Denmark to introduce law against war crimes
The Danish government will table a bill this autumn which is set to introduce specific laws against war crimes for the first time in the Nordic country.
A new Danish law will specifically legislate against war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The law is set to be proposed in a government bill this autumn after Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard in 2023 asked a committee to prepare anti-war crime paragraphs to be entered into Danish criminal law.
The committee has now completed that work and made recommendations, the Ministry of Justice said on Friday.
Hummelgaard said that the introduction of war crimes laws in Denmark sends an important signal in relation to the war in Ukraine.
“It’s important that we send a clear signal to the world around us and not least to victims that we won’t accept war crimes and similar international crimes,” he said in the statement.
The move is set to end Denmark’s position as one of the last European countries not to have specific laws on war crimes.
It was initiated last year in a motion by the opposition Socialist People’s Party (SF), which the government said it supported.
“I think it’s important to say first and foremost that war crimes are already illegal in Danish criminal law,” Hummelgaard said at the time.
“It is not written in as specific clauses in the criminal law, but all offences that are war crimes are criminal,” he said.
“But with all that said, I think that SF has an important point in saying that the time has now come for us to introduce an independent criminalisation of war crimes. I think that would send out an important message to the world, and especially to victims,” he said.
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A new Danish law will specifically legislate against war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The law is set to be proposed in a government bill this autumn after Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard in 2023 asked a committee to prepare anti-war crime paragraphs to be entered into Danish criminal law.
The committee has now completed that work and made recommendations, the Ministry of Justice said on Friday.
Hummelgaard said that the introduction of war crimes laws in Denmark sends an important signal in relation to the war in Ukraine.
“It’s important that we send a clear signal to the world around us and not least to victims that we won’t accept war crimes and similar international crimes,” he said in the statement.
The move is set to end Denmark’s position as one of the last European countries not to have specific laws on war crimes.
It was initiated last year in a motion by the opposition Socialist People’s Party (SF), which the government said it supported.
“I think it’s important to say first and foremost that war crimes are already illegal in Danish criminal law,” Hummelgaard said at the time.
“It is not written in as specific clauses in the criminal law, but all offences that are war crimes are criminal,” he said.
“But with all that said, I think that SF has an important point in saying that the time has now come for us to introduce an independent criminalisation of war crimes. I think that would send out an important message to the world, and especially to victims,” he said.
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