DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Johannes Hedegaard and Tobias Bøgh, Bruun & Hjejle
1. Identifying Assets in the Jurisdiction 1.1 Options to Identify Another Party’s Asset Position In Denmark, there are several public registers that can be utilised in order to ascertain the asset position of another party prior to enforcement. These include: • the Danish Central Business Register (CVR), which contains a range of information, including financial statements and details about a company’s direc - tors and shareholders, and also indicates whether a company is subject to insolvency or liquidation proceedings; • the Danish Land Registry ( Tingbogen ), which con - tains information regarding ownership of properties and the extent to which a property is encumbered; • the Danish Ship Register ( Skibsregistret ), which has information regarding the ownership of ships and the extent to which a ship is legally encumbered; • the Danish Vehicle Register ( Bilbogen ), which pro - vides information on whether a vehicle is subject to a retention of title or an attachment, and the extent to which a vehicle is encumbered; and • the Danish Personal Register ( Personbogen ), which contains information on whether a natural or legal person holds title to movable property that is encumbered, including information on any floating charges. Asset disclosure orders are not legal instruments available in Denmark. However, in the context of enforcement or insolvency proceedings, a debtor may be questioned with regard to their existing assets and their location, and must answer such questions truth - fully. If the creditor’s claim is not yet enforceable, but there is a risk that the debtor will dispose of assets in a manner that could be detrimental to the creditor, the latter may seek a precautionary attachment ( arrest in Danish) of the debtor’s assets in accordance with the procedure set forth in Chapter 56 of the Danish Administration of Justice Act, which, if granted, will prohibit the debtor from proceeding with a disposal.
2. Domestic Judgments 2.1 Types of Domestic Judgments
In Denmark, the courts can issue three distinct types of judicial rulings: (i) judgments, (ii) orders, and (iii) decisions. A judgment is typically used when the court issues a ruling that concludes the entire proceedings before the court (at that very instance). On the other hand, orders and decisions are typically used for rulings made during the course of a court case, and usu - ally concern procedural matters – rulings regarding evidence, whether a case should be dismissed, post - poned or referred to another court, etc. Decisions and orders differ in that decisions do not necessarily have to be explained, which is a requirement for orders. The type of ruling that the court should use in a specific case is regulated by the Danish Administration of Jus - tice Act and general non-statutory principles. Judgments Two categories of judgments are typically distin - guished. • Enforceable judgments ( fuldbyrdelsesdomme ) order the defendant to carry out or refrain from car - rying out a specific act. These include, for example, payment of a specified sum of money, the surren - der of an object, or the eviction of the defendant from a tenancy. Such a judgment may be enforced directly by the bailiff’s court, provided that it has been formulated in a clear and distinct manner that enables the bailiff’s court to identify the subject matter of that which is to be enforced as well as the obliged and entitled party. • Declaratory judgments ( anerkendelsesdomme ) establish the legal position between the plaintiff and the defendant. For instance, the judgment may stipulate that the defendant shall recognise, having acted negligently towards the plaintiff, that a contract between the parties is binding or has certain legal effects, or it may order a state author - ity to recognise that an administrative act is invalid with respect to the plaintiff. As such, declaratory judgments, by their very nature, cannot be directly enforced by the bailiff’s court.
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