Parliament of Denmark

The Parliament of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks Parlament) is a government institution of the Kingdom of Denmark, which consists of two legal parts: the Domstol (lit. "royal court") and the Folketing (lit. "people's assembly"). In informal speech, the term "parliament" often simply refers to the Folketing, as the Domstol is not a legislative chamber proper, instead simply existing as a legislative advisory council for the monarch, a session of which is only mandatory following the passing of a bill in the Folketing, which must receive royal assent in order to become law. As such, "members of parliament" (parlamentsmedlemmer; sg. parlamentsmedlem, PM) refers only to members of the Folketing, with Domstol members instead called "advisors" (rådgivere; sg. rådgiver).

Both the Folketing and Domstol have their official meeting place at Christiansborg Palace in central Copenhagen; the Folketingssalen is the main auditorium which hosts the Folketing, located on the main floor of Christiansborg Palace, while a smaller meeting room located on the second floor, called the Domstolssalen, is the official meeting place of the Domstol.

The typical legislative procedure is as follows:


 * 1) One or more members of parliament introduce a bill, or an idea for a bill;
 * 2) The bill or idea is debated upon, which if popular enough and yet to be formalised is formulated into a proper bill;
 * 3) The members of parliament in favour of the bill submit it to the formand (speaker), who then calls the Folketing to collectively vote on the proposed legislation;
 * 4) The Folketing votes on the legislation, voting moderated by the formand, who only votes to break a tie; if the bill receives a simple majority, the measure passes; if not, it fails, and the procedure concludes;
 * 5) The formand delivers the passed bill to the domskurer (Royal Court Courier), who presents it to the Domstol;
 * 6) The Domstol and the monarch review the bill, ensuring no contradictions with the constitution or unintended contradictions with previous legislation exist;
 * 7) Finally, the monarch signs and marks the bill with the royal stamp, officiating the royal assent and thereby formally passing the bill into law.

As the Domstol is not considered a legislative chamber, the Danish Parliament is considered to be unicameral. Similarly, members of parliament (parlamentsmedlemmer) are elected by the constituents of their riding (electoral district), and as such are genuine legislators; Domstol members/advisors (rådgivere), on the other hand, are appointed by the monarch, having no legal authority of their own.