DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Erik Kjær-Hansen, Josephine Alsing and Victoria Krebs Dissing, Gorrissen Federspiel
Gorrissen Federspiel Axeltorv 2 1609 Copenhagen V Denmark Tel: +45 33 41 41 41 Email: contact@gorrissenfederspiel.com Web: www.gorrissenfederspiel.com
1. Introduction 1.1 Current Framework for Private Antitrust Litigation The legislative framework for antitrust litigation in Den -
1.2 Recent Developments To the knowledge of the authors, most private antitrust court decisions have concerned damages for infringe - ments committed before the Competition Damages Act transposing the EU Damages Directive (2014/104/ EU) into national law entered into force. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in private antitrust filings and several significant damages cases (including Danish follow-on cases to EC decisions) are currently pending. 2. Private Antitrust Claims: Basis and Procedure 2.1 Statutory Basis The legal basis for private antitrust claims is set out in: • the Competition Damages Act; • the Danish Administration of Justice Act; and • the Danish general legal principles on damages. A party may bring a private claim before the courts, seeking the following remedies: • damages – this type of claim is typically based on Section 3 of the Competition Damages Act and general tort law, including the general Danish legal principles on damages, can also serve as a legal basis for private antitrust claims; and/or • injunctive relief – this type of claim is based on Chapter 40 of the Danish Administration of Justice Act.
mark primarily encompasses: • the Danish Competition Act;
• the Danish Competition Damages Act, which trans - posed the EU Damages Directive (2014/104/EU) into national law; • the general Danish legal principles on damages; and • the Danish Administration of Justice Act. The Danish competition rules generally mirror EU competition law rules and are interpreted in accord - ance with the case law of the ECJ and the decisional practice of the EC. In Denmark, private antitrust litigation is generally con - sistent with private enforcement of any other dam - age claim. However, the Competition Damages Act does provide certain specific provisions regarding, for example, the disclosure of evidence, time-barring, and the burden of proof. Until now, there have been relatively few private anti - trust judgments rendered by Danish courts ‒ although several cases are pending before the courts. Thus far, most judgments have concerned damages resulting from anti-competitive agreements and not the abuse of a dominant position.
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