Denmark

The person posts on a public social-media account, under their own name, that the Holocaust did not happen and the gas chambers are a fabrication. The post contains no threat, no call to violence, and names no living individual.

Denmark has no Holocaust-denial offence; the 2025 antisemitism package (Act no. 201 of 2025) added hate-zone sentencing and TCO takedown changes but did not criminalise denial. The only provision that could reach the post is § 266 b (statements that mock or degrade a group because of race or religion: fine or up to 2 years), and it would apply only if a court read 'the gas chambers are a fabrication' as degrading Jews. I found no reported conviction for denial alone, so the typical outcome is nothing or platform removal. Half point on dj because coverage is uncertain, not settled.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025 · Lov nr. 201 af 25. februar 2025 (styrket indsats mod antisemitisme)

The person posts a public rant using slurs against an ethnic or religious group, saying the group is inferior and unwelcome in the country. No threat, no call to violence, no named individual.

Saying an ethnic or religious group is inferior and unwelcome, with slurs, is the core case of § 266 b straffeloven: fine or up to 2 years, and propaganda-style spreading is an aggravating factor (stk. 2). It is prosecuted by the state, not privately (§ 275). Police recorded 224 hate-speech offences in 2025; first offenders usually get day-fines, and repeat or organised posters have received short prison terms.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025 · Rigspolitiet: Hadforbrydelser 2025 (hate crime statistics)

At a lawful, peaceful protest in a public square, the person burns a national flag they own and a copy of the dominant religion's scripture they own. No fire-safety rule is broken.

Burning a Danish flag you own is legal; § 110 e(1) protects only foreign states' flags. Since December 2023, § 110 e(2) punishes public 'improper treatment' of a writing of significant religious importance to a recognised religious community, or an object that looks like one, with a fine or up to 2 years, so burning a Bible or Quran at a protest is a crime. The law was passed in response to the 2023 Quran burnings; police now stop such burnings and charge the person. I found no published conviction counts; the expected sentence for a first offence is a fine.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

The person posts that the head of state is a criminal and a pedophile. They have no evidence and present it as their opinion of the leader.

The head of state is the King. Under § 115 the penalties in the defamation chapter are doubled for offences against the King, so § 267 (fine or up to 1 year) becomes up to 2 years, and § 268 (untrue serious accusation, up to 2 years) becomes up to 4 years. Calling him a criminal and a pedophile without evidence is an accusation of fact, not protected opinion. I found no reported prosecution under § 115 in recent decades, so practice is scored on the law plus the absence of cases.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

The person prints and hands out a pamphlet praising an organisation the state has banned as terrorist or extremist, saying its cause is just. The pamphlet urges no specific act, and the person has no contact with the group.

Publicly and expressly approving a terrorist crime is punishable under § 136(2) with a fine or up to 3 years. 'Otherwise promoting the activity' of a terrorist group is § 114 e (up to 8 years), which courts have applied to organised propaganda run with the group (the Roj TV case) but not to lone sympathisers with no contact. A pamphlet saying the cause is just, with no approval of specific attacks, sits at the edge of § 136(2); police investigate such material, but I found no conviction for praise of a cause alone.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

The person repeatedly refers to a named transgender public figure by their former pronouns and name in public posts, with no threats and no contact with the figure.

No Danish law covers misgendering. § 266 b protects groups (including by gender identity), not a named individual, and the honour offence in § 267 (fine or up to 1 year, private prosecution) needs a statement 'suitable to violate someone's honour', which no court has found misgendering to be. The figure could at most try a private defamation action; I found no reported case.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

A blogger writes that a named local businessman (a private figure) is a fraud. The claim is false, but the blogger honestly believed it after reading a news report.

Defamation is a crime: § 267 fine or up to 1 year, rising to 2 years under § 268 if a serious accusation is untrue. Since the 2018 reform, § 269 makes it unpunishable if there was 'reasonable cause', weighing whether there was a sufficient factual basis and good faith, so reliance on a news report is a recognised defence. Cases are brought by private prosecution (§ 275), usually with a claim for non-pecuniary compensation. I found no case data on outcomes; df assumes that a defendant who relied on a press report usually escapes punishment but bears litigation cost.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

A journalist accurately reports, with evidence, that a sitting politician is having an extramarital affair. The politician sues for defamation and invasion of privacy.

