The opportunities for the Greenland

Self-Government authorities’
assumption of fields of
responsibility
Pursuant to the Greenland Home Rule
Act, Greenland has already assumed
legislative and administrative
responsibility in a substantial number of
fields that affect the daily lives of
Greenlandic citizens, including public
finances.
The Self-Government Act provides for
the Self-Government authorities to
assume a number of new fields of
responsibility, such as administration of
justice, including the establishment of
courts of law; the prison and probation
service; the police; the field relating to
company law, accounting and auditing;
mineral resource activities; aviation;
law of legal capacity, family law and
succession law; aliens and border
controls; the working environment; as
well as financial regulation and
supervision, cf. Schedule I and II in the
Annex to the Self-Government Act.
In respect of the Unity of the Realm and
special provisions in the Danish
Constitution, responsibility for the
following fields may not be transferred:
the Constitution; nationality; the
Supreme Court; foreign, defence and
security policy as well as exchange rate
and monetary policy.
The fields of responsibility not taken
over by the Self-Government authorities
fall within the jurisdiction of the central
authorities of the Realm (Danish
Government and Folketing).
Annex 1 contains a list of the fields
where Greenland has assumed
responsibility in accordance with the
Home Rule Act and the Self-
Government Act.
With the assumption of a field of
responsibility, the Self-Government
authorities assume legislative and
executive power in the field as well as
take over responsibility for the financing
of the expenditure related to the
attendance of the field.
The Self-Government authorities decide
the time of assumption of fields of
responsibility under the Self-
Government Act. Certain fields that are
listed in Schedule II to the Act
(including the police, administration of
justice, including the establishment of
courts of law, aliens) require a higher
degree of preparation, for which reason
the time of assumption of these fields is
decided by the Self-Government
authorities after negotiation with the
Danish authorities.
An Act passed by Inatsisartut and
ratified by the Premier
(landsstyreformanden) in fields of
responsibility under the Self-
Government authorities is called Act of
Inatsisartut.
The Self-Government authorities’ own
legal precepts enter into force, unless
determined otherwise, two weeks after
they have been forwarded to a number
of public authorities in Greenland.