Dania Law Firm
One of the great concerns of the Faroese society, including the Faroese political and administrative system, in connection with the preparation of the Faroese oil era, has been to ensure a true and genuine Faroese involvement in the hydrocarbon activities. The wish for Faroese involvement has not (only) been a matter of ensuring a certain share of the economic benefits from the oil-industry to remain in the Faroes, but more importantly has been based on the wish that the Faroese society, through the active involvement with the oil-industry, should gain skills, capability, experience and capacity both to work in the international oil-industry, and consequently the goal of general improvement of the Faroese businesses society.
In order to reach the said goals it has been self-evident that the Faroese society would invite and try to attract the international oil-industry to establish themselves in the Faroe Islands, as the Faroes ? at least at present ? doesn?t have any real players in this industry themselves. Therefore, obviously, no one questions the presence of the international oil-industry (i.e. both the oil companies and the whole of the service-industry attached to the hydrocarbon activities). On the contrary, the Faroese Hydrocarbon Activities Act, and ? presumably ? the specific licenses that were issued on the 17th August 2000, explicitly require that the licensees and their contractors do have to establish actual management presence and carry out actual activity in the Faroe Islands and that all goods and personnel for the offshore-industry have to pass through Faroese on-shore-territory.
It seems to have been less obvious to the Faroese decision makers, and certainly this does not seem to have been given very much specific thought, that there will be other ? more incidental ? kinds of activities, that follow the oil industry, such as services provided by lawyers (with expertise in oil and gas law), accountants/auditors, tax-consultants, etc., and that the wish to build Faroese competence in general and in oil and gas matters in particular should also include such highly specialised and demanding activities ore services, so that the Faroese do also obtain the possibility to provide such services both in and outside the Faroe Islands.
It is in that light that the attorney-at-law, Mr. Jóhannus Egholm Hansen, born in the Faroes and experienced in in Faroese Law, who is a partner and member of the Partner Counsel of the lawfirm DANIA Law Firm, and who practices law in the Faroe Islands and in Denmark, supported by Ms. Penelope Warne, who is a senior partner of the large International lawfirm CMS Cameron McKenna, that is highly specialised and very experienced in advising the oil and gas industry, has decided to open an office in the capital of the Faroe Islands, Tórshavn, that will offer legal services to the oil-industry and the connected service-industry both in relation to Faroese legal issues and in relation to the more specific and/or special oil and gas law issues.
Mr. Jóhannus Egholm Hansen and Ms. Penelope Warne both confirm that it is a declared aim to reach a level of activity in the Faroes that will require and just ify the hiring of Faroese legal and office staff, and that they, through this initiative can contribute to the building of expertise in the Faroe Islands within their respective fields of legal business.
The office is expected to open on the 1st November 2000, and will be located in modern, cosy premises on Tinghúsvegur 14, FO-100 Tórshavn.
Due to DANIA Law Firm?s and CMS Cameron McKenna?s broad international experience and network of offices the new office in Tórshavn, will also be in a position to assist the Faroese business society in obtaining proper legal assistance in relation to activities outside the Faroes and in relation to negotiations with foreign parties.
DANIA Law Firm has offices is Copenhagen and Svendborg in Denmark, Nuuk in Greenland and Moscow, Russia. Further, the office has legal staff in Copenhagen that provides legal services in relation to the legislation of the Baltic States.
CMS Cameron McKenna has offices in London, Bristol and Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, Brussels in Belgium, Berlin, Chemnitz, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart in Germany, Vienna in Austria, Zurich in Switzerland, Amsterdam, Arnhem, Hilversum and Utrecht in the Netherlands, Moscow in Russia, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Warsaw in Poland, Prague in Czech Republic, Budapest in Hungary, Bucharest in Romania, Bratislava in Slovakia, Washington D.C. in the USA, Toronto in Canada, Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, Hong Kong and Beijing in China, Singapore,
The co-operation between Mr. Jóhannus Egholm Hansen and Ms. Penelope Warne started in 1996 at an oil and gas law seminar at the well known centre of excellence for international petroleum law ? the Centre for Petroleum, Energy and Mineral Law and Resources, Dundee University - in Scotland. Since that they have both been very active in advising oil companies of certain purely Faroese Business Law issues and of specific Faroese Hydrocarbon Law issues, and in producing newsletters and other forms of information sheets to the oil companies of the developments in the Faroese legislative process regarding the hydrocarbon legislation and of the developments in the negotiations in the boundary dispute with UK. In addition Mr. Jóhannus Egholm Hansen, together with his associate, Mr. Kári á Rógvi Olsen, who holds an LL.M. Degree in Petroleum Law from the Aberdeen University, has written the only existing book that describes the Faroese legal, political, judicial and administrative system, and which provides an introduction to Faroese Business Law in general. The title of the book, that is written in the English language, is »Faroese Business Law ? an introduction«, and it can be obtained in the bookstores or by contacting either Mr. Jóhannus Egholm Hansen or Ms. Penelope Warne.
While Ms. Penelope Warne, in addition to being the head of Cameron McKenna?s office in Aberdeen, is specialised in advising on oil and gas law, Mr. Jóhannus Egholm Hansen?s main areas of business are advising on Mergers & Acquisitions, Project Development, Construction Law, Competition Law, Faroese Oil and Gas Law, Faroese Tax Law and Faroese Business Law in general. Besides working as a lawyer Mr. Jóhannus Egholm Hansen teaches as an assistant professor at law at the University of Copenhagen on the subject »Mergers & Acquisitions«. He is also the author of a book by the same name.