Truth defeats a defamation claim (§ 269), but § 264 d separately punishes unjustified disclosure of information about another's private life with a fine or up to 6 months (rising to 1 year from 1 January 2027 under the 2026 penal reform). Whether a politician's affair is 'unjustified' depends on public-interest weighing. The journalist would probably win if the affair bears on the politician's office, but must litigate; I found no recent case of a politician suing over an accurate affair report.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025 · Lov nr. 263 af 2026 (strafreform 2026-2030), amending straffeloven

A foreign billionaire sues a local critic in local courts over a harsh but clearly opinion-based review of their business conduct.

Defamation is a privately prosecuted crime (§§ 267, 275), so a foreign claimant can bring a criminal action against a local critic. Value judgments are protected under § 269 and ECHR case law that Danish courts follow, but only at trial. Denmark has no domestic anti-SLAPP law; loser-pays costs apply, but awards rarely cover a defendant's full costs.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

The person wants to buy a common centrefire semi-automatic rifle (e.g. an AR-15 pattern rifle with a 30-round magazine) and keep it at home.

Rifles need police permission under våbenloven § 2. Ordinary citizens can get it only through hunting (jagttegn) or as a member of an approved shooting club, with the weapon on the club's programme and police consent (§ 2 c; BEK 2531/2021 §§ 7-9); self-defence is not a reason. Detachable magazines over 10 rounds for semi-automatic centrefire rifles are banned for permit holders (BEK § 10 a). Unlicensed possession is punishable under våbenloven § 10 (fine, up to 4 months, aggravated up to 2 years), or § 192 a straffeloven (2-8 years) under especially aggravating circumstances. Half point down from 4 because the 30-round magazine itself is unobtainable.

Sources: Våbenloven (Weapons Act), LBK nr. 1736 af 26. august 2021 · Bekendtgørelse om våben og ammunition mv., BEK nr. 2531 af 20. december 2021

The person wants to buy a 9mm handgun and keep it loaded at home for self-defence.

A pistol can be owned only by a member of an approved shooting club, with a weapon endorsement given after police consent in each case (BEK 2531/2021 §§ 7-9); self-defence is not accepted. Pistols are 'especially dangerous weapons' that must be kept in a certified safe bolted down, with ammunition also locked (§ 24), so a loaded gun at hand is unlawful.

Sources: Bekendtgørelse om våben og ammunition mv., BEK nr. 2531 af 20. december 2021

The person wants to carry a loaded handgun, concealed, in everyday public places.

There is no carry permit for self-defence. Carrying an unlicensed firearm in public is treated as 'especially aggravating' under § 192 a straffeloven: 2 to 8 years, and carrying it with ammunition makes it worse (stk. 4). Because the minimum is 2 years, even a first offender gets at least 2 years.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

The person wants to carry pepper spray, or a folding knife with a 9 cm locking blade, in public for self-defence.

Pepper spray needs a police permit, which is given only to people with a particular, documented need for protection (e.g. stalking victims) (BEK 2531/2021 § 18 a). Without one, the penalty under våbenloven § 10 is a fine or up to 4 months (2 years if aggravated). A 9 cm locking knife may not be carried in public unless for work, hunting, fishing, sport or a similar recognised purpose, and self-defence does not count (knivloven § 1). Breach is a fine or up to 4 months, aggravated up to 2 years (§ 7). First offences normally end in a criminal fine.

Sources: Knivloven (Knives and Bladed Weapons Act), LBK nr. 939 af 20. juli 2024 · Våbenloven (Weapons Act), LBK nr. 1736 af 26. august 2021 · Politi.dk: Peberspray

The person wants to own a machine gun, or a destructive device such as an artillery piece or a grenade launcher with live rounds.

Våbenloven §§ 1-2 allow police to permit any firearm, and police issue discretionary collector permits ('samlertilladelse'), each with a stated purpose and a background check. I could not confirm that any private collector holds a working automatic weapon. Unlicensed possession of an automatic weapon or explosives is 'especially aggravating' under § 192 a straffeloven: 2 to 8 years.

Sources: Våbenloven (Weapons Act), LBK nr. 1736 af 26. august 2021 · Politi.dk: Samling af våben (collector permits) · Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

At night, a stranger armed with a knife breaks into the person's home. The person shoots and kills the intruder with a lawfully held gun.

§ 13 straffeloven justifies defence that is necessary to repel an unlawful attack and not 'obviously' excessive given the danger, the attacker and the interest attacked. § 13(2) also excuses excess caused by fright or agitation. There is no statutory home-defence presumption. Shooting a knife-armed night intruder normally falls within § 13, but every killing is investigated and the homeowner is questioned as a suspect. I found no recent statistics on charging.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

On the street, a stranger attacks the person with fists. The person could safely walk away but instead punches back once, breaking the attacker's nose.

