The work and methods of PET are regulated by the same rules of the Danish Administration of Justice Act that apply to the rest of the police. However, in some areas the Administration of Justice Act includes specific rules for the investigation of offences governed by Chapter 12 and 13 of the Danish Penal Code, which provides a specific framework for PET investigations. These rules will be discussed further in the section covering the Service’s methods of investigation.

Thus, it follows that there is no specific law applying to PET, except for the Provisions issued by the Minister of Justice on 9 May 1996 further describing the tasks and responsibilities of PET.

Unlike the rest of the police and the prosecution service, PET today has no authority to indict in criminal cases. Should a PET investigation initiate legal proceedings in a criminal case, the case would be passed on to the ordinary police or the prosecution service. Specific indictments in cases governed by the stipulations of Chapters 12 and 13 of the Danish Penal Code must, however, be instituted by the Minister of Justice in accordance with the specific provisions hereon of the Danish Penal Code. In any such matter, the Minister of Justice will then make a decision on the basis of a recommendation from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Like other public authorities, PET is subject to the Public Administration Act as well as the Act on Public Access to Documents in Public Files (in brief the Open Administration Act). Both these acts contain clauses allowing for the exemption of information, necessary to protect in respect of the security of the Kingdom and relations with foreign liaisons and foreign powers.  In practice this means that the majority of the information and correspondence held by PET is not subject to the Open Administration Act and as such will not be made available to the public.

The Act on Processing of Personal Data does not specifically apply to the registers and files of PET. Instead a committee has been set up to oversee the records held by the Service. This committee will be further described in the section on the control of PET.