per andersen the Danish Royal Court did not have the same significance as most other similar courts in other parts of Europe, i.e. as the entry point for the implementation of learned procedure. As shown, even though thirteenth-century sources mention the “king’s ting”, this ting did not show its shape and character until the fourteenth century when it developed into an institutionalised Royal Court that could function without the king’s presence. As in the rest of Europe, further development occurred throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, culminating in the establishment of the Danish Supreme Court (Højesteret) in 1661, a year after the introduction of absolutism in Denmark. In this development Denmark did not differ markedly from other European countries, although the establishment of the Royal Court happened slightly later in Denmark than in most places. The Supreme Court was founded by King FrederikIIIas areplacement of the Royal Court. Originally the court consisted of 30 justices, and even though the king was the formal head of the court from its foundation and until the adoption of the constitution of 1849, he only attended the first meeting each year. The Supreme Court was acollegiumon the same level as other centrally controlled administrative units. During most of the first hundred years of its operation, the Supreme Court had no actual president, but the Court’s head was mentioned as “the highest delegate”. The first person appointed to this position was also the royal Chancellor, and in 1674 the office was decisively professionalized as an office as justitiarius was instituted as the head of the court; when this office received a separate salary from 1705, an important step on the way towards an independent presidential office was made.50 In the early days of the Court it was the king who convened the delegates who met for each individual case. There was a stable core of judges 50 Tamm, Ditlev 2011c p. 22. 267 The final stage: The Supreme Court and professionalization
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