§ 13 has no duty to retreat: defence must be 'necessary' to repel the attack and not obviously excessive. Courts consider whether the defender could have avoided the fight when judging necessity. One punch against a fist attack is usually accepted as self-defence, though police often record an assault complaint and the case may go to court on the facts.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

The person wants to buy a course of amoxicillin for a sinus infection without seeing a doctor.

Amoxicillin is prescription-only, and pharmacies may not dispense it without a prescription; the buyer commits no offence. Since 1 January 2026, people may import antibiotics for their own use by post or in luggage from EU/EEA countries, and in luggage up to 3 months' supply from non-EU countries, if they can document the medicine is for themselves (prescription or receipt). Getting a Danish prescription depends on the doctor's judgement.

Sources: Lægemiddelstyrelsen: Medicin indført fra udlandet (rules from 1 Jan 2026)

The person wants to take a drug approved by the EMA or FDA but not approved in their own country, for a non-terminal condition.

An EMA-approved drug is already authorised in Denmark through the central procedure. For a drug approved only by the FDA, personal import is allowed if the person can document it is for their own use: by post or luggage from the EU/EEA, and in luggage up to 3 months' supply from elsewhere (narcotics and doping drugs excepted). A Danish doctor can also seek a § 29 named-patient permit.

Sources: Lægemiddelstyrelsen: Medicin indført fra udlandet (rules from 1 Jan 2026) · Lægemiddelstyrelsen: Udleveringstilladelser til mennesker (lægemiddellovens § 29)

A terminally ill patient wants a drug that has passed Phase 1 trials but is not approved anywhere, and the manufacturer is willing to supply it.

Under § 29 of the Medicines Act, a doctor can apply to the Danish Medicines Agency for a named-patient permit (udleveringstilladelse) for an unauthorised medicine, including experimental drugs made by a pharmaceutical company; general permits covering several patients also exist. Patients cannot apply themselves, and the agency decides case by case. I found no published approval rates.

Sources: Lægemiddelstyrelsen: Udleveringstilladelser til mennesker (lægemiddellovens § 29)

The person wants to sell one of their kidneys to a willing recipient, with surgery by licensed surgeons.

Danish law has no general offence of selling one's own kidney. But organs may be removed only by approved hospital doctors (sundhedsloven § 54), with informed written consent (§ 52). Advertising to seek or offer organs for payment is punishable by a fine (Organ Quality Act 2012 §§ 14-15). Organ trafficking with exploitation is covered by § 262 a straffeloven. In practice public transplant centres will not use a paid donor, so payment makes the transplant impossible.

Sources: Sundhedsloven, LBK nr. 275 af 2025 · Lov nr. 151 af 2012 om kvalitets- og sikkerhedskrav ved håndtering af menneskelige organer til transplantation

An adult declines a vaccine the state recommends or mandates for adults (score the strictest adult mandate in force in the last 5 years).

The Epidemic Act 2021 lets the authorities order examination, hospitalisation, isolation and treatment of infected people (§§ 12-15), but has no power to compel vaccination. A proposal for compulsory vaccination was dropped in 2020. The strictest adult measure in the last 5 years was the 2021-22 corona pass, which required vaccination, recent infection or a free negative test for venues and some workplaces, so refusers could still take part by testing. I sourced the Act; the corona-pass details are from my knowledge and I did not open a source for them.

Sources: Epidemiloven, lov nr. 285 af 27. februar 2021

A competent adult with a terminal illness and under 6 months to live asks their doctor for lethal medication to take themselves.

Assisted dying is not legal. A doctor who provides lethal medication commits assisting suicide under § 240 straffeloven (fine or up to 3 years), and administering it would be killing on request under § 239 (up to 3 years). The November 2025 consolidated code and the 2026 penal reform left both provisions unchanged. Prosecutions are rare, but a doctor also risks losing their authorisation.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025 · Lov nr. 263 af 2026 (strafreform 2026-2030), amending straffeloven

A competent adult with unbearable but non-terminal suffering (e.g. advanced multiple sclerosis) asks their doctor for the same.

The same §§ 239-240 apply with no exception for non-terminal suffering: assisting is a fine or up to 3 years. No lawful route exists.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

A layperson gets lethal medication for a competent friend who has clearly asked to die, and is present when the friend takes it. No payment.

