DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Evers Hjelmborg, Christian Monberg, Linn Dyrgaard Stinus and Ann Sophie Juul Hird, Accura Advokatpartnerselskab
the act of accepting a bribe as a public official, respectively. In addition, bribery in the private sector was criminalised in 2013 with the intro - duction of Section 299 (2). Sections 278–280 of the Criminal Code provides for the provisions on embezzlement and fraud, including fraud committed by a public official. In addition to the Criminal Code, requirements for companies specifically in relation to anti- bribery and anti-corruption are set out, eg, in the Danish Bookkeeping Act (Act No 700 of 24 May 2022, bogføringsloven ) (the “Bookkeeping Act”), the Danish Financial Statements Act (Con - solidated Act No 1057 of 23 September 2024, årsregnskabsloven ) (the “Financial Statements Act”) and the Companies Act (Consolidated Act No 1168 of 1 September 2023, selskabsloven ) (the “Companies Act”) which set out rules for booking, financial statements, board of direc - tors’ duties, implementation of risk-based analy - sis and programmes regarding anti-corruption. Furthermore, sector specific regulation is found in the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Consolidated Act No 807 of 21 June 2024, hvidvaskloven ) (the “Anti-Money Laundering Act”) which regulates companies in the financial sector and the legal sector. However, in terms of violations, the said acts all refer to the Criminal Code. 1.3 Guidelines for the Interpretation and Enforcement of National Legislation There are no official guidelines to supplement the Criminal Code, but case law from the Danish courts of law as well as the preparatory work to the Criminal Code is used for the interpretation of the Criminal Code. For practitioners, there is a wealth of literature on interpreting the legislation, along with various legal journals focused on, among other things,
anti-corruption. The Danish Prosecution Service publishes numerous documents on the Criminal Code, but these are not binding for courts of law. Anti-corruption guidelines are available to help Danish companies implement compliance programs and detect any possible violations. These guidelines, drafted by the Danish Busi - ness Authority and considered best practices, are not considered binding. Refer to 8.2 Compli- ance Guidelines and Best Practices for further details. 1.4 Recent Key Amendments to National Legislation There have been no material changes to the Criminal Code in regards to anti-corruption and anti-bribery in the last 12 months. In terms of relevant case law, refer to 7.5 Recent Landmark Investigations or Decisions . 2. Bribery and Corruption Elements 2.1 Bribery There is no official definition of bribery in the Criminal Code, but the Criminal Code covers several actions generally considered to consti - tute criminalised bribery. Section 122 of the Criminal Code covers the act of bribing (active bribery) and stipulates that any person who unlawfully provides, promises, or offers a gift or other advantage to a person serving in a Danish, foreign, or international pub - lic office to induce them to act or refrain from acting in their official duties, shall be punished with a fine or imprisonment for up to six years. Section 144 of the Criminal Code covers the act of receiving a bribe (passive bribery) and stip - ulates that any person who, in the exercise of
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