DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Thomas Norvold, Søren Locher, Anne Mie Lund and Pawel Weigel, Fabritius Tengnagel & Heine
not met, the party initiating a lawsuit may not be awarded legal costs by the court, even if the case is won. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations The starting point in Danish law is that a claim becomes time-barred after three years. The limitation period is calculated from the earliest point at which the creditor could demand the fulfilment of the claim. If the creditor is unaware of the claim or the debtor, the limitation period starts from the day when the creditor became aware or should have become aware thereof. In any case, the absolute statutory limitation period is ten years. There are special, longer statutes of limitations – eg, a payment claim based on a promissory note becomes time-barred after ten years. In special legislation, there are also shorter limi- tation periods – eg, in legislation relating to the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), the statutory limitation period is generally one year. It should also be noted that the creditor’s pas- sivity – in cases where the claim is not formally time-barred – can result in the claim no long- er being enforceable if the debtor acquires a legitimate expectation that the claim will not be enforced due to the creditor’s passivity. Passivity is often asserted by the parties but rarely applied by the courts. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant In Danish law, the general rule is that a defendant must be sued in the district court correspond- ing to where the defendant resides (for natural persons) or where the main office is located (for legal persons).
In addition, the Danish Administration of Jus- tice Act contains a provision on supplementary jurisdiction, which allows a lawsuit to be initiated against a defendant in the following locations: • cases against persons conducting commer- cial business may be filed in the court at the location where the business is conducted, when the case concerns the business; • cases concerning rights to real estate can be filed in the court where the property is located; • contractual disputes may be filed in the court located at the place where the obligation underlying the case has been fulfilled or is to be fulfilled; and • cases in which claims for penalties, compen- sation or restitution arising from legal infringe- ments are asserted may be brought before the court located at the place where the infringement occurred. If the court has no jurisdiction as outlined above, a case may also be filed in the court located at the place where the defendant has assets at the time the case is brought before the court, or where the assets related to the claim are located at the time the case is brought before the court. The Brussels I Regulation and the Lugano Con- vention are also applicable in Denmark. 3.4 Initial Complaint A civil lawsuit is initiated by submitting a writ of summons to the court. It follows from the Dan- ish Administration of Justice Act that the writ of summons must contain the following: • the parties’ names and addresses; • specification of the court in which the case is filed; • the plaintiff’s claim;
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