Police intervention constituted lawful detention

Case no. 116/2017
Judgment delivered on 7 February 2018.

The Copenhagen Police,
vs.
A and others
and
B and others

The main issue in the case was whether the police intervention against unrest in connection with a street party (“Reclaim the Streets”) at Amagertorv constituted detention, and if so whether it was lawful.

The Danish Supreme Court decided that the police intervention did not constitute detention according to the European Convention on Human Rights, and stated that this did not decide whether detention according to the stipulations of the Police Act had occurred. The Danish Supreme Court then decided that the intervention constituted detention according to the stipulations of the Danish Police Act. There was no basis for setting aside the assessment by the police that the party had developed into disturbance and that it was necessary to intervene against the group of party participants in order to prevent breach of the peace and danger to the safety of individuals. The police carried out a preliminary sorting of the individuals detained and the duration of the detention did not exceed the necessary period. In these circumstances, the detention was lawful according to the Danish Police Act.

The High Court had reached a different conclusion.