Annette Kronborg

The Rights of the Child: Danish National Report

Denmark has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention is thus binding upon the state of Denmark. In a national perspective, the principles contained in the Convention have almost only been addressed by the Danish legislature and not by the courts or administrative authorities. The Convention was not considered a priority in 2001, when it was being discussed which human rights conventions to incorporate into national Danish law. The general opinion was that the legal substance of the Convention was too unclear at the time. The incorporation is currently under (renewed) consideration by the legislature. Effectively, this means that presently children’s rights and the principle of the best interest of the child are not laid down as general principles but rather regulated differently in different fields of Danish law.

The Incorporation of Intentional Parentage by Female Same-Sex Couples into National Parentage Laws : A Comparison between Danish and Dutch law

The incorporation of intentional parentage by female same-sex couples in Danish and Dutch law in 2013 has taken place on the premises of the existing parentage law. In Dutch law, the second mother may automatically become the legal parent (formal relationship – anonymous donor) or she may become the legal parent in all other situations by recognition with consent of the mother. In Danish law, the second mother’s parentage may be established in a simple registration procedure, if she has consented to the act of assisted reproduction prior to treatment. When use has been made of a known donor there is no direct presumption favouring the known donor or the second mother in either country. Danish law provides a contractual understanding to be made prior to treatment while Dutch law depends upon the initiative of the parties and to whom the mother gives consent to recognition – with subsequent discretionary power of the court to modify the result. The main difference we associate with a systemized specific legislative approach (Denmark) and discretionary powers of the court to correct the outcome (the Netherlands).