Until recently, plaintiffs in Denmark had to pay a fee of 2.0% of the amount they were claiming in court. An additional fee of 0.4% of the claim was payable when the date of the hearing was fixed - this fee was repayable if the claim was withdrawn at least six weeks before the hearing date. There was no cap on the fee: the higher the claim, the higher the fee.
Originally, this fee was regarded as a way of financing the running of the courts. In reality, and for many years, the fee has generated substantial profits for the government. The fee has also been criticized for its potential role in the denial of justice.
However, the structure of the fee has now been amended. The fee payable when the claim is submitted to the court has been substantially reduced to 1.2%. The further fee of 0.4% has been increased to 1.2%, but it is not payable until three months before the hearing date. This part of the fee is still repayable if the claim is withdrawn no later than six weeks before the hearing date. Perhaps more importantly, a cap has been introduced so that each fee cannot exceed Dkr 75,000, and the total fee payable cannot exceed Dkr150,000 (approximately €20,000).
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