Annual Report 2019
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The Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman has been elected by Parliament. His task is to help ensure that administrative authorities act in accordance with the law and good administrative practice, thus protecting citizens’ rights vis-à-vis the authorities. The Ombudsman investigates complaints, opens cases on his own initiative and carries out monitoring visits. Annual Report The Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman Gammeltorv 22 DK-1457 København K 2019 Phone +45 33 13 25 12 www.ombudsmanden.dk [email protected] This page has been intentionaly left blank. To Parliament In accordance with section 11(1) and (2) of the Parliamentary Ombudsman Act (consolidating Act no. 349 of 22 March 2013), I am hereby submitting my Annual Report for the year 2019. Copenhagen, March 2020 Niels Fenger Published by The Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman Gammeltorv 22 DK-1457 København K Printed by Rosendahls a/s, Copenhagen E-mail: [email protected] Printed in Denmark 2020 Also available in PDF format on www.ombudsmanden.dk Graphic design Conduce Umano (infographics on pages 9, 10, 39, 128 and 129) Photographers Jasper Carlberg Jakob Dall ISSN 1902-0120 Contents Preface: Protection of citizens’ legal rights Niels Fenger, Parliamentary Ombudsman .......................................... 4 Confusion about the roles of public authorities afects citizens Marianne Halkjær Ebbesen, Legal Case Ofcer, and Lisbeth Adserballe, Senior Head of Division ................................... 8 How do we introduce e-government without harming our legal rights? Niels Fenger, Parliamentary Ombudsman .......................................... 16 Is using the term ‘environmental information’ a magic formula? Kirsten Talevski, Senior Head of Division, and Kristine Holst Hedegaard, Deputy Head of Division ........................... 22 About the cases Complaint cases ..................................................................... 36 Own-initiative investigations ........................................................ 40 Summaries of selected statements ................................................. 44 Extracts from news published in 2019 ............................................. 66 Facts and fgures about our monitoring activities .................................. 76 Brief overview of the year The year in fgures ................................................................... 114 Statement of revenue and expenditure 2019 ...................................... 132 Organisation ......................................................................... 136 Grænser forPreface brug af Protection of citizens’ solohistorierlegal rights | 5 I took up the position of Parliamentary Ombuds- body – both adults and children, citizens and en- man on 1 December 2019. Therefore, this Annual terprises – can contact if they feel that they have Report is my frst report in my capacity as Om - been treated incorrectly by public authorities. budsman. This is also the reason why this An - nual Report primarily describes the good work Just like all other authorities, the Ombudsman which my predecessor Jørgen Steen Sørensen institution does not have unlimited resources. – and for a brief period also High Court Judge It is therefore an important – and difcult – Henrik Bloch Andersen – have accomplished question how we make the most of our limited during the preceding year. resources. During my short time as Ombudsman, my per- The guiding principle must always be that we ception has been fully confrmed that I have must concentrate our eforts on matters where taken over a well-organised institution with we generally prove ourselves most useful in re - dedicated staf members. The old building at gard to the protection of citizens’ legal rights. Gammeltorv is teeming with skilled staf mem - bers who have chosen to work at the Ombuds- As we describe elsewhere in this Annual Report, man institution because they are idealists who we know from general experience that we often wish to work for the protection of legal rights and contribute the most in the so-called own-initia- to support a good administrative culture within tive investigations where we try to uncover gen- State, Regions and municipalities. eral problems for the beneft of many citizens at the same time. I will therefore, in line with This is also how it should be since it is the Om - my predecessor, constantly be aware whether budsman’s foremost task to protect citizens’ specifc issues could refect errors that are more legal rights. The institution is named the Parlia- recurring in nature. mentary Ombudsman because the Ombuds- man is elected by Parliament and carries out his At the same time, I will – depending on the na- activities on behalf of Parliament. But actually, ture of the individual case – not only establish the Ombudsman must act as Ombudsman of whether errors have been made in the specifc the people. A person who is independent of the case but also help to impart knowledge to the public administration and a person who every- authorities of what to do better next time, thus 6 | Annual Report 2019 looking forward. Because by helping an author- public administration more than even the Local ity to avoid future errors, we also ensure that Government Reform and the implementation of citizens are not subjected to injustice in future the Danish Public Administration Act did. cases. E-government brings signifcant benefts to cit- For this reason, I will give high priority to the izens as well as the public administration. But it continued work with the Guide for Authorities (in also carries major risks. I will therefore in years Danish only) on the Ombudsman’s website. The to come put a lot of efort into keeping an eye on purpose of the Guide is indeed to ensure that the implementation of the increasingly impor- authorities receive guidance on how to do the tant e-government solutions so that e-govern- right thing without us entering the fray. ment is implemented with respect for citizens’ legal rights. I am raising this matter in a separate Society is undergoing major changes these article in this Annual Report where you can also years. This also applies in relation to the way read more about the authorities’ various roles public administration works and communicates and fnd out whether using the term ‘environ- with citizens. The changes will afect citizens mental information’ is a magic formula when you and administrative authorities, and obviously the request access to public records. Ombudsman must keep up. Enjoy your read. One of the biggest challenges for the public ad- ministration is the implementation of e-govern- ment. Today, digitisation of public administration already has immense practical impact. And in the years to come, it will probably change the | 7 Confusion about the roles of public authorities afects citizens | 9 Marianne Halkjær Ebbesen Lisbeth Adserballe Legal Case Ofcer Senior Head of Division An authority can have many varied tasks and therefore act in various roles. Besides making decisions within the meaning of the law, authorities give guidance, for example, and make private law contracts. It can be difcult to keep the roles separate, and that may afect citizens’ legal rights. Most people probably consider public authorities administrative activity’. Guidance of citizens or as a kind of administrators of the welfare state – businesses is yet another example of actual ad- they see to it that children are looked after in day- ministrative activity. care institutions, that patients receive treatment at hospitals, and that those who cannot fend for A third role pertains to entering into agreements. themselves get help. But very few, presumably, For example, when a municipality is selling a consider the several and essentially diferent building site or entering into a tenancy agree - roles the authorities have in that connection. ment. In these situations, the municipality acts And sometimes even multiple roles in the very as an ordinary contracting party equally with same case. One role is where authorities make decisions. In You can’t get planning these cases, the authority unilaterally decides permission. what is or what is going to be applicable law in the situation. By way of example may be men- tioned declaration of planning permissions, allo- cation of student grants or change of a citizen’s tax assessment. A second role is the more service and operations oriented part of authorities’ tasks, for example practical patient treatment, operation of day- care institutions and schooling in primary and lower secondary schools. This is called ‘actual Decision-making 10 | Annual Report 2019 We’ll pay 750,000 You’ll be in ward 7. kroner for the site. We’ll have to think about that. Actual administrative activity Entering into agreements private parties and is (with a few exceptions) not When an authority assumes the role of an au- bound by the rules which apply in case processing. thority making decisions within the meaning of the law – and consequently has to rule unilat- The tasks mentioned and related roles are sim - erally – the rules of the Danish Public Adminis- plifed and not exhaustive. However, the listing tration Act apply. These rules give the citizen a illustrates tasks where the Ombudsman espe- number of procedural safeguards and contrib - cially has seen examples of authorities getting it ute, among other things, to ensure that the citi- wrong, causing possible ‘confusion about roles’. zen is included in the case and is consulted, and that the authority gives grounds for its decision