JJUA55219U Introduction to Danish Law

Volume 2018/2019
Content

This course is for international students, who wish to learn about Danish law.

Even if students do not end up working in Denmark, this course aims to inspire them to look at their own legal systems with a new perspective and to consider the alternatives to rules, conventions, and legal outcomes in their home jurisdiction. This experience will doubtless prove useful in a time where legal work has to be mindful of comparative laws and practice because of the increased globalization of the legal profession. The course aims to inspire students to design new and comparatively informed solutions to familiar problems at home.

The course will of course also give students a good understanding of the Danish society. 

This course provides students with an introduction to the Danish legal system and selected areas of Danish law.

Some of the topics covered are:

  • Danish legal history
  • The specific nature of Scandinavian law when compared to the laws of jurisdictions in civil and common law traditions
  • legal method and sources of law in Denmark
  • Constitution
  • Regulation of human rights in national law, EU law and the European Declaration of Human Rights
  • The relationship with international law, including the Ajos-case which set limits to the use of certain EU-principles in Denmark
  • The legal status of Greenland and Faroe Islands
  • A closer look at the court-system
  • Principles of administrative law
  • The “Danish model” of labour law, in which government institutions and parliament only have a limited role
  • Family law and inheritance law
  • Criminal law and justice in Denmark
Learning Outcome

Knowledge:

  • Knowledge about the Danish legal history and how that history has influenced the current legal system.
  • Knowledge about the Danish legal method and more broadly the way Scandinavian law works
  • Knowledge about the Danish constitution, including how it regulates the major institutions in Denmark and how it regulates human rights compared to the regulation in EU law and the European Declaration of Human Rights
  • Knowledge of how Danish law regulates the use of international law in Denmark, and how Greenland and Faroe Islands are regulated in Danish law
  • Knowledge of the structure and processes in the Danish court system
  • Knowledge about the principles and central rules in Danish administrative law, labour law, family law, inheritance law and criminal law

 

Skills:

  • Ability to identify and analyse defining differences between legal systems
  • Ability to construct a legal argument based on the Danish legal method
  • Ability to critically discuss the division of power and the regulation of human rights in the Danish constitution
  • Ability to critically discuss the relationship between Danish law and international law as well as the regulation of Greenland and Faroe Islands.
  • Ability to find the answers to legal questions within Danish administrative law, labour law, family law, inheritance law and criminal law
  • Ability to analyse and discuss the background and reason for Danish rules

 

Competences:

  • Ability to apply the Danish legal method to new legal areas and legal questions
  • Ability to identify shortcomings in Danish law and suggest solutions, while considering the coherence of Danish law
  • Ability to reflect critically on other legal systems and how legal systems can learn from each other
  • Ability to construct legal solutions for one legal system based on experiences from another legal system

Legal Method in Danish Law” by Peter Blume - www.djoef-forlag.dk/​book-info/​legal-method-danish-law

This book describes how legal method is used within the Danish legal system. Its target group is foreign lawyers and law students who have an interest in knowing how Danish law commonly is determined and applied.

Further required materials will be available in Absalon.

Fluency in English.
Handouts, Power Points
Some judgments and cases that will be gone through in class.
Required readings cover approximately 375 pages.
This course is only for International Students. Danish students can not participate in this cource.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Preparation
  • 178,25
  • Seminar
  • 28
  • Total
  • 206,25
Collective
Feedback by final exam (In addition to the grade)
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral examination, 20 minutes
Oral exam without preparation, 20 minutes
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Exam period

Week 12, 2019

Re-exam

Week 31, 2019 - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday