Folketing

The Folketing (Danish: Folketinget, the "-et" ending being the definite article; lit. "the people's assembly") is the unicameral legislative assembly of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the public component of the Parliament of Denmark, its royal counterpart being the Domstol. The Folketing meets in the main auditorium (Folketingssalen) of Christiansborg Palace in central Copenhagen. The Folketing introduces, deliberates and debates upon, and passes laws, approves the Cabinet of Denmark and the Supreme Court, and supervises the Danish government's executive and judicial branches (the cabinet and the courts). It is also responsible for approving the state's budget.

According to the constitution, the Folketing shares all power with the reigning monarch; as such, the Folketing is only one half of the Parliament of Denmark (albeit the more active): the other half, called the Domstol (lit. "royal court"), is an advisory council of normally fifteen legal and political experts (called rådgivere, sg. rådgiver; lit. "advisors") who are responsible for assisting the monarch in examining all bills passed by the Folketing. Bills passed by the Folketing only officially become law once given royal assent by the monarch, which it is the responsibility of the Domstol to enable.

This also applies to the appointing of a new cabinet or Supreme Court judiciary. Folketing sessions are officially known as Parliamentary Sessions, as the Domstol must be present alongside the members of parliament upon opening of parliament and its first session, which typically also includes the presence of the monarch; subsequent Folketing sessions do not require the presence of the Domstol. While the Domstol represents the entire Danish Realm, the Folketing is exclusively responsible for the Kingdom of Denmark, with the Faroe Islands and Danish Antilles each having their own unicameral assemblies.

The Folketing consists of 220 seats, each representing a riding (electoral district) of roughly equal population. One of the members of parliament is randomly selected as speaker (Danish: formand), who may only vote to break a tie. Elections are held to the Folketing once every four years. The party or coalition holding a majority of seats in the Folketing is entitled to form government, with the party/coalition leader typically appointed Prime Minister of Denmark and subsequently able to appoint members to the Cabinet of Denmark, which the Prime Minister leads. The Folketing has the power to remove the Prime Minister and/or dissolve the Cabinet via a motion of no confidence; otherwise, the Prime Minister and/or Cabinet can only be removed/altered by royal prerogative in the event that the Supreme Court can prove a breach of constitutionality or an unconstitutional/illegal action on the part of the Prime Minister and/or his staff.