Legal aid - step 1

Danish lawyers have established local offices for free aid and assistance in legal matters where local practising lawyers on a pro bono basis offer their assistance.

At these offices, which offer free legal aid, you can, regardless of your income, obtain quick and basic oral advice on legal matters. The legal adviser will seek to quickly identify the character of your problem and the possible solutions.

Public legal aid - steps 2 and 3

With legal aid at steps 2 and 3, you can obtain financial aid to pay your lawyer, dependent on your income.
Whether or not you can obtain public legal aid at steps 2 and 3 depends on the size of your income on your tax assessment notice from the year before last year.

If your current income deviates significantly from your income on your tax assessment notice from the year before last year, your current income may be applied instead if you submit sufficient documentation. The income limit depends on whether or not you are single or married/cohabiting. Your partner’s income will not be taken into account if you and your partner’s interests are conflicting.

For each child, including step children and foster children who are under the age of 18 and living with you (the applicant for legal aid) or primarily provided for by you, the income limit is increased.

The specific income limits are stated in Bekendtgørelse om offentlig retshjælp ved advokater (Ministerial order on public legal aid by lawyers). You can find the ministerial order in the box to the right.

How can the lawyer assist you at step 2?

With public legal aid at step 2, the lawyer can provide assistance at a value of DKK 1,140 (including VAT). The state will pay 75 % of this amount, i.e. DKK 855. You need to pay DKK 285.

At step 2, the lawyer can give advice and prepare a few letters or simple documents.

How can the lawyer assist you at step 3?

If your case concerns a conflict with an opposing party and is likely to be settled, it is possible to obtain public legal aid at step 3.

With public legal aid at step 3, the lawyer can provide assistance at a value of DKK 2,600. The state will pay 50 % of this amount, and you need to pay the remaining DKK 1,300 to the lawyer.

It is possible to obtain public legal aid at both steps 2 and 3 in the same case. It means that you can receive legal assistance at a value of DKK 3,740. You need to pay DKK 1,585.

You do not have to pay anything yourself if you receive public legal aid at steps 2 and/or 3 to an application for free legal aid to civil proceedings.

Not all lawyers are offering public legal aid. The lawyers who offer services under this scheme are listed at the offices of the district courts.

Public legal aid is not offered for lawyers’ assistance regarding:
- Criminal proceedings where you are charged or accused
- Professional business – if you are a business owner, and the matter in question is mainly of a business character
- Applications for debt relief
- Cases currently being heard by an administrative authority or an approved complaints or appeals board (however, it is possible to obtain public legal aid to a complaint about the decision of an administrative authority)

If you have taken out legal expenses insurance which covers your legal costs, you need to make use of this insurance before you can obtain public legal aid.

Furthermore, in order to obtain public legal aid, it is a requirement that your lawyer from the beginning assesses that your case can be closed with the legal assistance covered by the public legal aid.

Free legal aid to civil proceedings

If you are granted free legal aid to civil proceedings (fri proces), the state will pay all your expenses linked to litigation – regardless of whether or not you win or lose the case.

You can obtain free legal aid to most matrimonial and custody proceedings. It is also possible to obtain free legal aid to civil proceedings if a series of approved complaints or appeals boards have upheld your claim, or if the case is covered by an injunction pursuant to the Danish Marketing Practices Act (Markedsføringsloven). In these cases, you need to apply for free legal aid at the district court where the case is to be heard.

It is also possible to obtain free legal aid to civil proceedings in other cases if you have a fair reason to take legal action. Your lawyer will be able to help you assess whether or not you have a fair reason to take legal action before he or she applies for free legal aid on your behalf. In these kinds of cases, you need to apply for free legal aid at the Department of Civil Affairs (Civilstyrelsen). In cases where you are tenant, employee or injured party, you will usually be considered as having a fair reason to take legal action.

To obtain free legal aid for civil proceedings, your income must not exceed a certain amount. The income limits are adjusted once a year.

Whether or not you can obtain free legal aid for civil proceedings depends on the size of your income on your tax assessment notice from the year before last year. If your current income deviates significantly from the income on your tax assessment notice from the year before last year, your current income may be applied instead, if you submit sufficient documentation. The income limit depends on whether or not you are single or married/cohabiting. Your partner’s income will not be taken into account if you and your partner’s interests are conflicting.

For each child, including step children and foster children, who are under the age of 18 and living with you (the applicant for legal aid), or primarily provided for by you, the income limit is increased. If you pay child support which is deducted on your preliminary income assessment, the income limit will not be increased, though.

The specific income limits are stated in Bekendtgørelse om fri proces (Ministerial order on legal aid). You can find the ministerial order in the box to the right.

Free legal aid to civil proceedings is usually not granted to business owners if the case in question concerns the business. Moreover, free legal aid is not granted for debt collection proceedings.

Covering of costs in consumer court cases

The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority can cover a consumer’s expenses linked to litigation on the basis of a decision made by or a settlement reached at the Danish Consumer Complaints Board or an approved private disputes resolution body with complaint handling.

It is a requirement that the Danish Consumer Complaints Board or the private disputes resolution body has wholly or partly upheld the consumer’s claim, and that it is not obvious that the courts will not uphold the claim.

If a consumer has taken out legal expenses insurance which covers the costs of the court case, he/she has to make use of this insurance first. The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority will be able to cover a possible excess and/or costs exceeding the maximum coverage of the legal expenses insurance.

To the extent that a consumer has not taken out legal expenses insurance which covers the costs of the court case, the above scheme will replace free legal aid to civil proceedings, pursuant to the Danish Administration of Justice Act.

In addition, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority will be able to cover the consumer’s expenses linked to enforcement of a decision made by or a settlement reached at the Danish Consumer Complaints Board.

Expenses will be covered pursuant to the Act on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Relation to Consumer Complaints which became effective on 1 October 2015. The act’s provisions on coverage of expenses apply to complaints to the Danish Consumer Complaints Board or an approved private disputes resolution body.