DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Thomas Norvold, Søren Locher, Anne Mie Lund and Pawel Weigel, Fabritius Tengnagel & Heine
5.5 Legal Privilege There is no obligation for parties or third parties to reveal information about matters on which they would be prohibited or exempted from testifying as a wit- ness. According to the Danish Administration of Justice Act, attorneys are exempt from the duty to testify as wit- nesses. However, the court may compel an attorney (with the exception of criminal defence attorneys) to testify if that testimony is deemed essential to the out - come of the case. This requirement is justified when the importance of the case, both to the involved party and to society, warrants the necessity of the attor- ney’s testimony. In civil cases, this compulsion cannot extend to information an attorney has learned from a case entrusted to them for execution or in which their advice has been sought. 5.6 Rules Disallowing Disclosure of a Document The same rules apply as for witness testimonies; see 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases . 6. Injunctive Relief 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief Please see 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions . It is possible to request the court to order a person to temporarily perform, refrain from, or tolerate specific actions through an injunction or order. Injunctions or orders can be issued if the party requesting the injunction or order demonstrates that: • they have the right sought to be protected by the injunction or order; • the conduct of the opposing party necessitates the issuance of the injunction or order; or • the party’s ability to obtain their right will be for- feited if they are required to await the legal resolu- tion of the dispute. 6.2 Arrangements for Obtaining Urgent Injunctive Relief See 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe .
• expose their closest relatives to self-harm or loss of well-being; or • inflict significant harm on the witness themselves or their closest relatives. Witness testimony cannot be demanded from priests or other religious denominations, doctors, defend- ers, mediators or lawyers regarding matters that have come to their knowledge in the exercise of their pro- fession. However, such individuals can be compelled to provide testimony. See also 5.5 Legal Privilege. 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties According to the Danish Administration of Justice Act, upon request of a party, the court may compel a third party to present or hand over documents within their control that are relevant to the case, unless doing so would reveal information about matters on which they would be prohibited or exempted from testifying as a witness. A decision on the presentation of documents is made after the person who controls the documents has had the opportunity to express their views. The third party may require the requesting party to pay any expenses incurred for the presentation in advance or provide security to ensure these costs are covered. 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction Discovery is mainly centred around internal infor- mation that is not publicly available but is within the control of a party or a third party. This could include internal correspondence, financial information, bank statements and contracts. 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mechanisms In addition to the procedures mentioned in 5.1 Dis- covery and Civil Cases and 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties, a party may make procedural requests for the opposing party to present documentation and request the court to attribute procedural consequences to the failure to present it. Whether the court imposes procedural consequences for the failure to present documents depends on an assessment of the spe- cific case.
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