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The Disciplinary Board

The Disciplinary Board ("Advokatnævnet") is an independent department of the Danish Bar and Law Society that handles complaints about lawyers.

The Disciplinary Board handles disciplinary complaints about lawyers’ conduct and complaints about lawyers’ fees. The disciplinary Board does not make decisions on compensation.

The deadline for filing a complaint is one year (from the time when you became aware of the matter to which the complaint relates or of the claim for payment). The Disciplinary Board may refuse a complaint

  • if the deadline has been exceeded,
  • due to the lack of legal interest,
  • due to the nature of the complaint, or
  • if the complaint is obviously unfounded.

If the Disciplinary Board finds that a lawyer has committed a breach of the code of conduct for lawyers, the Disciplinary Board can impose a sanction against the lawyer. Disciplinary sanctions include a rebuke, a fine or disbarment. Fines are forfeited to the state.

If the Disciplinary Board deems a lawyer’s fee unreasonable, the Disciplinary Board can reduce or waive the fee.

How to file a complaint

The fee for submitting a complaint is DKK 500. The fee will be reimbursed if the Disciplinary Board fully or partly withholds your complaint or if your complaint is refused for not meeting the formal requirements. The complaint can be submitted electronically via our complaint portal here. 

Please note that the portal is in Danish, and that submitting a complaint via the portal requires a Danish mobile phone number. If you do not have a Danish mobile phone number, you can send your complaint by email or by ordinary mail. In that case, we kindly ask you to provide us with the following:

  • Your contact details.
  • Information about the person you are complaining about.
  • Specific details of what you wish to complain about.
  • Relevant enclosures, if any.

All cases are handled in writing.

Please avoid sending any irrelevant personal data, e.g. information about third parties or civil registration numbers.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat of the Disciplinary Board by email or by phone.

The Disciplinary Board

The Disciplinary Board has 21 members.

The chairmanship consists of three judges; one from the Supreme Court, one from the high court and one from the district court. The chairman and vice-chairmen are appointed by the president of the Supreme Court.

Of the other 18 members, nine members are lay members, appointed by the Minister of Justice, and nine members are lawyers, appointed by the members of the Danish Bar and Law Society.

Contact information

The Secretariat of the Disciplinary Board

Kronprinsessegade 28

1306 Copenhagen

Denmark

Email: postkasse@advokatnaevnet.dk

Phone: +45 33 96 97 98

Monday-Friday: 9.30-12.30

Online dispute resolution

If you are a consumer, and your complaint is about fees, you can instead choose to lodge your complaint via the European Union’s online platform on consumer complaints regarding online transactions. However, this is not compulsory. It is still possible to lodge a complaint with the secretariat of the Disciplinary Board.

You can find the European Union’s online platform and further information on how to use it via the following website