Patients forcibly admitted to psychiatric wards in Denmark are facing significantly longer waits for their complaints about being deprived of their liberty to be processed. The waiting time has now stretched to 246 days, exceeding eight months.

Lawyer Tobias Stadarfeld Jensen argues that these delays effectively deny patients their constitutionally guaranteed rights and constitute a systematic violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. He points out that the Human Rights Court typically allows only a few weeks for a judge to rule on administrative deprivations of liberty.

Minister of Health Sophie Løhde acknowledges the situation as unsatisfactory and states that funds have been allocated to free up doctors to reduce waiting times. The ministry, however, denies that Denmark is violating international obligations.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority attributes the extended waiting times to a lack of medical capacity and insufficient funding. Previously, cases could be resolved in less than a week, but processing times began to increase in 2018 due to reorganization, centralization, and relocation of the Psychiatric Patient Complaints Board.

The extended delays may constitute a breach of both the Danish constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, which mandates a swift trial for administrative deprivations of liberty.