Obtaining lethal medication for a friend and being present is participation in suicide under § 240 straffeloven: fine or up to 3 years. There is no compassion exception and no published prosecutor policy declining such cases. I found no case data, so df assumes the usual Danish outcome for this offence, a fine or suspended sentence.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

The person is found with 5 grams of cannabis for personal use.

Cannabis is banned under the Euphoriant Substances Act. Any breach, including possession for personal use, is punishable by a fine or up to 2 years (§ 3). The law says a warning can generally not be given unless the person is a long-term addict in a difficult social situation (§ 3(1), 3rd sentence), so 5 g brings a criminal fine and a record entry.

Sources: Lov om euforiserende stoffer, LBK nr. 1334 af 9. december 2019

The person is found with one personal dose of psilocybin mushrooms or MDMA.

Psilocybin mushrooms and MDMA are banned substances, and possession of one dose falls under the same § 3 of the Euphoriant Substances Act: fine or up to 2 years. Fines are scaled to the drug's harmfulness and are higher than for cannabis; warnings are excluded except for addicts.

Sources: Lov om euforiserende stoffer, LBK nr. 1334 af 9. december 2019

The person sells 30 grams of cannabis to another adult.

Selling 30 g of cannabis falls under § 3 of the Euphoriant Substances Act (fine or up to 2 years); § 191 straffeloven applies only to large quantities. Repeat sales, sales via social media and sales at venues are aggravating factors (§ 3(2), amended 2025). A first sale of this size typically brings a fine or a short sentence. Christiania's Pusher Street was closed in 2024; there is no legal retail.

Sources: Lov om euforiserende stoffer, LBK nr. 1334 af 9. december 2019 · Lov nr. 724 af 2025 (skærpet indsats mod narkotikakriminalitet)

Two adults agree to have sex for money, in private, with no third party involved.

Selling and buying sex between adults in private is legal. Straffeloven punishes only third parties: running a brothel (§ 233(1), up to 4 years), profiting from or brokering another's prostitution (§ 233(2)), and renting hotel rooms for it (§ 233(3)). Sex workers may register as self-employed and pay tax, with no licensing or health checks.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

Three consenting adults want to live together as a family, share property, and make binding arrangements for inheritance, medical decisions and parenting.

Bigamy (§ 208) covers only entering a second marriage or registered partnership; three adults may live together and share property freely. Wills, co-ownership agreements and lasting powers of attorney cover most arrangements, but a child can have at most two legal parents, and forced heirship gives children a reserved share of an estate.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

Parents want to homeschool their 10-year-old using their own curriculum.

Grundloven § 76 guarantees home education. Parents only need to notify the municipality in writing before starting, naming the children, the place and the teacher (friskoleloven § 34). The municipality supervises and may hold annual tests in Danish, maths, English, history/social studies and science; if teaching is twice found inadequate, the child must attend school (§ 35). Supervision can be waived once teaching is found adequate.

Sources: Friskoleloven, LBK nr. 700 af 2026, §§ 34-35 · Danmarks Riges Grundlov (Constitution), full text

The state wants to read the person's end-to-end encrypted messages, although they are suspected of no serious crime.

Police interception of communications, and covert reading of a device (dataaflæsning, e.g. hacking), need a court order and an offence carrying 6 years or more (retsplejeloven §§ 781, 791 b), so a person suspected of no serious crime cannot be targeted. However, providers must keep general, undifferentiated records of every user's internet access for 1 year (§ 786 f). The Defence Intelligence Service may collect information on people in Denmark during foreign-directed bulk collection without a warrant (FE Act § 3(2)). There is no key-disclosure offence.

Sources: Retsplejeloven (Administration of Justice Act), LBK nr. 1298 af 7. november 2025 · Lov om Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste, LBK nr. 1287 af 2017

The person wants a prepaid SIM card and an internet connection without giving their identity.

I found no Danish statute requiring ID to buy or activate a prepaid SIM. Retsplejeloven § 786 h only authorises rules on directory and identification data, and I could not open an official source confirming whether such rules have been issued, so this score rests on the statute alone. Providers must log every subscriber's internet access for 1 year (§ 786 f), and fixed broadband requires a contract in the customer's name.

Sources: Retsplejeloven (Administration of Justice Act), LBK nr. 1298 af 7. november 2025

The person wants to pay a dealer 15,000 USD (or the local equivalent) in cash for a used car.

Businesses may not accept cash payments of DKK 15,000 or more (about USD 2,300), whether paid at once or in linked instalments (hvidvaskloven § 5), so a USD 15,000 cash car purchase is unlawful. The criminal fine falls on the dealer (§ 78(1)), rising to up to 2 years only for especially gross or extensive intentional breaches (§ 78(2)); the buyer commits no offence. Dealers therefore refuse such payments.

