Defendants (criminal proceedings)

Denmark

Content provided by:
Denmark

How are minor road traffic offences dealt with?

If you are stopped by the traffic police, who are concerned with enforcement of road traffic laws, you can either admit or deny your guilt. The police must charge you with the offence they believe you committed. You have the rights of a defendant and do not have to make a statement to the police.

The penalty for a road traffic offence is normally a fine. Road traffic offences are dealt with in the same way as other offences for which the penalty claimed is a fine. The police will send you a bill for the fine. If you pay the bill, it means that you admit the charges. If you do not pay the bill, the case will be sent to court. You will be summoned to appear at a hearing where evidence concerning the offence can be produced.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has issued a penalty catalogue for traffic offences where you can check that your fine matches the fines usually given for the type of traffic offence you have committed.

The Road Traffic Act allows the police to impound your vehicle if you are resident outside Denmark and your car is registered in a country other than Denmark. The vehicle may be impounded until the fine is paid or until security is provided for payment of the fine. If you don't agree that you committed a road traffic offence, you will therefore in certain cases have to provide security for payment of the fine and ask for the case to be heard in court. The police frequently use the right to impound vehicles.

There are special rules for vehicles and drivers from other Scandinavian countries.

How are parking offences dealt with?

Parking restrictions are normally enforced by traffic wardens working for a local authority or a private enterprise, and not by the police. If you park illegally, you will receive a parking fine. The parking fine will be put on your car.

If you meet the traffic warden before he or she records the parking offence, you can raise your objection directly to the traffic warden. The traffic warden may decide not to record the offence or make a note about your objection. If you receive a parking fine, the fine must be accompanied by guidelines on how you can complain about the fine. There is no central complaints body.

 

Parking fines are collected in the same way as other civil claims. This means that the claim will be sent to a collection agency in your country of residence if you do not pay the fine.

Will this type of offence appear from my criminal record?

Your criminal record will normally not include fines. However, fines for criminal offences will be included in your criminal record.

Parking fines are not regarded to be a criminal sanction and are therefore not included in your criminal record.

Last update: 13/08/2019

The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective Member State. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. The European Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.