How to Search for Documents

Parliamentary documents lie at the core of the parliamentary process. The documents are only available in Danish and can be found under the menu item »Dokumenter« on www.ft.dk. Here you will find documents relating to the legislative process and Parliament’s control of the Government’s use of power.

On ft.dk, it is possible to search for all published parliamentary documents written in the Danish language. Unfortunately, it is not possible to search for parliamentary documents on the Danish Parliament’s English website, www.thedanishparliament.dk.

Document Types

Parliamentary documents comprise the following document types: 

  • Lovforslag = Bills
  • Beslutningsforslag = Proposals for parliamentary resolution
  • Forespørgsler = Interpellations
  • Redegørelser = Ministerial accounts
  • Forslag til vedtagelse = Proposals to be passed
  • § 20-spørgsmål = Section 20 questions
  • Referater = Minutes
  • Afstemninger = Votes in Parliament
  • Udvalgsspørgsmål = Committee questions
  • Udvalgsbilag = Committee documents
  • Aktstykker = Appropriations
  • Statsrevisorernes sager = Documents pertaining to the Auditors of Public Accounts
  • Kommissionsforslag = EU Commission proposals
  • Rådsmøder = EU Council meetings

On ft.dk you can find parliamentary documents dating back to the sessional year of 1985-86.

Older documents can be found on the website of the Folketing Hansard, www.folketingstidende.dk.

Free Text Search under the Menu Item »Dokumenter«

When it comes to free text search it is, like the term implies, entirely up to you which words you enter into the free text field. Try different options to combine and delimit your search words. With a few exceptions, the documents are Danish language only.

Combining Search Words

Combine search words with the two operators »AND« and »OR«.

Use »AND« if you want both search words to figure in a document: [rapport AND bandekriminalitet].

Use »OR« if both words have the same meaning or are closely related: [muskelhund OR kamphund].

Is the Word Ending Unknown? Use Truncation

Use truncation, if the ending of your search word is unknown. This is done by adding an asterisk * »*« at the end of the word: [folketing*].

Searching for a Phrase

Use the phrase function, if you want to search for a specific phrase. This is done by putting the phrase in inverted commas »””« to retain the exact word order: [”lov om social service”].

Metadata or Full Text

Just below the input field you can choose between searching in metadata »Søg i titel og resumé« or searching in the full text »Søg i hele dokumentteksten«.

The default setting is the metadata setting »Søg i titel og resumé«, which gives the most comprehensible search result.

Tick the box of »Søg i hele dokumentteksten« if you want to broaden your search. If you choose that option, you will search all text in all documents.

Limiting Your Search

You can limit your search by:

  • Period (the sessional year) = »Samling«
  • Committee = »Udvalg«
  • Document type = »Dokumenttyper«

Tip: In the fold-down menu you can choose more than one value by holding down the Ctrl key and choosing the desired values.

The Sessional Year

Please note that the sessional year runs from the first Tuesday of October to the first Tuesday of October the following year.

In case of a general election, the sessional year is divided into two sessions. The first session »1. samling« is the period before the election date and the second session »2. samling« is the rest of the sessional year after the election date.

[2022-23 (2. samling)]

Advanced Search

For a more advanced search, you can choose the specific document type under the category »Dokumenter« in the left-menu.

Here you can limit or edit your search even more by searching for one specific document type. Use »Præciser søgning« in order to open your specific search.

The Search Result

The search result contains all the search hits that match the search. By clicking a title on the list of search results you will get to the index page of the document.

Search Result Features

  • »Sortering« – You can sort your search result. The search result is automatically shown according to relevance »Relevans«. You can also choose to have your search results sorted by date »Dato« or by title »Titel«.
  • Use »Præciser søgning« to edit or improve your search.
  • If you get many hits, you can browse the next pages by using the arrow. Choose a number next to »Vis pr. side« to choose the number of hits per page.
  • In the menu on the left you can delimit and edit your search by using the categories under »Dokumenter«. The default search setting is the last three sessions.

Folketingstidende.dk

If you are looking for documents older than 1986, you can find them on the website of the Folketing Hansard, folketingstidende.dk.

Here you can search sections [lovtillæg] and documents from 1953. 

The older documents from Rigsdagstidende [cf. Folketingstidende] from 1850 to 1953 have also been digitised and published and can be found under the menu item »e-Folketingstidende«. However, they do not have the search options of the post 1953 documents.

The Parliament's Information Centre

For further information, please feel free to contact the Danish Parliament's Information Centre.

Telephone: +45 3337 3338 
Send an e-mail