How do we introduce e-government without harming our legal rights? | 21 Important points From the Ombudsman’s Guide for Authorities (in Danish only) at www.ombudsmanden.dk, Overview #13 on the general administrative requirements in regard to public IT systems • Compliance with administrative requirements is essential with regard to citizens’ legal rights. It is the individual authority’s responsibility to make sure that the authority’s IT systems meet these requirements. • Administrative rules and principles apply irrespective of whether case processing is undertaken manually or digitally. • Administrative requirements must be considered at an early stage upon development of new IT systems. • It is important to have an overview of the various types of cases and case procedures which a new IT system must include. • The authority must clearly define the applicable rules for the processing of cases which the IT system must handle. • The IT system must be configured in a way that makes it possible to search for relevant cases based on criteria in terms of contents. • The authority must ensure documentation of all case files – either by a physical copy or by an electronic ‘authentic copy’. • The IT system must support and ensure record-keeping of relevant documents. • Registrations in the IT system must be clear, sufficient and give a true and fair view. • It must be possible to see from which authority a letter originates. • As a general rule, letters in decision cases must either be signed with a personal signature or worked out in a way which ensures both a clear identification of the letter and that the letter is final. • The IT system must be equipped with secure documentation as to when the authority has sent a letter. • The system must support compliance with legal rights for citizens laid down in administrative rules and principles. • Citizens cannot be required to write electronically to the authority or to use a digital self-service solution without statutory authority. • A citizen who is a party to a case must receive a message directly (for example by e-mail in the digital letter box) when the authority makes a decision.