Folketingets Administration (The Danish Parliament’s Administration) has violated both the Criminal Code and the Human Rights Convention by accessing elected officials’ email accounts without permission. This was revealed in an internal briefing sent to the parties in the parliament on Thursday, which news agency Ritzau has obtained insight into. In March, the Danish Parliament’s Administration conducted a search of email accounts belonging to both members and staff, which has now been deemed an illegal act. A statement from Kammeradvokaten (The State’s Attorney), the state’s lawyer, concluded that the action was contrary to section 263, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code and Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention. In addition, Article 5 of the Data Protection Regulation was also violated. Torben Skovgaard Andersen, deputy director of Folketingets Administration, described this in the internal briefing as a “clear misjudgment.” However, he emphasized that there was no access to the content of the emails in question or any other emails for that matter. The administration has not accessed or seen any other information or read the content of any emails. This case raises serious questions about the protection of personal information and compliance with the law within the highest institutions of the state. It is expected that there will be further consequences for those involved in Folketingets Administration.

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