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Freedom of assembly is stipulated in the Constitution section 79. Citizens shall, without previous permission, be at liberty to assemble unarmed. The police shall be entitled to be present at public meetings. Open-air meetings may be prohibited when it is feared that they may constitute a danger to the public peace.

Furthermore the Act on Police Activities (see also under Police) section 7-9 and 23 regulates the activities of the police concerning inter alia public assemblies.

Of special interest is Act No 907 of 15 October 1996 on prohibition to reside in certain properties (Lov om forbud mod ophold i bestemte ejendomme). According to section 1 of the law the police may forbid persons to reside in a certain property if 1) the property serves as resort for a group of which the person a member or is connected to and 2) the presence of the person at the property along with other circumstances is considered to carry a risk of attack, which will be dangerous to people who reside or are in proximity of the property.

The prohibition may only be used if the attack of which there is a risk must be considered to be part of a mutual encounter between groups of persons, where both groups use violent means, including firearms and explosives.

The Act on prohibition of reside in certain properties had a special background in a number of violent encounters between the outlaw motorcycle gangs of Hells Angels and Bandidos in Denmark and other Nordic countries. The main purpose of the act was to protect the public against being victims of serious and dangerous attacks on properties in which the groups resided.

The act is only available in Danish.

Posted: March 2008

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