23 Jørgen Steen Sørensen Parliamentary Ombudsman Public authorities have a great influence on citizens’ lives. The authorities decide who is to have a social pension, a residence permit, special needs education and many other things. On an annual basis, they do this in cases that are counted in their millions. The authorities’ processing of cases involving decisions is governed by, among others, the Public Administration Act. It is important for the legal protection of citizens that there is a right to, for instance, access to public files, consultation as a party to a case and to the grounds for a decision. But the interaction between public authority and citizen is not only about the process leading to the actual decisions: authorities have a duty to guide citizens. Also when there is not – or is not yet – a specific case to be decided on. If you think about it, it is obvious that authorities must have a general duty of guidance. The alternative would be that, for instance, a person with a disability would not be able to get advice from the municipality on what assistance he or she might be entitled to, and under what conditions. Or that a company could not get the municipality’s help to understand what to do to avoid environmental orders. Of course, this is not how it should be. S EC T I O N 7(1) O F T H E P U B L I C A DM I N I S T R AT I O N AC T An administrative authority must to the extent required give guidance and assistance to any person who enquires about issues within the authority’s purview.