Politicians call for more independent legal power

Parties in Parliament demand legal entity to provide oversight on government’s legal work

In the opinion of many Danish politicians the government's lawyers have too much decision-making power on the government’s legislative work, reports Jyllands-Posten.

This practice concerns many politicians on the left and the right as it means they have limited power in determining or verifying the legal foundation of what its being asked to approve.

“According to the constitution, the government and parliament has to collaborate on legislation; but this also means that the Justice Ministry’s legal advisors almost have a monopoly on what is right and wrong, which I believe is deeply unhealthy for a democracy. Instead of this, the Parliament should have a legal counsel, which should determine whether the government is right”, says Karsten Lauritzen, spokesman for the Liberal Party, who expresses his own personal opinion.

Second opinion

Parties in Parliament want to be better equipped to make decisions on delicate and complex issues and actions, basically providing a second opinion.

"All the parliamentary system is built in such a way that the Parliamentary politicians are completely dependent on the response they receive from the officials. If they are not correct, we are absolutely without a compass”, says Mogens Lykketoft, Parliamentary President.




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