Description

retsinformation.dk contains all Danish statutes and other rules (executive orders, circulars, etc.) issued by Danish ministries and central government agencies, documents of the Danish Parliament (the Folketing) (from the parliamentary year 1985-1986) and opinions of the Parliamentary Ombudsman (from after 1988).

The website contains all statutes and rules that applied when the system was established (in the period 1985-1989) and all statutes and rules issued since then.

All documents are in Danish.

lovtidende.dk and ministerialtidende.dk

Lovtidende (hereinafter “LT”) is the promulgation media of the Danish public authorities. LT is published in three parts: A, B and C (hereinafter “LTA”, “LTB” and “LTC”).

LTA contains all statutes, orders/decrees and executive orders that must be promulgated in the LTA and that are not included in LTB. LTB contains the State budget and supplementary appropriations acts. LTC comprises treaties etc. concluded between States.

As from 1 January 2008 the LT has been published in electronic format.

All circulars, guidance papers, letters, etc. of general interest may be published in Ministerialtidende. The publication of regulations in Ministerialtidende has no legal effects.

A document is accessible on retsinformation.dk simultaneously with the promulgation in the LT or the publication in Ministerialtidende.

Legal instruments

Principal act (hovedlov) is passed by the Folketing and has received the Royal Assent by the sovereign.

Amending act (ændringslov) amends individual provisions of current statutes. The act is passed by the Folketing and has received the Royal Assent by the sovereign.

Consolidation act (lovbekendtgørelse) is a consolidated version of a principal act as amended.

Compilations (datasammenskrivninger) correspond to consolidation acts, though they are not official documents.

State budget and supplementary appropriations acts may contain annotations (tekstanmærkninger), in certain cases stipulating substantive rules. An annotation only applies to the fiscal year of the relevant State budget.

The website contains relevant metadata with links to the documents on ‘lovtidende.dk’.

Order (anordning) is issued by the Administration in pursuance of a statute or to implement statues.

Royal decree (kongelig anordning) is issued by the sovereign. It is normally used for the entry into force of statutes applying to Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Amending order (ændringsanordning) amends an existing order or decree.

Commencement order (ikrafttrædelsesanordning) lays down the date of commencement of a statute.

Executive orders (bekendtgørelser) are issued by ministries or other public administrative authorities and apply to both private individuals and public authorities. Executive orders are normally issued in pursuance of a statute.

Amending executive order (ændringsbekendtgørelse) amends an existing executive order.

Commencing executive order (ikrafttrædelsesbekendtgørelse) lays down the date of commencement of a statute.

International executive order (international bekendtgørelse) relates to international law and obligations.

Open letter (åbent brev) is from the sovereign. It is now used exclusively to call general elections.

Circular (cirkulære) contains general rules of law and is issued by the individual ministries, agencies, etc., and is exclusively intended for other public authorities.

Amending circular (ændringscirkulære) amends an existing circular.

Guidance paper (vejledning) may contain information on the substance and background of rules and on their interpretation and administration. A guidance paper is a type of regulation with no legal effect. It is addressed to public authorities.

Letter (skrivelse)contains general proposals and non-binding recommendations from one administrative authority to other authorities.

Circular letter (cirkulæreskrivelse) is an administrative letter intended for several public authorities.