A 58-year-old man has been sentenced to 60 days of unconditional imprisonment for harassing and threatening a lawyer who previously served as his defense attorney. The sentence was recently handed down by the Court in Holbæk.

This marks the third time the man has been convicted of similar offenses against the same lawyer.

The case has sparked concern within the legal community, with lawyer Mikael Skjødt, chairman of the Danish Bar and Law Society’s criminal law committee, highlighting the need for better protection for lawyers. Skjødt referenced a political discussion that took place in the Danish Parliament earlier this year regarding the safety and security of lawyers.

The recent sentence stems from death threats made by the man in a recorded phone message, in which he threatened to “slaughter” the lawyer, his wife, and their children. The court deemed the statement “clearly apt to cause serious fear.”

The man had previously been issued a restraining order in 2019, prohibiting him from contacting the lawyer in any way. However, he violated this order on numerous occasions. In 2021, he was sentenced to 30 days in prison for threatening the lawyer’s life, and in 2022, he received the same punishment for a series of violations of the restraining order.

The 58-year-old knows the lawyer from a previous criminal case in which the lawyer served as his defense counsel in both the city court and the high court. The original indictment concerned similar behavior, but was directed against a municipal employee.

A survey conducted by the Danish Bar and Law Society in the autumn revealed that one in three lawyers working with criminal or family law cases have been threatened because of their work.

In April of this year, government parties, along with the Socialist People’s Party (SF) and the Unity List (Enhedslisten), voted against a proposal from the Conservative People’s Party (De Konservative) to equate lawyers with other actors in the courtroom, meaning lawyers are not covered by a special provision in the penal code (section 119) regarding threats against those who work in public service, unlike judges, prosecutors, and police officers.

According to Skjødt, covering lawyers under section 119 would prioritize cases involving threats against lawyers. He emphasized that while a legislative amendment would not guarantee protection for individual lawyers, it would send an important signal and provide support from the authorities. The Danish Bar and Law Society continues to work on this issue despite the political challenges.