136 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 2015-28. Refusal to issue new passport was without legal authority and contrary to the rules on case investigation and assessment of evidence A man complained to the Ombudsman because his municipality and the National Police had declined to issue a new passport for him. The man, who had originally entered Denmark as a refugee from Sri Lanka, was a Danish citizen and had received a new Danish passport three times previously – the first time in 1987. The grounds given by the municipality for its refusal were that the man’s registered place of birth was not stated in the Civil Register. In order to be able to enter his registered place of birth correctly in the Register, the municipality required the man to procure a birth certificate. Until he did so, he could not get a new passport. The man complained to the National Police and explained, among other things, that as an asylum seeker, he had handed over all his documents, including his birth certificate, to the police and that he did not believe the documents had been returned to him. The National Police also declined to issue a new passport for the man, with reference to the grounds given by the municipality. In the opinion of the National Police, the fact that the man had previously had Danish passports issued could not lead to a different decision. After being granted access by the National Police to, among other things, a copy of his certificate of naturalisation, the man received a new passport using that as documentation. The Ombudsman stated that the municipality and the National Police had no legal authority to decline to issue a new passport on the grounds they had given. In addition, the Ombudsman was of the opinion that the way in which the municipality and the National Police had handled the case was contrary to the general principles of administrative law on case investigation and assessment of evidence and furthermore reflected an unreasonable lack of understanding for the applicant’s personal situation. The National Police stated that it would inform the municipalities how to handle such cases. The Ombudsman asked the National Police to notify him when it had done so. He also asked the National Police to inform him whether the case gave rise to considerations about practices for keeping documentation.