APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
Aarhus. The capital city, with almost a quarter of the total population, has instead of the conventional district, a Town Court (byret), served by 22 judges, who preside over 17 divisions, each specializing in a different type of case. Aarhus similarly has a Town Court, but with only eight, more broadly specialized, judges.
One step up from the district courts are the two superior courts (landsretter), the Eastern Court, with jurisdiction over Copenhagen and the islands, and the Western Court, for mainland Jutland. The landsretter have original jurisdiction in all criminal cases involving a possible penalty of 8 years' imprisonment or longer, and in major civil cases. They hear appeals from the district courts and are unique in that they are the only courts using the jury system. The Easter Court consists of 33 judges; the Western, of 20. At least three judges must sit in a case tried by the superior court. In criminal cases coming before this tribunal 12 jurymen must sit with the 3 judges. The jury alone may pass on the guilt or innocence of the accused. Unanimity of the jurors is not requires; a majority of eight determines the issue. A verdict of guilty, however, may be overturned by the three judges. If the final verdict of the court is guilty, the sentence is determined by the jury and judges acting jointly.
The highest court of the land, the Supreme Court (Hojesteret), has no original jurisdiction but hears cases only on appeal. In the Danish legal system only a single appeal is normally allowed, and thus most cases reaching the Supreme Court originate in a superior court. At least 5 judges must participate, and in extremely important instances the total membership of 15 sits.
In addition to the regular courts, there are the Maritime and Commercial Court in Copenhagen and several other specialized courts having jurisdiction over cases such as those involving labor-management, civil service, and ecclesiastical disputes. Since the abolition of the military courts in 1919, all court-martial cases have been tried in the ordinary courts.
The Danish judicial system takes care to provide equal justice. Indigents, whether defendants or plaintiffs, are supplied with free legal counsel. To insure further the rights of the individual, the Constitution states that any person arrested shall be brought before a court within 24 hours. The legal concept of trial by one's peers is met by the use of lay judges assisting the professional magistrates in the district courts. The law expressly enjoins the prosecution to avoid proceedings except against persons believed to be culpable, and it is a fundamental principle that an accused person shall have the benefit of any reasonable doubt. A lawyer, public prosecutor, or judge must by law be a graduate of Danish law school, possess high character, and have the experience and demonstrated ability to carry out his duties.
7. Regional and local government
As a small, homogenous, relatively prosperous country, Denmark has enjoyed efficient local administration in the 20th century. The little friction that has occurred from time to time was more often traceable to human error than to institutional malfunction. By law the national government remains supreme over local government in all fields. By evolution this supremacy has been reinforced by diminishing regional differences and clear popular acquiescence in ultimate centralized direction.
Regional and local governments to an increasing extent have become administrative arms of the national government. While the national government may legislate broad programs, however, only the local authorities have the intimate knowledge to apply those programs to local needs. In this regard the general European quest for specific local initiatives, seen notably in the student manifestations of the late 1960s, has had some impact on Danish legal prerogatives, as has the transition of Denmark from a principally agricultural to a principally industrial economy. Thus, the enhanced emphasis in the national school system on technical and vocational education has been made responsive to specific local economic needs as defined by local authorities, and the rapid industrial development of the 1950s and 1960s has led to a significant change in the administrative subdivision of the small nation.
Prior to April 1970 the government hierarchy in agricultural Denmark reflected the essential separateness of urban life by subordinating some 1,300 rural municipalities to the 25 provinces (amter, which, in turn, answered to the national government), while separating out 88 urban municipalities to be answerable directly to the Ministry of Interior in Copenhagen, plus the capital city itself, with an independent status dating from ancient times and a structure all its own. The antiquated system endured partly because it permitted a degree of rural overrepresentation in parliament, and agricultural interests remained sufficiently strong to block reform. The administrative reform that went into effect in 1970 left the status of Copenhagen relatively intact
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110016-6
