The Supreme Court has ruled that Copenhagen Police violated a man’s human rights by subjecting him to a strip search in May 2021 before detaining him. The court stated in a case summary on Thursday that the officers involved did not provide sufficient justification for the forceful search, where several officers held the man down and removed his clothing.

The Supreme Court specifically concluded that the search contravened Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits degrading treatment. This decision is expected to influence future police practices regarding body searches.

Elna Søndergaard, a senior lawyer at Dignity – Danish Institute Against Torture, which participated in the case as a third party in support of the detainee, emphasized that the police lacked a specific justification for undressing the detainee in front of four officers who held him down by force, thus violating Article 3 of the ECHR. She highlighted that strip searches must have a legitimate purpose and be conducted in a manner that respects human dignity, referencing previous rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court agreed with the High Court’s assessment that the man was administratively detained for too long. The court determined that his detention should have ended at 8:10 PM, rather than when he was released at 9:05 PM, after being detained at 7:55 PM.

Copenhagen Police implemented new guidelines for searching detainees last summer, following criticism from the UN and the Council of Europe’s torture committee, and after the case had been heard in the city court and the high court. These rules, published in July, stipulate that searches at a police station should generally occur without undressing. While the city court and the high court had initially concluded that there was no violation of the detainee’s human rights regarding the strip search, the Supreme Court’s ruling overturns that decision.