Frederikshavn
© Claus Bjørn Larsen/Ritzau Scanpix
People in Frederikshavn, North Jutland queue for coronavirus tests.
The parliamentary hearing period for a proposed new law giving the government extended powers to respond to epidemics expires today.
The new 'epidemic law' (epidemilov) would replace an emergency law passed in the spring which gave the government extended powers to intervene in society in order to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
As well as enforcing quarantine measures, the existing law empowers the authorities prohibit access to public institutions, supermarkets and shops, public and private nursing homes and hospitals, and also to impose restrictions on access to public transport.
Recent instances in which the emergency law has been used by the government to implement rules include the partial lockdown of North Jutland and enhanced national restrictions, including assembly limits and mandatory use of face masks, announced in October.
The emergency (and temporary) law from March is now up for a replacement by a new, more permanent law, which would also ensure provisions for governments to respond to future epidemics and pandemics.
The end of the hearing period for the new law means that other parties and the public have been able to study the proposed law and raise their own concerns, so the final version of the proposed law may be different from the one currently in circulation.
You can read the proposed law in full (in Danish) in its current form via the government website.
Some areas in the proposed law that have raised eyebrows include:
  • People infected with dangerous diseases can be forcibly given medical examination, hospitalised, treated and placed in isolation.
  • The Danish Health Authority would be able to define groups of people who must be vaccinated in order to contain and eliminate a dangerous disease.
  • People who refuse the above can - in some situations - be coerced through physical detainment, with police allowed to assist.

DENMARK: 9 days of protests over a new law that "would be able to define groups of people who must be vaccinated. People who refuse the above can be coerced through physical detainment, with police allowed to assist."pic.twitter.com/LN0SBVKUE8

— Robin Monotti Graziadei (@robinmonotti) November 14, 2020