Imprisonment

Obey the law

There are severe punishments in South Africa and the prisons are not very exciting. Possession of any kind of narcotics is strictly forbidden and can induce a hard imprisonment. Never assist anyone carrying something through custom. Do not take any photos near harbours, airport, military installations etc.

Legal counselling

A Danish citizen charged and imprisoned abroad for violating the law of the country of residence has the right to get in contact with a Danish embassy or consulate if the person wishes to.
In such cases the embassy/consulate will as quickly as possible determine whether the imprisoned requires assistance to contact a lawyer, relatives in Denmark or something else. If the imprisoned wishes so the embassy will make a visit to the prison and follow the court case.

However, according to the rules of International Law persons with dual citizenship cannot claim one state’s consular protection over the other nation, if the latter state refuses to accept this. Furthermore according to International Law, Demark does not have the right to give consular protection to persons without Danish citizenship, even though it is accepted to a certain degree in certain countries.

No support to cover expenses

The Foreign Ministry cannot defray expenses relating to private individuals court cases abroad. Expenses to legal assistance, extra support etc., have to be defrayed by the person in question. In practice it is only after guarantees from the bank institution of the person concerned or preceding payment from family or friends, that the embassy can defray such expenses.

No political interference

It is official Danish policy to encourage countries to build a constitutional state with a clear separation of the legislative power, judicial power and the executive power, where court of law and the prosecuting authority can work independently of political influence. Based on this it is not possible for the embassy to use political means and incite foreign authorities to deviate from such fundamental legal principles in order to favour Danish citizens.