditary and passed on to the firstborn child, with equal rights for sons and daughters.The political system of Denmark can be described as a democracy with a parliamentary system of governance. The powers of the state is separated into 3 different branches. The legislative branch held by the Folketing, the executive branch held by the Danish government, and the judicial branch held by the Courts of Denmark.