| 37 Who: In general, anybody can complain to the Ombudsman, also if they are not a party to a case. A complaint cannot be anonymous. What: The Ombudsman considers complaints about all parts of the public administration and in a limited number of situations also about private institutions, an example being complaints about conditions for children in private institutions. The Ombudsman does not consider complaints about courts or about tribunals which make decisions in disputes between private parties. When: The Ombudsman’s task is to ensure that the authorities have observed the applicable rules. For this reason, the Ombudsman cannot consider cases at first instance; he can consider a complaint only if the case has been considered by the relevant authority – and by any appeals bodies. There is a deadline of one year for complaints to the Ombudsman. How: When the Ombudsman receives a complaint, he first determines whether it offers sufficient cause for investigation: in some cases the Ombudsman will be unable to consider a complaint, whereas in other cases he will choose not to open an investigation, for instance because he would not be able to help the complainant achieve a better outcome. In a large proportion of complaint cases, the Ombudsman helps the citizen by providing guidance or by forwarding the complaint to an authority, for instance in order that the authority will be able to consider the complaint or give the citizen more details of the grounds for a decision which it has made in the case. In a number of cases, the Ombudsman discontinues his investigation because the authority chooses to reopen the case, for instance after being asked for a statement on the matter by the Ombudsman. In some complaint cases, the Ombudsman carries out a full investigation, which, among other things, involves obtaining statements from the authority and the complainant. The investigation may result in the Ombudsman choosing to criticise the authority and, for instance, recommend that it make a new decision on the matter.