Denmark - Central Authority (Art. 2) and practical information

Central Authority(ies):

Ministry of Justice

Contact details:

Address: Ministry of Justice
Procedural Law Division 
Slotsholmsgade 10
1216 COPENHAGEN K
Denmark
Telephone: +45 7226 8400 
Fax: +45 3393 3510 
E-mail: jm@jm.dk 
General website: http://www.jm.dk/ 
Contact person: -
Languages spoken by staff: Danish, English

Practical Information
(The following information was provided by the relevant State authorities or was obtained from the replies to the 2008 Evidence Convention Questionnaire)

Blocking statutes: No blocking statute in force.

Chapter I
(Letters of Requests)

Transmission of Letters of Requests: Letters of Request are sent directly from a judicial authority in the requesting State to the Central Authority of the requested State.
Authority responsible for informing of the time and place of the execution of Letter of Request (Art. 7):

Judicial authority competent to execute the request.

Presence of judicial personnel at the execution of the Letter of Request (Art. 8): Declaration of applicability.
Privileges and duties existing under the law of States other than the State of origin and the State of execution (Art. 11): No declaration of applicability.
Translation requirements (Arts 4(2) and 33): 

Letters of Request may be sent in Norwegian and Swedish, and Denmark accepts no obligation to return evidence taken in other languages than Danish.

Denmark will not accept Letters of Request which are sent in French in accordance with Art. 4(2) of the Evidence Convention.
Costs relating to execution of the Letters of Request (Arts 14(2)(3) and 26): No information available.
Time for execution: No information available.
Art 23 pre-trial discovery of documents: Letter of Request may be executed subject to certain conditions (qualified exclusion).
Information about domestic rules on the taking of evidence:  Danish Legal Information (the database is in Danish only).

Witness examination under Chapter I

Should Letters of Request include specific questions to be used during witness examination or only a list of matters to be addressed? No information available.
Is it a public or private hearing? Public hearing.
Do the judicial authorities "blue-pencil" Letters of Requests (i.e. rephrase, restructure and / or strike out objectionable questions or offensive wording so that a Letter of Request may be executed under the laws of the requested State)? No information available.
Is the witness provided in advance with a copy of the questions / matters to be addressed as contained in the Letter of Request? No information available.
Are documents produced by the witness authenticated by the court? No information available.
Is an oath generally administered to the witness? No.
Can the witness be made subject to further examination and recall? No information available.
Are there sanctions for non-appearance of witness? Depending on the circumstances, a fine or having the person sought and retained by the police would be the most likely sanctions for a non-appearing witness in a civil or commercial case. 
Must interpreters who assist with the witness examination be court-certified? No.
How is the testimony transcribed? According to Danish law and practice the judge is responsible for transcribing the testimonies during a case. For example the judge can transcribe the testimony himself, he can use a Dictaphone or he can entrust the transcription to the personnel that carries out the minutes of the court session. However, the judge is always responsible for the substance of the minutes regardless of his choice of transcription.

Chapter II
(Taking of evidence by diplomatic officers, consular agents and commissioners)

Article 15 Applicable. See Competent Authority.
Article 16 Applicable. See Competent Authority.
Article 17 Not applicable
Article 18 Not applicable

Taking of evidence by video-links
(under either chapter)
 

Chapter I

Are there legal obstacles to the use of video links? The Danish Ministry of Justice is unable at this time to provide an assessment of what the legal basis under the Convention for the taking of evidence by video-link might be.
Technology used: No information available.
Level of interpretation required: No information available.
Simultaneous or in sequence interpretation: No information available. 
Interpretation required in which jurisdiction? No information available. 
Who pays for the interpretation? No information available. 
How would a request for evidence be handled if witness not willing? No information available.

Chapter II

Are there legal obstacles to the use of video links? The Danish Ministry of Justice is unable at this time to provide an assessment of what the legal basis under the Convention for the taking of evidence by video-link might be.
Technology used: No information available.
Level of interpretation required: No information available.
Simultaneous or in sequence interpretation: No information available.
Interpretation required in which jurisdiction? No information available.
Who pays for the interpretation? No information available.
Bilateral or multilateral agreements

  

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(This page was last updated on 7 March 2014)

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