These measures to prevent and reduce statelessness are discussed below in more detail, where provisions in
Danish law are assessed against the relevant international standards.
4.2 National legal framework
Denmark is a party to a number of international and regional conventions that deal with or have a bearing on
nationality issues including the 1961 Convention,221 the CERD,222 the ICCPR,223 CEDAW224 and the CRC.225 The most
important Council of Europe Convention ratified by Denmark226 is the ECN.227
An important reservation made by Denmark in the context of statelessness is the following reservation with regard
to Article 12 of the ECN on a right to a review:228
Denmark makes the reservation to the effect that Article 12 of the Convention shall not be binding on
Denmark.
Referring to Article 29, paragraph 2, of the Convention, Denmark wishes, in that connection, to notify the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe of the following:
Pursuant to Section 44 of the Danish Constitution, naturalization shall be granted by law. The Folketing
(Danish Parliament) and, on behalf of the Folketing, the Naturalization Committee of the Folketing are not
part of the public administration and, consequently, are not bound by the general rules of administrative law,
which implies that there is no right to an administrative review.
Introducing a right to review into the Danish procedure of considering applications for Danish nationality
by naturalization, cf. Article 12 of the Convention, would require an amendment to the Danish Constitution.
Until recently, it has been the general viewpoint that refusals of naturalization could not be reviewed by the courts.
However, this changed after the Danish Supreme Court on 13 September 2013 ruled that an applicant who had
not been included in an Act on Naturalization had a right to judicial review of whether international law obligations
had been violated, and whether the applicant for this reason could claim compensation. Such judicial review does
not violate the Constitution, which, however, precludes for instance judicial review of a claim on acquisition of
citizenship. Substantially the case dealt with discrimination based on disability (in the Naturalization Circular then
in force, Posttraumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) was singled out as a disability which could not motivate exemption
from the language requirement for naturalization). Such discrimination based on a particular diagnosis arguably
violates international human rights conventions, including Article 26 of the ICCPR, and Article 18 of the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Moreover, it may raise questions according to Article 8 of the ECHR on
respect for a person’s private life in conjunction with Article 14 on prohibition of discrimination.229 The Supreme
Court referred the case to the Eastern High Court for reconsideration.230
221
The Convention entered into force in Denmark on 9 October 1977.
222
The Convention entered into force in Denmark on 8 January 1972.
223
The Convention entered into force in Denmark on 23 March 1976.
224
The Convention entered into force in Denmark on 21 May 1983.
225
The Convention entered into force in Denmark on 18 August 1991.
226
Denmark has not ratified the 2006 European Convention on Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession.
227
The Convention entered into force in Denmark on 1 November 2002.
228
The reservation can be found at the EUDO website, available at: https://bit.ly/2X3wT36.
229
See also the ECtHR Genovese case under Article 14 of the ECHR, final judgment of 11 January.
230
Previously, the High Court had ruled that there was no access to judicial rewiev. See the Supreme Court judgment with comments,
available at: https://bit.ly/3f4rtej.
UNHCR Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries
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