Permanent expulsion

Case no. 93/2022
Judgment delivered on 9 May 2023

The Prosecution Service
vs.
T

The High Court had found T, an Iraqi citizen, guilty of organised drug crime for having handled 5 kg of cocaine and attempting to handle another 2 kg of cocaine with intent to supply. He was sentenced to imprisonment for six years and an expulsion warning was issued against him.

The issue before the Supreme Court only concerned the expulsion order.

Referring to the drug crime T committed, the Supreme Court held that he was to be considered a serious threat to law and order. The Supreme Court based its decision on the fact that T’s ties with Denmark were much stronger than his ties with Iraq, but that he would not be entirely unable to fit into Iraqi society if he were expelled.

Considering the nature and extent of the drug crime committed by him, the Supreme Court found on the basis of an overall proportionality assessment that there were compelling reasons for expelling T. In addition, his ties with Denmark, where he had not married and settled down, and his limited ties with Iraq, did not carry such weight that expulsion in itself would be a disproportionate restriction in contravention of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and T should therefore be expelled.

Considering in particular the serious nature and considerable extent of T’s drug offences, the Supreme Court held based on an overall assessment that expelling him with a permanent entry ban would not amount to a disproportionate restriction in contravention of Article 8.

The Supreme Court thus affirmed the judgment of the High Court with the amendment that T should be expelled from Denmark with a permanent entry ban.