The members of the AOB take stock Ombudswoman Terezija Stoisits The new work of the AOB began as of 1 July 2012. The six Commissions established within the AOB began their work and are visiting public and private institutions and facilities where persons are being Commissions investigate since 1 July 2012 detained. All matters that fall within the area of authority of the Ministry of the Interior are in my area of competence. Therefore, I was able to take advantage of the longstanding activities and experience of the former Human Rights Advisory Council and the earlier Commissions. From the very beginning, it was important to me to utilise this knowledge and to take up recommendations that have not yet been implemented. During their visits in the first six months, the Commissions focused on the areas they were familiar with from earlier reports: Police detention centres, observation of forced returns, observation of the exercise of Focus of visits in the area of authority of the Ministry of the Interior administrative power and compulsion as well as police stations. The visits of the police detention centres have made it clear that many of the demands expressed by the former Human Rights Advisory Council continue to be relevant today and are still awaiting implementation. I therefore made this my first focus in this area and submitted suggestions for improvements to the Ministry of the Interior. In addition to the challenges presented by the new competences, I would like to emphasise how important the previous activities of the AOB have been to me. The ex-post control of public administration continues to be an indicator of how well the administration is working. For more than 35 years, the AOB has been a yardstick for both citizens on one hand and public administration on the other. Because of its perseverance and determination, it has been able to effect both improvements in enforcement of the law and of legislation itself. The continuing numbers of complaints confirm that the AOB has not only been accepted by the population, but is also being actively utilised. As an ombudswoman, I am glad to see this and it confirms how useful the work of the AOB is. A focus of ex-post control continues to be the Asylum Court. It is true that this year the number of complaints has declined in comparison Asylum Court is still in arrears to 2011, but nevertheless, the situation for asylum seekers continu- 25