Denmark’s Supreme Court opened hearings Nov. 6 in seven cases concerning whether public-housing lease terminations may breach protections against discrimination based on ethnic origin, placing the country’s housing rules under judicial review.
The court calendar lists hearings for Nov. 6 and Nov. 9 and identifies tenancy termination and ethnic-origin protections as the case subject. The Guardian reported that former residents of Nøjsomhed-Sydvej, a public housing estate in Helsingør, allege their lease terminations were discriminatory.
The law requires development plans for designated transformation areas to reduce public family housing to no more than 40% of all housing units by Jan. 1, 2030. Areas qualify in part because the share of immigrants from non-Western countries and their descendants exceeded 50% during the previous five years, alongside socioeconomic disadvantage.
In a judgment issued Dec. 18, 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union said the Danish court must determine whether the population-share criterion is based on ethnic origin and leads to less favorable treatment. If it finds possible indirect discrimination, it must assess whether the measure is justified and proportionate, including in light of the right to respect for the home. The EU court did not decide whether Denmark’s scheme is lawful.
The Supreme Court’s next listed hearing date is Monday, Nov. 9.
