SUMMARIES OF SELECTED STATEMENTS The Ministry of Justice had in particular pointed to considerations of state security because of the risk of undue influence on the lawyers in question to possibly obtain access to classified information. After having asked further questions about the reason for the denied access, the Ombudsman recommended that the Ministry reopen the case and make a new decision. Thus, the Ombudsman found that there was too much doubt about the Ministry’s real reason for the denied access for the Ombudsman to be able to recognize the decision on the present basis. In the new decision, the Ministry once again denied giving access to the names. And again, the journalist complained to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman found that with the explanations he had now received from the Ministry of Justice, there were overall not sufficient grounds for criticising the Ministry’s new decision. However, the explanations which the Ministry of Justice had given during the collective case proceedings gave the Ombudsman cause for comment. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the case illustrated how important it is that the authorities, also in cases pertaining to PET, remain critical – and self-critical – as to whether there really are considerations which justify denied access to information. According to the Ombudsman, the case could leave the impression that this had not fully happened. 2014-23. EXTRACTION OF INFORMATION IN AN INTERNAL DOCUMENT A journalist complained to the Ombudsman because the Ministry of Justice had given him a partial refusal of access to a document on the grounds that it was an internal document. The document contained information which the Ministry had made a note of in connection with a telephone call from a party secretary regarding the interpretation of the subsidy concept in the Political Parties Accounts Act. The Ministry had extracted two paragraphs from the documents and granted the journalist access to them. The Ombudsman agreed with the Ministry of Justice that the document was an internal document which is generally exempt from access. 121