strangulation
Choking by pressure on the neck, judged under Danish assault or homicide provisions
Under Danish law, strangulation denotes the act of choking a person by external pressure on the neck, typically by obstructing breathing and/or the flow of blood to the brain. The concept has no separate provision in the penal code, but functions as a factual element of violence in the legal assessment of a specific act. The act is judged under the general assault provisions of the Danish Penal Code (straffeloven) §§ 244-246, depending on the seriousness of the circumstances.
Simple assault under § 244 covers the least serious cases, while § 245 applies where the violence has been committed in a particularly crude, brutal or dangerous manner — a qualification that strangulation will often meet, since the method is in itself regarded as life-threatening. If the violence has been of such a gross nature, or has caused such serious injury or death, that particularly aggravating circumstances exist, the penalty under § 246 may rise to imprisonment for 10 years.
Where there is intent to kill, the act is assessed as homicide or attempted homicide under § 237. In homicide cases, strangulation as the cause of death will instead be judged under § 237 on manslaughter. The legal classification of strangulation therefore depends entirely on the concrete factual circumstances: the extent of the injury, the duration and intensity of the act, and the intent of the perpetrator. No separate 'strangulation provision' exists in Danish criminal legislation.
