judgment

Judgment is the legal act by which a court's decision is validly handed down and thereby becomes legally binding — not merely an internal decision within the court, but a formal, public proclamation of the court's ruling. Under Danish law, this is the moment regarded in procedural terms as the birth of the judgment.

Under the Danish Administration of Justice Act (retsplejeloven) § 219 a, the judgment is handed down at a court sitting. If the defendant is not in custody, however, the judgment may be handed down without a court sitting, for example where it is not delivered on the same day the case was taken under advisement. The court provides the defendant with a transcript of the judgment. If the case has been conducted in the defendant's absence, the transcript must be formally served, and the defendant's appeal deadline then runs from the date of service (§ 219 a(5) and § 904).

The handing down of judgment is governed by the Administration of Justice Act — not by the Penal Code (straffeloven) — because it concerns procedural method rather than the substantive content of criminal law. It is thus a criminal procedural event, distinct from sentencing itself and from the question of guilt.

The timing of the judgment has practical significance, since it is decisive for, among other things, the calculation of appeal deadlines. From the handing down of judgment run the time limits within which the convicted person or the prosecution service may appeal the decision to a higher instance.