Legal protection in social benefit fraud cases Remember … In the cases about this subject considered by the Ombudsman, he has highlighted the following points of which the local authorities should be aware in their efforts against social benefit fraud: The case framework Understanding of when a citizen is ‘genuinely single’ The rules governing different public benefits do not all define the concept of ‘genuinely single’ in the same way. The authorities must therefore take into account whether the assessment is to be made pursuant to for instance the Child Benefit Act or the Housing Benefit Act.  Repayment may be demanded only when benefits have been received ‘in bad faith’ When the authorities consider whether to demand repayment of social benefits, it is not enough to establish that the benefit should – objectively – not have been paid. It is also a fundamental condition for demanding repayment that the benefit was received ‘in bad faith’. Case processing Anonymous tip-offs Some social benefit fraud cases are initiated on the basis of an anonymous tip-off. An anonymous tip-off may result in an authority initiating an investigation of a citizen, but it cannot in itself form part of the evidence in the case.  The provisions of section 10 of the Act on Legal Protection in Connection with the Ad­ ministration’s Use of Compulsory Intervention and Duties of Disclosure A citizen is not obliged to provide information in his or her case if there is an actual suspicion that the citizen has committed a punishable offence. In such cases, the author­ ities must give the citizen explicit guidance on this rule.  The importance of complying with the inquisitorial principle The principle implies that the individual authority is obliged to procure adequate evi­ dence before a decision is made. It is part of the requirement that the authorities must be objective when gathering information.  Cost of investigation of the case In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the authorities can only order a citizen to pay to obtain information for use in a case initiated by the authorities if there is a secure legal basis for doing so. As a starting point, the authorities thus cannot demand that the citizen pay a fee for obtaining, for instance, bank statements. When the case is concluded The rules on consultations of parties to cases The authorities are obliged to consult a citizen before making a decision if significant factual information is prejudicial to the citizen and the citizen cannot be assumed to be familiar with it. Depending on the circumstances, the citizen should be consulted in writing.  Careful phrasing of grounds Especially in cases which affect the citizen as significantly as social benefit fraud cases, it is important that the authorities phrase the grounds for decisions in such a way as to leave no doubt whether adequate evidence has been obtained in the cases or whether decisions have been made on the wrong basis. 47