Expulsion in case of attempted home invasion robbery

Case no. 309/2016
Judgment delivered on 16 March 2017

The Prosecution Service
vs.
T

In the High Court, T had been sentenced to four years and six months in prison for attempted home invasion robbery and for violence of a particularly brutal and dangerous nature. The issue before the Supreme Court only concerned expulsion.

The conditions in the Danish Aliens Act were fulfilled, and T thus faced expulsion unless it would be in contravention of Denmark's international obligations. Consequently, the issue was whether expulsion would be in contravention of Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention on the right to respect for private and family life. This was to be decided based on a proportionality assessment according to the criteria laid down by the European Court of Human Rights in expulsion cases.

T was a now 25-year-old Somali citizen. He came to Denmark when he was six years old and had lived here since. This meant that there had to be compelling reasons for expelling T. T had also previously been convicted for, among other things, robberies, in which connection he was sentenced to suspended expulsion from Denmark. The Supreme Court assessed that there was a significant risk that T would continue committing dangerous violence against persons in Denmark if he was not expelled. He was not married or in a cohabiting relationship and had no children, but he was in contact with his parents and 12 half-siblings living in this country. He could not be regarded as being well-integrated in Danish society, as he had no education and no permanent attachment to the Danish labour market. T spoke fluent Somali. He had not been back to Somalia since he arrived in Denmark.

Based on an overall assessment, the Supreme Court held that expelling T with a permanent entry ban had to be regarded as a proportionate measure to prevent crime and uphold public order.

As expulsion was thus not in contravention of Denmark's international obligations, the Supreme Court changed the High Court's sentence and expelled T with a permanent entry ban.