Muncipal and Administrative Law

Being an advisor and sparring partner to the public sector requires special insight into the legal, political and organisational context. Our expertise and experience in municipal and administrative law has been accumulated over many years of servicing the state, the regions, the municipalities, public law bodies and other organisations under political control. 

As an advisor to the public sector, our job is to deliver proactive and 360 degree advice to increase efficiency and improve quality in the public sector. Our advice builds on legal specialisation, in-depth knowledge of the public sector and commercial insight.

We advise on all aspects of municipal and administrative law, including issues concerning administrative processing, statutory authority and administrative review. We also represent clients in court proceedings and proceedings before complaints and appeal boards, supervisory authorities, etc.

Administrative law

Each day, public authorities make important decisions affecting society. Usually, no two cases are the same, and public authorities must often use their discretion when making decisions. Their decisions must therefore be justified on objective and reasonable grounds and be proportionate.

At the same time, rules and administrative practice change on a constant basis.

Our knowledge and experience are based on many years of servicing municipalities and municipally-owned businesses, and our expertise covers all aspects of administrative and municipal law.

We keep ourselves constantly informed of the newest legislation, case law and regulatory practice.

Our legal services include:

• Scope of obligations under the Public Administration Act and the Access to Public Administration Files Act
• Organisation of public authorities' administrative processing, including consultation of parties involved, duty of disclosure and reasoning, etc.
• Scope and limits of administrative law discretion
• Rules on access to public administration files
• Disqualification issues
• Disputes concerning administrative errors, including litigation
• Invalidity and compensation
• Coercive measures

Municipal law – where politics, economy and law come together

Private individuals and businesses have great expectations to development, service and efficiency of the municipalities and regions in Denmark.

As a result, resources and procedures must be optimised, and new forms of cooperation and organisation must be introduced, which may give rise to legal challenges and a need for innovative thinking.

A strong partner for public authorities

At DLA Piper, we find it important to be a valuable cooperation and sparring partner for the public and quasi-public sector in Denmark. We are honest and not afraid to speak our mind when advising on a specific issue or challenge. Our specialists are politically and socially savvy, and some of them have previously worked in the public sector. We keep track and updated on developments, both as regards administrative decisions and the real world.

Our legal services include:

• Scope of the municipal mandate
• Organisation of PPPs/PPCs
• Duties and obligations of municipal councils
• Practice of regulatory authorities
• Economy and borrowing

Publicly-owned companies and municipal commercial activities

The requirements under statutory law and the municipal mandate as to when a municipality is permitted to engage in commercial activities are strict. Basically, the activities of municipalities must be for non-profit purposes, and therefore municipalities are not allowed to compete in a market where private participants are available to carry out the work or services in question.

Increasingly, however, municipalities find themselves in a grey area between traditional municipal activities and more commercial-type activities. By way of example, this is the case for activities carried out by the municipal administration and the activities that have been spun off into a company of their own. We are seeing an increasing number of inter-municipal companies and section 60 companies providing public services. We advise municipalities and publicly-owned companies on the underlying statutory basis for the activities and the vehicle chosen and on all aspects of the mode of cooperation.

By way of example, we have advised on a great number of the restructurings that have taken place in the energy and utilities sector in connection with recent years' deregulation and separation and efficiency requirements.

Public private partnerships (PPPs/PPCs) and strategic partnerships

Since the introduction of PPPs in Denmark, we have built unique and extensive expertise in PPPs, PPCs, ESCOs and PPIs and, most recently, also innovation and strategic partnerships.

Our team of PPP specialists have advised on basically all PPP projects that have been carried out in Denmark, and we are some of the leading advisors to contracting entities in relation to PPP/PPC projects in Denmark.

Our objective is to provide advice from A to Z. We allocate the necessary specialist competences to the different phases of the project, while seeking to minimise spending.

We use our industry knowledge from industries such as IT, real estate and construction to ensure that our advice is aligned with the commercial reality of our clients' business.