108 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 CONCLUDED CASES The statistics system of the Ombudsman institution was restructured as from 1 January 2015 to reflect the Ombudsman’s work better. Therefore, the outcomes of the cases concluded in 2015 are classified differently compared to previous years, namely under the following three major headings: – Investigations – Other forms of processing and assistance to citizens – Rejections for formal reasons The cases concluded in 2015 were distributed as follows: 17% Rejections for formal reasons3 21% Investigations1 2015 Total cases 4,860 62% Other forms of processing and assistance to citizens2 1) The overall category ‘Investigations’ comprises cases in which the Ombudsman made various investigations and assessments, including cases where the Ombudsman carried out an in-depth investigation after obtaining statements from the authorities involved. 2) The category ‘Other forms of processing and assistance to citizens’ comprises cases processed differently than by way of investigation. For instance, the Ombudsman may have provided guidance to the citizen or forwarded the case to the authorities, for example as a complaint, in order that the citizen would be able to get more detailed information about the grounds for a decision, or with a view to the authorities expediting the processing of the case. 3) Cases are rejected for formal reasons if, for instance, the authority to which a complaint relates is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, if a citizen has exceeded the one-year deadline for lodging a complaint with the Ombudsman or if an appeal option has not been used and can no longer be used. See the table on page 109 for further information. The background to the decision to restructure our statistics system is described on pages 7-8.