STRØBYE AND ROSENLIND v. DENMARK JUDGMENT
constitute a bar to bestowing the right to vote in local and regional elections and in
European Parliament elections upon persons [who are both] subject to guardianship
[and have been deprived] of their legal capacity under section 6 of the Guardianship
Act. Reference is made to the reply of 17 March 2014 from the Ministry of Justice to
question no. 644 (general questions) from the Legal Affairs Committee of the Danish
Parliament.
It furthermore follows from the Constitution that the parliamentary electorate – that
is to say persons having the right to vote in general elections – are the ones who are
entitled to vote in constitutional referendums.
In order to bestow upon persons [who are] subject to guardianship [and have been
deprived] of their legal capacity under section 6 of the Guardianship Act a more
extensive right to vote, it is proposed to bestow upon this group of persons the right to
vote in local and regional elections and in European Parliament elections.”
60. The following appears from the reply of 17 March 2014 from the
Minister for Justice to question no. 644 from the Legal Affairs Committee
of the Danish Parliament:
“Question no. 644 (general questions) from the Legal Affairs Committee of the
Danish Parliament:
Is the Minister willing to consider amendments to the Guardianship Act or other
compensatory measures in view of the 2012 report by the Danish Institute for Human
Rights entitled “Autonomy and Guardianship” (Selvbestemmelse og værgemål), which
points out on page 49 that “Disenfranchisement as a consequence of guardianship is
contrary to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and [to] the
ECHR”?
Answer:
1. Section 29(1) of the Constitution provides that any person who is a Danish
national, has a permanent home in the realm and has attained the age of 18 has the
right to vote in general elections unless he or she has been declared legally
incompetent.
As appears from the Report of the Committee on the Act on Legal Competence
(Report No. 1247/1993), which formed the basis for the relevant Guardianship Act, it
must be assumed on the basis of the preparatory notes to section 29(1) of the
Constitution that it is the restriction on a person’s right to manage his or her own
assets (when declared legally incompetent) that gave rise to combining a declaration
of legal incompetence with disenfranchisement.
The deprivation of a person’s legal capacity under section 6 of the Guardianship Act
is effected in cases in which the guardianship order applies to financial affairs.
Therefore, it must be a consequence of section 29 of the Constitution that any person
deprived of his or her legal capacity under section 6 of the Guardianship Act will
become disenfranchised under the legislation on elections (see in this respect also pp.
156-57 of the Report of the Committee on the Act on Legal Competence).
Accordingly, the Constitution does not make it possible to bestow the right to vote in
general elections upon persons deprived of their legal capacity because they are
subject to guardianship under section 6 of the Guardianship Act.
2. However, it is the opinion of the Ministry of Justice that the Constitution cannot
be considered to constitute a bar to bestowing the right to vote in elections for local
councils, regional councils and the European Parliament upon persons subject to
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