DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Christian Monberg, Simon Evers Hjelmborg, Ann Sophie Juul Hird and Linn Dyrgaard Stinus, Accura Advokatpartnerselskab
6.4 Protections Afforded to Whistle-Blowers Section 5-8 of the Whistleblower Act outlines the pro - tection of whistle-blowers and the requirements an individual must meet to be categorised as a whistle- blower protected under the law. The law protects whistle-blowers reporting to an internal whistle-blower programme, external whistle- blower programme and whistle-blower programmes within the EU. The protection is granted on the con - dition that the whistle-blower had reason to believe that the declared information was correct at the time of the report. Provided that the whistle-blower meets the necessary conditions and that the report is neces - sary to expose a serious criminal offence or serious circumstance, they will not breach statutory confiden - tiality and will not be held liable. The whistle-blower is not held responsible for the method used to gain access to the information if the method does not in and of itself constitute a criminal offence. The whistle-blower is not to be met by retaliatory measures due to the report. 6.5 Incentives Provided to Whistle-Blowers There are no formal incentives other than the protec - tion whistle-blowers are granted under the Whistle - blower Act. Under Danish law, enforcement of the anti-corruption provisions of the Criminal Code is a criminal matter and thus handled by the Danish Prosecution Ser - vice in accordance with the principles of the Danish Administration of Justice Act (Consolidated Act No 1160 of 5 November 2024, retsplejeloven ). There is no formal civil or administrative enforcement, except for the possibility of any individual to file a civil lawsuit in the Danish courts if the individual has been subject to a violation and has suffered a financial loss in connection hereto. Furthermore, professionals committing an offence may be subject to the suspen - 7. Enforcement Trends 7.1 Enforcement
sion or revocation of professional licences and dis - qualification from holding public office. Finally, the Public Procurement Act entails obligations on disclosure (and to some extent disqualification) for entities participating in public tender procedures hav - ing been engaged in criminal activities, including cor - ruption. 7.2 Enforcement Bodies All of the relevant provisions as set out in 3.1 Limi- tation Period and 5.1 Penalties on Conviction are enforced by the Danish Prosecution Service, as they are criminalised in the Criminal Code. Generally, if the offence committed is of a sufficiently serious or organised nature, the Special Crime Unit ( National enhed for Særlig Kriminalitet – NSK) within the Danish Police/the Danish Prosecution Service will handle the matter. The Special Crime Unit has exten - sive knowledge of and experience with economic crimes. 7.3 Jurisdictional Reach of Enforcement Bodies Danish law enforcement has the authority to investi - gate and prosecute crimes within the Danish jurisdic - tion. The principles of territoriality are outlined in 3.2 Geographical Reach of Applicable Legislation . 7.4 Discretion for Mitigation and Aggravation Danish criminal procedure does not offer a formal system for non-trial resolutions. It generally relies on the courts to decide what mitigating or aggravating factors apply to the case as set out in 5.2 Guidelines Applicable to the Assessment of Penalties . However, the Danish Prosecution Service may in certain cases suggest an extrajudicial fine which the charged person(s) can either accept or deny (known in Danish as udenretlig bødevedtagelse ). This allows persons to accept a fine without going through a for - mal court process. The system is designed to stream - line the handling of minor offences and criminal acts where there can be little to no doubt as to the outcome at court, offering a quicker resolution to, eg, profes - sionals and companies not wanting to go through a lengthy and costly legal process at the courts.
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