The Field and Road Safety Act determines the extent to which one has the right of way over another person's real estate. The law primarily deals with special rules regarding loose livestock that encroach on another person's land. The law describes the rights and obligations one has when another person's livestock is on one's land.

However, there is a generally applicable rule in Section 17 that is frequently relevant to include in traffic cases, namely a general prohibition against traveling on another person's property:

Anyone who, without the owner's permission or other legal authority, travels on another person's land or travels on a private road where it is indicated by a traffic sign or other legal notice that traffic or traffic of the type in question is prohibited, shall be punished by a fine.

The rule is the general main rule of Danish law that one is not allowed to walk on other people's property. There are exceptions scattered throughout the legislation, including the Nature Protection Act, cf. below, but without other legal authority or agreement it is not permitted to walk or stay on private property.

Traffic rights in the Nature Conservation Act

Section 22 of the Nature Protection Act contains rules for public access to beach and coast, including where these are located on private property:

Subsection 1. Beaches and other coastal stretches are open to foot traffic, short-term stays and bathing in areas between the daily low water line and the continuous land vegetation that is not dominated by salt-tolerant plants or other coastal vegetation. Access is at your own risk. It is permitted to have a boat without an engine lying on the beach for a short time. During the period 1 April-30 September, dogs must be kept on a leash. Dogs must always be kept on a leash where there are grazing livestock. During the period 1 September-31 May, horse riding is permitted on the unvegetated beach and directly down there, if there is legal access to the beach.

Subsection 2. The rule in subsection 1 does not cover areas that were laid out as gardens or included in a commercial enterprise operated on the property before 1 January 1916. The same applies to defence installations and harbour installations.

Subsection 3. Public access must not be prevented or made difficult.

Subsection 4. On privately owned beaches and coastal stretches, staying and bathing may not take place within 50 m of residential buildings.

Section 23 of the Nature Protection Act deals with the same principle with regard to forests, § 24 as regards uncultivated areas and Section 25 deals with traffic in dune protected areas.

Section 26 sets out a limitation on the right to prevent traffic on roads and paths in the open country. As an owner, you can only prohibit traffic on your roads and paths if it is a hindrance to the commercial exploitation of the property. Similarly, according to section 26 a, the owner is not free to close roads and paths leading to the above-mentioned natural areas.

Case law

There is not much published case law that deals with the right to traffic or the right to prevent it. At least not with reference to the Field and Road Peace Act. This is partly because today's case law prefers to refer to violations of special legislation. This could be, for example, the Nature Protection Act, or if another law is found to be more applicable to the specific issue.

However, judgments are occasionally issued regarding the public's right of way in nature. The courts have had to decide whether a specific right of way was unjustified under the Field and Road Peace Act, or justified under, for example, the Nature Protection Act, the Private Roads Act or the Private Common Roads Act. A right of way can also arise as a result of a right of way. This requires that the person entitled to the right of way has been using the place in question for a period of time. The period of time is either a minimum of 20 years if the use is visible, or a period of age if the use is not visible. Over time, several landowners have been ordered to remove obstacles that they have placed in the way of others being able to use a road or path.

Advice

If you have any questions about traffic laws, the weather or neighborhood laws, you are welcome to contact attorney (H) Søren Vasegaard AndreasenSøren has worked for 20 years specializing in neighborhood law, claims and weather.