Thomas Rørdam (born 17 October 1952) is a Danish lawyer and former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

Supreme Court of Denmark The Supreme Court (, lit. ''Highest Court'', , ) is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is based at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen which also houses the Danish Pa ...

. Before becoming a Supreme Court Judge in 2002, Rørdam was a notable defence lawyer. As a criminal defence lawyer he became known for a number of criminal cases, which was widely televised and received great public and media attention, including the case against the Blekingegade Gang, the Vadstrupgård case and the Plejebo case, and thus becoming probably one of the best known lawyers in recent Danish history. Rørdam is also Editor-in-chief of '' Karnov's Law Collection.''

Education and career

Born on 17 October 1952 in

Gladsaxe Gladsaxe Municipality () is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 70,958 (2025). ...

, he is the son of former High Court judge in the High Court of Western Denmark, Peter Rørdam and his wife Karin Rosa Blasberg. Thomas Rørdam became cand.jur. in 1976 and subsequently attended the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

(Berkeley) until 1977. He was then a principal at the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 1977 to 1985, with secondment as assistant

police prosecutor In certain jurisdictions, police prosecutors are employed by the police, as counsel for the prosecution, to present cases in court. Without robust safeguards, the lack of prosecutorial independence can result in a prosecuting environment which cre ...

Ringsted Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name. Ringsted is situated approximately from Copenhagen. History Ringsted was the site of ''Sjællands Landsting'' (lit. ''Z ...

1980–82, and partly as an assistant to the Public Prosecutor's Office for

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

. From 1985 to 2002 he was an independent lawyer and co-owner of the

Law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

Nyborg & Rørdam. Thomas Rørdam was adjunct teacher (most recently adjunct

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

) at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

in personal, family and succession law (1978–1979),

property law Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual prope ...

(1980–1992) and

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

(1994–1996 and again from 2004). Rørdam has also taught attorneys and Judges, among others, on subjects such as human rights (from 1993),

criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail ...

(from 1996),

forensic psychiatry Forensic psychiatry is a subspecialty of psychiatry and is related to criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry. According to the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, it is defined as "a subspecialty of psychiatr ...

(1998) and floating company charge (2005).

Supreme Court Judge and President

In 2002, Thomas Rørdam went from a very public role as a top-lawyer and avid participant in the public debate on legal policy issues to a less visible role as a Judge of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In February 2017, Rørdam replaced Poul Søgaard as President of the Supreme Court. As President of the Supreme Court, Rørdam served as chairman of the impeachment trial that sentenced former Minister for Integration,

Inger Støjberg Inger Beinov Støjberg (born 16 March 1973) is a Danish politician, businesswoman, convicted felon, and former reporter who served as a government minister in the Danish Parliament. Støjberg served as the minister for gender equality from 2009 ...

to 60 days in jail. He was succeeded as president on 1 November 2022 by

Jens Peter Christensen Jens Peter Christensen (born 1 November 1956 in Skive) is the president of the Supreme Court of Denmark. He finished his upper secondary level education in 1975, became a Candidate of Philosophy in 1980, Candidate of Political Science in 1982, ...

Other positions and professional affiliations

Thomas Rørdam is a diligent member of the legal councils and committees of legal proceedings in Denmark. List: * Member of the General Council of the Danish Bar and Law Society from 1991 to 1997, as well as member and chairman of several committees under the council. * Member of the Board of the National Association of Appointed Defence Attorneys in 1993 and chairman of the Association from 1997 to 2002. * Chairman of the Danish chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) from 2002 to 2004. * Member of the Greenland Judiciary Commission 1995–2002 * Member of the Committee on The Question of Police and Defence Intelligence Services 1998–2002 * Member of the Ministry of Justice sub-commission on the conduct of criminal proceedings on child sexual abuse 2000–2002 * Chairman of the board of Kong Christian den Tiendes Fond 2017– * Board member of

Thorvaldsens Museum The Thorvaldsen Museum is a single-artist museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, dedicated to the art of Danish and Icelandic Neoclassical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844), who lived and worked in Rome for most of his life (1796–1838). The ...

2017– * Board member of Illum Fondet 2017– * Chairman of the Standing Committee on Criminal Law 2019–

Writings and publications

Thomas Rørdam has written the book "''Forsvareren''" (a handbook for the counsel for the

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

), and he is the co-author of two books on

issues and have also written numerous articles for professional journals on aspects of

and

in particular. Since 2003, Thomas Rørdam is also one of the three chief editors of '' Karnov's Law Collection'' (annotated body of laws).

Style and decorations

The President of the

is a member of the first class of precedence of the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitution of Denmark, Constitutional Act, which applies to the entire territor ...

, and as such entitled to the

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

of "

His Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

". Thomas Rørdam received on 16. April 2017 the decoration of

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Gran ...

of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rordam, Thomas Living people 1952 births Supreme Court (Denmark) justices Supreme Court (Denmark) 20th-century Danish lawyers 21st-century Danish lawyers Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog People from Gladsaxe Municipality University of California, Berkeley alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen