Denmark

Forensic science in Denmark

Denmark keeps three forensic functions in three places. Crime-scene work belongs to the police, through a national centre within its unit for special crime; the national DNA laboratory and forensic toxicology belong to a university department; and forensic medicine to three university institutes, with the police deciding when a forensic autopsy is performed.

Fact-checkedSafety review clearedLast updated 10 October 2026Last reviewed 10 October 2026

Facts verified: October 2026

This is a static reference page, not a live feed — check anything you intend to act on with the official source.

Crime-scene work is a police function. The police’s own page says that crime-scene technicians "er en del af Nationalt Kriminalteknisk Center (NKC) under National enhed for Særlig Kriminalitet (NSK)" — part of the National Forensic Centre within the National Special Crime Unit — that the police districts may call on them in very serious cases, and that they collect items and traces at a scene "som efterfølgende undersøges og analyseres". The page does not say who carries out that examination and analysis, and this page does not say it either.

The unit the centre belongs to describes itself as "en operativ specialenhed i politiet og anklagemyndigheden" — an operational special unit of the police and the prosecution service — and lists among the support it gives every police district, and Greenland and the Faroe Islands, "digital og fysisk kriminalteknik på gerningssteder": digital and physical crime-scene work.

The DNA laboratory is not in the police. The University of Copenhagen’s Department of Forensic Medicine says that its Section of Forensic Genetics "serves as the national laboratory for DNA analyses in criminal, paternity and family reunion cases commissioned by the police", and that its Section of Forensic Chemistry carries out "toxicological analyses of biological samples" and tests materials for drugs. The department carries out forensic examinations "for the police, the courts and other authorities in Denmark, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands".

Forensic medicine is also a university function, and the decision to use it belongs to the police. The Danish Patient Safety Authority states that "Det er politiet, der bestemmer, om der skal udføres en retslægelig obduktion af afdøde", and that forensic autopsies are performed at one of the three institutes of forensic medicine, at the University of Southern Denmark, Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen. The Copenhagen department’s pathology section serves "the police districts in Eastern Denmark".

Uncertainty

What we could not establish

THE CENTRE’S OWN LABORATORY WORK, IF ANY, IS NOT ESTABLISHED. The police’s page says the traces technicians collect are afterwards examined and analysed, without saying by whom. No page of the centre’s own was found through the police site’s navigation or in its sitemap.
Who examines fingerprints, firearms, documents and digital material was NOT RESEARCHED.
The legal basis of the National Forensic Centre and of the National Special Crime Unit was not read.
Accreditation was not researched for any of these bodies, and nothing here says any of them is accredited.
The Health Act is not cited. The 2025 consolidation found on the legislation site carries an end date of 3 October 2026, and the consolidation in force now was not identified, so forensic autopsy is described from the Patient Safety Authority’s page and the Copenhagen department’s own page.
The Aarhus and Odense institutes’ own pages were not read; that they perform forensic autopsies rests on the Patient Safety Authority’s statement.
How a defendant obtains an independent forensic examination in Denmark was not researched.
Nothing on this page says anything about what a forensic technique can establish, how well it works, or whether a court may use a result.

Sources

Kriminaltekniker (the police’s crime-scene technicians)
Rigspolitiet (Danish National Police), politi.dk · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: where the police’s crime-scene technicians sit and what they do at a scene — nothing about any technique’s reliability or any result. The police’s own page, reached through the site’s navigation and read directly. Supports that "Kriminalteknikere er en del af Nationalt Kriminalteknisk Center (NKC) under National enhed for Særlig Kriminalitet (NSK)"; that the police districts may ask for their help in cases of a very serious character; that "Kriminalteknikere indsamler effekter og spor fra et gerningssted, som efterfølgende undersøges og analyseres", the material then going to investigators in the district where the crime occurred; and that crime-scene technicians are police officers who have specialised in the work. It does NOT say who carries out the examination and analysis, and nothing is claimed about it from this page.
Hvem er NSK (the National Special Crime Unit)
Rigspolitiet (Danish National Police), politi.dk · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what the National Special Crime Unit is and what support it gives the police districts. The unit’s own page, read directly. Supports that "NSK er en operativ specialenhed i politiet og anklagemyndigheden"; and that it supports all police districts in Denmark, and in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, with investigative support that includes "digital og fysisk kriminalteknik på gerningssteder". The page’s staff figure and locations are deliberately unused.
Department of Forensic Medicine — About the department
University of Copenhagen — Department of Forensic Medicine · Academic · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what the Copenhagen department does and for whom — nothing about any technique’s reliability or any result. The department’s own English page, read directly. Supports that it "carries out forensic examinations for the police, the courts and other authorities in Denmark, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands"; that "Forensic examinations in Denmark are carried out by universities in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense"; that it has three sections, for forensic chemistry, forensic genetics and forensic pathology; that the Section of Forensic Pathology handles examinations of the living and the dead, including autopsies, "for the police districts in Eastern Denmark"; that the Section of Forensic Genetics "serves as the national laboratory for DNA analyses in criminal, paternity and family reunion cases commissioned by the police"; and that the Section of Forensic Chemistry carries out "toxicological analyses of biological samples" and tests materials for drugs. The page’s staff figures are deliberately unused.
Indberetning af dødsfald, retslægeligt ligsyn og obduktion
Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed (Danish Patient Safety Authority) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: who decides on a forensic autopsy and where one is performed — nothing about any procedure’s detail or any case. The authority’s own page for public bodies, read directly. Supports that "Det er politiet, der bestemmer, om der skal udføres en retslægelig obduktion af afdøde"; that a forensic external examination is held by the police together with doctors from the authority; and that "Retslægelig obduktioner udføres ved et af de tre retsmedicinske institutter i Danmark der ligger på Syddansk Universitet, Aarhus Universitet og Københavns Universitet".