Danish Verdicts
This page provides an overview of judgments concerning Denmark delivered by the European Court of Human Rights.
This page provides an overview of judgments concerning Denmark delivered by the European Court of Human Rights.
The case concerns Abdeelhadi Abbas Makki, a Danish national born in 1995 and residing in Slagelse. Mr Makki suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. On 3 June 2016, he was involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric ward, where he attacked a nurse with a fork later the same day. Following the incident, he was placed in mechanical restraint using belt, wrist and ankle restraints. The restraint lasted from 3 June to 16 June 2016.
Before the Court, the case concerned only the period from 5 June 2016 at 09:30 until 16 June 2016 at 20:18. Relying on Article 3 of the Convention (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), the applicant complained that the continued use of restraints had exceeded what was strictly necessary.
The Court accepted that the applicant posed a genuine risk. However, it found that the continuation of the restraint for more than eleven days had not been sufficiently justified, including during the period in which the authorities were awaiting his transfer to a more suitable high-security psychiatric facility.
The European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.
Link to judgment: MAKKI v. DENMARK
The applicants, Birthe Rasmussen, Walaa Elnakory and Romaysa Rasmussen, are Danish and Egyptian nationals born in 1954, 1984 and 2012 respectively. They reside in Hjørring and Alexandria, Egypt.
The case concerns the death of J.F. in prison in November 2017. The applicants are his mother, spouse and child.
On the day before his death, a fellow inmate informed prison staff that J.F. had taken a bottle containing 100 methadone tablets from the prison dispensary. An autopsy report concluded that the cause of death was poisoning caused by methadone, oxycodone, fentanyl and benzodiazepines. Civil proceedings brought by the applicants did not result in liability being established.
Relying on Articles 2 (right to life) and 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the Convention, the applicants argued that the prison authorities had failed to provide adequate supervision and medical care and had therefore failed to protect J.F.’s life.
The European Court of Human Rights found no violation of Article 2 of the Convention.
Link to judgment: RASMUSSEN AND OTHERS v. DENMARK
Further case-law can be accessed through the HUDOC database, which provides access to the Court’s jurisprudence, including Grand Chamber, Chamber and Committee judgments and decisions, communicated cases, advisory opinions and legal summaries. The database also includes the case-law of the former European Commission of Human Rights, as well as resolutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers.
HUDOC database: HUDOC Database