Sources: Hvidvaskloven, LBK nr. 433 af 2026

The person wants to found a new religion, or an association, and hold weekly meetings without registering it.

Grundloven § 78 gives the right to form associations for any lawful purpose without prior permission, and § 67 the right to worship in community. Registration as a recognised religious community is optional and affects only privileges such as marriage authority and tax benefits. Associations can be dissolved only by court judgment if they use violence (§ 78(2)).

Sources: Danmarks Riges Grundlov (Constitution), full text

The person organises a protest of 50 people in a public square with one day's notice to nobody. It is peaceful.

Grundloven § 79 gives the right to assemble unarmed without prior permission; police may ban open-air assemblies only if they threaten public peace. Police ask organisers to notify them at least 24 hours ahead but accept notice 'as soon as you have decided' for shorter-notice events, and no permission is needed. A peaceful 50-person gathering without notice is in practice tolerated; I found no reported fines on organisers for not notifying.

Sources: Danmarks Riges Grundlov (Constitution), full text · Politi.dk: Underret om offentlig forsamling

The person publicly announces they have left the country's dominant religion, or Islam, and criticises it.

The blasphemy offence (former § 140) was repealed in 2017, and there is no apostasy law. Criticising a religion is not covered by § 266 b unless it mocks or degrades believers as a group, and § 110 e(2) covers only improper physical treatment of scripture, not speech. Leaving the church or Islam has no legal consequence.

Sources: Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025 · Danmarks Riges Grundlov (Constitution), full text

The person wants to move abroad permanently, taking 1 million USD of savings and shares.

Leaving triggers exit tax on shares: unrealised gains are treated as realised when Danish tax liability ends (aktieavancebeskatningsloven § 38). This applies if the shareholding is worth DKK 100,000 or more and the person was taxable in Denmark for at least 7 of the last 10 years (stk. 2-3). Payment can be deferred, and there are no capital controls or exit permits.

Sources: Aktieavancebeskatningsloven, LBK nr. 849 af 2026

The person, who already holds another citizenship, wants to renounce this one.

Release from Danish citizenship is by application to the Ministry of Immigration and Integration (indfødsretsloven § 9). It cannot be refused to a dual national living abroad (§ 9(2)), but for a resident of Denmark it 'depends on a concrete assessment'. Processing currently takes 3-4 months, and the ministry's page lists no fee.

Sources: Lov om dansk indfødsret, LBK nr. 1656 af 2022 · UIM: Løsning fra dansk statsborgerskab

Police find 20,000 USD in cash in the person's car at a traffic stop. They charge no crime.

Police can seize property only from someone reasonably suspected of a publicly prosecuted offence, to secure evidence or later confiscation (retsplejeloven § 802). Seizure is decided by court order, or by police in urgent cases subject to court review within 24 hours on the owner's request (§ 806). Confiscation itself requires a court decision under straffeloven §§ 75-76 a. There is no administrative or civil forfeiture, so cash taken without a charge must be returned.

Sources: Retsplejeloven (Administration of Justice Act), LBK nr. 1298 af 7. november 2025 · Straffeloven (Criminal Code), LBK nr. 1294 af 7. november 2025

The person is arrested for a non-violent offence carrying up to 2 years in prison. They have a home and a job.

Grundloven § 71 and retsplejeloven § 760(2) require anyone arrested to be brought before a judge within 24 hours, and most are released earlier. Pre-trial custody needs an offence carrying 1.5 years or more plus a specific risk of flight, reoffending or obstruction (§ 762(1)), and is barred where it would be disproportionate (§ 762(3)). Denmark has no money bail. A suspect with a home and job charged with a non-violent 2-year offence is normally released.

Sources: Retsplejeloven (Administration of Justice Act), LBK nr. 1298 af 7. november 2025 · Danmarks Riges Grundlov (Constitution), full text

The person wants to build a 20 m² wooden shed on their own rural land.

Sheds, garages and similar outbuildings totalling up to 50 m² next to a house need no building permit, but must meet the building regulations, e.g. distance to the boundary (BR18 § 5(1)(1)). In rural zones, outbuildings up to 50 m² next to a single-family or holiday house are exempt from the rural-zone permit (planloven § 36(1)(8)). A shed on rural land with no house would need a discretionary rural-zone permit (§ 35).

Sources: Bygningsreglement 2018 (BR18), BEK nr. 1399 af 2019 · Planloven, LBK nr. 572 af 2024