{{one source, date=September 2021
In Denmark ''manddrab'' (manslaughter) is the term used by the
Danish penalty law The Danish Penal Code, also known as the Danish Criminal Code ( da, Straffeloven),Retsinformation.dStraffeloven./ref> is the codification of and the foundation of criminal law in Denmark. The updated official full text covers 29 chapters and is al ...
to describe the act of intentionally killing another person. No distinction between manslaughter and
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
exists. The penalty goes from a minimum of five years (six years in the case of regicide) to
imprisonment for life
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...
. The standard punishment for manslaughter - i.e. where there are neither aggravating or mitigating circumstances - is 12 years imprisonment.
Besides the general offence described above there are more specific homicide offences in Danish law that are not considered as grave as manslaughter.
Infanticide
Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...
is defined as a mother who kills her child during or immediately after childbirth due to distress, fear of infamy or under the influence of a debilitation, bewilderment or perplexity caused by giving birth and is punished with imprisonment for up to four years.
Euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
is defined as killing somebody on their definite request and is punished with imprisonment for up to three years. While attempting suicide is not considered criminal in Danish law, assisting somebody in committing suicide is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years.
Besides deliberate killing, Danish law contains two offences regarding unintentional killing of someone. Negligent homicide (uagtsomt manddrab) is defined as negligently causing the death of another person. The penalty is a fine or imprisonment for up to four months, Straffeloven §241 under aggravating circumstances imprisonment for up to eight years. Aggravated circumstances could be killing a person while driving under the influence. Death caused by aggravated battery (vold med døden til følge) describes the situation where the perpetrator has the intention to commit an aggravated battery but where the battery leads to the unintentional death of the victim. The punishment is imprisonment for up to ten years.
Besides the above mentioned, the perpetrator can also be convicted to life in prison (livstid / livsvarig fængsel). It implies a prison term of at least 12 years before the inmate can file for probation.
If the court finds the person unfit for normal imprisonment the person will have indefinite detention (forvaring på ubestemt tid) in a secured psychiatric institution. Every 5 years the person can file for probation.