Several ministries have used the private law firm Kammeradvokaten to draft Danish legislation, which according to a law professor from the University of Southern Denmark, poses a democratic issue. Professor Frederik Waage expresses concern that the central government does not have the capacity to handle this core task itself. “I do not question the expertise of Kammeradvokaten, but I believe that we face a fundamental and democratic problem when a private law firm drafts legislation. This is a core task that the ministry’s civil service should handle itself,” says Frederik Waage to Frihedsbrevet.
Frihedsbrevet has confirmed with the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Finance that they have used Kammeradvokaten in legislative processes. A specific example is that the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority under the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs paid around 165,000 Danish kroner to Kammeradvokaten in the fall to draft a new law on European green bonds.
Jens Bødtcher-Hansen, managing partner at Kammeradvokaten, however, rejects the criticism and believes that it only “occasionally” happens that the firm assists with the actual drafting of bills or regulations. When it does happen, according to him, it is “mostly of a highly technical nature” and may also be due to time pressure and resource constraints within an authority.
Kammeradvokaten, which is the private law firm Poul Schmith/Kammeradvokaten, has served as the state’s attorney since 2015. However, the government is considering changing this arrangement to increase competition for legal advice to the state. According to the government’s platform from December 2022, the government wants to explore the possibilities of opening up the kammeradvokat system to competition, which should generate revenue for the state.
These considerations reflect a growing recognition of the need to handle legislative work internally in ministries and reduce reliance on external law firms.