Are you provisionally charged in a criminal case?

As a person who has been provisionally charged, your rights include the following:

• The right to legal representation and the opportunity to choose your own defence counsel;
• The right to be informed of what you have been provisionally charged with;
• The right not to give a statement to the police or in court;
• The right to be heard;
• The right to be brought before a judge within 24 hours if the police wish to detain you for longer;
• The right to access the material in the case against you;
• The right to be present in court when your case is heard;
• The right to a fair trial;
• The right to have your case decided within a reasonable time.

You may be arrested if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that you have committed a criminal offence.

The police may arrest you in order to ensure your presence, prevent you from committing further crimes or prevent you from interfering with the investigation. An arrest must be necessary.

You must be informed as soon as possible what you have been provisionally charged with and when you were arrested.

You must give the police your name, address and date of birth if they ask you to do so.

In connection with an arrest, the police are entitled to search you for any objects that could be used to cause harm or aid an escape, or that could be dangerous to you or others. The police may also take possession of any money you have on you while you are under arrest.

An arrest may last for a maximum of 24 hours. The police must release you as soon as there is no longer any reason to deprive you of your liberty. If the police wish to deprive you of your liberty for more than 24 hours, a judge must decide in a preliminary statutory hearing (grundlovsforhør) whether this can be done.

The police will charge you provisionally if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that you have committed a criminal offence.

When you are provisionally charged, the police will inform you of the offence you are charged with. The police will also inform you of your rights as a person who has been provisionally charged. Among other things, you have the right not to give a statement and the right to a defence counsel.

Before interviewing you, the police must tell you what you have been provisionally charged with and inform you that you are not required to give a statement. You decide whether you want to give a statement. You are not required to provide information to assist in solving the case.

You must, however, give the police your name, address and date of birth if they ask you to do so.

The interview will normally take place at a police station. It may also take place at the scene of the offence or wherever the police make contact with you, for example at your home address. In some cases, the interview may be conducted by telephone.

Your defence counsel may also be present during the interview if you wish. Your defence counsel may also ask questions during the interview.

The police will record your statement in a police report. You will have the opportunity to review the report and sign it if you agree with what it says. You are not required to read or sign the police report. If you have any additions or corrections, these must also be included in the report.

Sometimes it will be necessary to interview you several times during the investigation.

If you are not arrested, it is up to you whether you wish to go with the police to the police station to be interviewed. It is also up to you whether you wish to attend an interview with the police.

If you are under 18, a representative from your municipality will normally be present during the interview.

Although it is voluntary whether you wish to make a statement, you have the right to be heard in the case. This means that you can make a statement about the case and the information it contains. You or your defence counsel can also ask the police to investigate matters that may be relevant to the case. This may involve interviewing witnesses or carrying out technical examinations such as fingerprints, DNA analysis, obtaining telecommunications data, examining video surveillance, etc.

Preliminary statutory hearing

An arrest may last for a maximum of 24 hours before you must be brought before a judge. The police must release you as soon as there is no longer any reason to deprive you of your liberty.

If the police wish to deprive you of your liberty for more than 24 hours, a judge must decide whether your arrest should be upheld, whether you should be detained on remand or whether you should be released. This takes place in court at a preliminary statutory hearing (grundlovsforhør).

Your defence counsel will be present with you at the preliminary statutory hearing. In addition to the judge and your defence counsel, a prosecutor will be present.

All court hearings are generally open to the public in Denmark. Members of the public and journalists may therefore be present in court when the preliminary statutory hearing begins. In some cases, the court may decide to restrict the public’s access by ordering that the hearing must be held in private.

When the preliminary statutory hearing begins, the judge will ask you for your name, date of birth and the time at which you were arrested. The prosecutor will then read out the provisional charge, and the judge will ask you and your defence counsel how you respond to the charge and whether you wish to make a statement. It is voluntary whether you wish to make a statement at the preliminary statutory hearing.

The judge decides whether you are to be remanded in custody.

Remand custody / When can you be remanded in custody?

You may be remanded in custody if, among other things, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that you have committed a serious offence which the police need to investigate without risking that you abscond, commit the same type of offence again, communicate with others or destroy evidence.

You may also be remanded in custody if there are particularly strong grounds to suspect that you have committed a serious offence, and society cannot accept that you remain at liberty while the case is being investigated.

The judge decides how long you will be remanded in custody, but you can only be remanded in custody for a maximum of four weeks at a time. The judge sets a time limit for the period of remand.

If you disagree with being remanded in custody, you can ask the high court to review the matter. Your defence counsel will advise you about this possibility.

The police or your defence counsel may notify your relatives that you have been remanded in custody. Your relatives can also find information on the Danish Prison and Probation Service (Danmarks Fængsler) website about what to do while you are deprived of your liberty.

Extension of remand custody

Before the time limit for your remand in custody expires, that is, before the maximum four-week period has elapsed, a judge must again decide whether your remand should be extended if the police wish you to remain in custody. This is known as a ”fristforlængelse” in Danish (extension of the time limit).

The time limit is often extended via video link, with you and your defence counsel at the jail, the judge in court and the prosecutor in their office. The prosecutor will explain the progress of the police investigation and argue that you should remain in custody, while your defence counsel will argue that you should be released. If the judge decides that you are to remain in custody, a new time limit of up to four weeks will be set.

You and your defence counsel may also give your consent in advance to extending the remand by up to four weeks.

Supervised visits and correspondence

When you are remanded in custody, you will be placed in a jail or prison under the authority of the Danish Prison and Probation Service. As a general rule, you are allowed to receive visitors. Anyone who wishes to visit you must apply to the police for permission.

While you are held in remand custody, the police may supervise visits or decide that you are not allowed to receive visitors. This is to prevent you from interfering with the investigation. You always have the right to receive an unsupervised visit from your defence counsel.

As a general rule, you may receive and send letters. The police may read your letters and in some cases decide whether to allow them to be sent or received, for example if their contents could harm the investigation. When visits and correspondence are subject to supervision, your defence counsel may not pass on information to your relatives without the permission of the police either.

The Danish Prison and Probation Service’s website provides guidance for relatives of persons deprived of their liberty.

When the police have completed their investigation, the Prosecution Service decides what should happen next. If the Prosecution Service considers that there is sufficient evidence for you to be convicted, the case will be referred to the court. In other words, the Prosecution Service brings formal charges against you. You and your defence counsel will be notified when you go from being provisionally charged to being formally charged. You continue to have the same rights.

It may be some time before your case is heard by the court, as the court hears many criminal cases. Your defence counsel can advise you throughout the process and will be with you when your case is heard in court.

You can read more about the stages of a criminal case here.