7-9 September 2026
On 7-9 September 2026 prof. Bent Ole Gram Mortensen and prof. Frederik Waage participated in the European China Law Studies Association (ECLS) Annual Conference 2026 at the University of Barcelona. They presented the paper Suspensive Effect and Interim Relief in Administrative Law: A Comparative Perspective on Chinese, European, and Common Law Approaches.
Keywords: Administrative Law; Suspensive Effect; Interim Measures; Provisional Remedies; Environmental Law.
Abstract
This paper examines suspensive effect and interim relief in administrative law, using Germany and Denmark as its principal comparative pillars and China as a shorter, more exploratory opening onto a further approach. The German and Danish positions are traced to their constitutional roots. Germany's Basic Law guarantees not merely access to the courts but effective judicial protection, a guarantee the Bundesverfassungsgericht has, as illustrated by a research interview with a sitting judge of the Bundesverwaltungsgericht drawn on in this paper, continuously enforced against the administrative courts themselves. Danish constitutional law contains no equivalent effectiveness requirement, a difference traced here to a longer historical divide between a German legal tradition built on distrust of executive power and a Danish tradition built on comparative trust in the Crown, politicians, and the central administration — part of the reason why Denmark, alone among its neighbours, never established administrative courts.
Danish practice has nonetheless moved gradually toward the German model, not through a domestic constitutional court but through the external pressure of EU law, particularly the requirement of effective judicial protection in environmental and other cases where remedies must be capable of preventing irreversible harm before administrative decisions take effect. Similar considerations arise across regulatory fields, including planning, infrastructure, and economic regulation.
The comparative framework is completed by a brief account of the common law world — England, the United States, and Australia — where courts make extensive use of case-by-case interim injunctions and stays rather than any general default rule in either direction, illustrating a third model distinct from the two continental approaches.
Against this background, the paper turns, more tentatively, to Chinese administrative law, where the statutory default sits closer to the historical Danish position, and where the available English-language literature suggests judicial practice may in fact be applied with particular restraint. This account is offered as an opening for further comparison rather than an exhaustive treatment.
The article presents these frameworks as a basis for comparative analysis centred on the degree of trust each system extends to executive power, and on the institutions — constitutional or supranational — that enforce a system’s stated commitments over time. Its purpose is accordingly to set out the analytical framework for a comparative study of suspensive effect in Chinese administrative law, rather than to complete that study here.
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4 November 2025
On 27 and 28 October 2025, Lisa Hjerrild and Bent Ole Gram Mortensen participated in "Bergen Energy and Climate Law Days 2025". It was two exciting days with good presentations and a sunny Bergen.
Thanks to the COAST Law Center for a great event.
1 November 2025
On 31 October 2025, Professor Bent Ole Gram Mortensen met with Helena Charlton, Charles Hargreaves and Tim Jarvis from Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain. The topic of the meeting was the regulatory set up in Denmark and the learning from Danish experience.
Great Britain has a great potential for the use of district heating, and it is very positive that Ofgem has established a district heating department.
Thanks to Helena, Charles and Tim for an interesting meeting.
11 July 2025 (opinion piece in Danish)
EU’s brug af klimakreditter er sund fornuft, der fremmer global omstilling by PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen
28 May 2025 (news article in Danish – behind a paywall!)
Ny lov skulle beskytte varmekunder mod høje fjernvarmepriser. Men den virker ikke i praksis, mener ekspert by professor Bent Ole Gram Mortensen
14 May 2025 (opinion piece in Danish)
Klimaloven og den manglende borgerinddragelse by PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen
15 April 2025 (news article in Danish)
Udvikling af juridiske kompetencer inden for bæredygtighed på tværs af Danmark
11 April 2025 (news article in Danish)
5 forskere: Derfor skal vi have en ny, stærk klimalov by Professor Rikke Lybæk, PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen, Associate Professor Sara Egemose, Professor Bent Ole Gram Mortensen and Professor Sebastian Mernild
9 April 2025 (podcast interview in Danish)
Klimajurist: Ministeren kan have brudt klimaloven by PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen
Forskere: Klimatilpasning bør ikke afhænge af den enkelte kommunes økonomi by Professor Rikke Lybæk, PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen, Associate Professor Sara Egemose, Professor Bent Ole Gram Mortensen and Professor Sebastian Mernild
30 March 2025 (news article in Danish)
Stort olieprojekt bremset i Skotland: Især en juridisk detalje blev aktivisternes stærkeste våben by PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen
26 March 2025 (opinion piece in Danish)
Den danske klimalov glemmer klimatilpasning by PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen
27 February 2025 (blog article in Danish)
Udvidet forbud mod bundtrawling hilses velkommen by professor Bent Ole Gram Mortensen
24 February 2025 (blog article in Danish)
Når konkursen truer forsyningsvirksomheder by professor Bent Ole Gram Mortensen and Troels Michael Lilja
24 February 2025 (opinion piece in Danish)
Flere lovændringer på energiområdet kan være ugyldige by PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen
10. december 2024 (opinion piece in Danish)
Åben dør-ordning er ikke ulovlig statsstøtte by PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen and professor Bent Ole Gram Mortensen
13. november 2024 (opinion piece in Danish)
Hensynet til den grønne omstilling kræver klima- og energidialoger på flere niveauer by PhD student Kenneth Løvenskjold Andreasen