Are Immigrants and Their Descendants Discriminated against in the Danish Criminal Justice System?

Abstract

The study presents Danish data from 2000 showing disparities between persons with a Danish background and persons with a foreign background regarding their treatment in the criminal justice system. Persons with a foreign background are more likely to be arrested in relation to a charge, they are more likely to be remanded in custody without subsequently being convicted, and they are more likely not to be convicted when charged with an offence. Controlling for a number of factors regarding the suspect and the crime does not eliminate the disparities. A number of possible explanations are discussed.1 1The results of this study were presented at the Second European Society of Criminology Conference in Toledo in 2002. We are grateful to two anonymous referees for their valuable comments.