Interlocutory appeal (kære)
Also known as appeal against an order, interlocutory proceedings
A kære is the review of an order or a decision taken during the case — not of the judgment itself, which is appealed.
- Deadline
- 2 weeks
- Reviews
- Orders and procedural decisions
- Legal basis
- Retsplejeloven § 394 (the Danish Administration of Justice Act)
In practice
The difference between anke and kære is what gets reviewed. An appeal attacks the judgment — the outcome of the case. A kære attacks a decision taken along the way: an order that a piece of evidence may not be produced, a decision on how the case is to proceed, or the bailiff’s court’s ruling in an attachment case.
The deadline is shorter than for an appeal, two weeks, and that is precisely where these are most often lost. An order does not feel like a full stop, so it gets left sitting.
In a collection context you meet the kære most often in the bailiff’s court. If the attachment goes against you — the court refuses to levy against a particular asset, or accepts the debtor’s objection — the way on is a kære, not an appeal.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- Appealing an order. The wrong remedy has been used, and the deadline for the right one may expire in the meantime.
- Waiting for the judgment. An order made during the case has to be challenged while it is live — it cannot be revisited afterwards as part of the appeal.