The Henrik Sass Larsen case – law and politics in the Ombudsman world express severe criticism of the highest authorities in the land. And it certainly is not common for the Ombudsman to get so close to issues related to the formation of a government. Nonetheless, I had no doubts about considering Henrik Sass Larsen’s complaint about the order to remain silent. As a clear starting point, the formation of a government is of course a purely political issue which is entirely the Prime Minister’s responsibility. However, when actual legal instruments – such as imposing an order to remain silent, whose breach may lead to a prison sentence – are suddenly used in connection with the formation of a government, other mechanisms come into force. As Professor Michael Gøtze put it in a newspaper feature, the law also applies in the dark. And Henrik Sass Larsen had a completely legitimate wish to find out whether the order to remain silent was legal. I began the article by mentioning my predecessor’s analysis of the issue of the Ombudsman’s role in cases with a political aspect. The Henrik Sass Larsen case is an excellent illustration of two of Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen’s theses, i.e. that the Ombudsman must not avoid taking up a case merely because it (also) contains political substance and that in ‘mixed’ cases – i.e. cases which include both political and legal aspects – the Ombudsman must stick to the legal aspects. 55