As of January 2008, class actions have been permitted in Denmark. The Danish class actions are used when people have legal claims that are uniform in terms of facts and law, but not necessarily identical, so the court can handle numerous claims more effectively in a single action. Class action settlements must be approved by a court. A class action is initiated by filing a “writ of summons” with the court that gives a description of the class, the name of a proposed class representative, and information on how to identify and notify the class members. A lawsuit may only proceed as a class action if the victims can be identified and notified in an appropriate manner. The other grievants must opt-in or affirmatively indicate that they wish to belong to the class. The Danish Consumer Ombudman and public authorities, alone, are authorized under the new law to prosecute opt-out class actions. Opt-out class actions by public authorities are permitted when claims are too small to permit individual actions.