6 RESTRIC TIONS ON VISITS AND LEAVE to appeal or not, but I can state that the temporary routine has meant that there is considerable uncertainty as to whether an inmate can have their right to receive visits tried in a higher instance. This is deeply unsatisfactory.” The National Board of Institutional Care On 24 March 2020, the National Board of Institutional Care decided on general visiting restrictions at all of its institutions due to Covid-19. The decision was valid until further notice, but no later than 7 April, and entailed a restriction on the possibility of receiving visits for residents who were covered by the Care of Abusers Act and the Care of Young Persons Act. Initially, only young people under the age of 18 were allowed to receive visits from guardians and parents with access rights under the new routine. These visits should then, as far as possible, take place outdoors to prevent the spread of infection. These visiting restrictions expired on 1 July 2020. The National Board of Institutional Care’s decision on general visiting restrictions did not cover young people serving sentences in accordance with the Enforcement of Secure Youth Care Act. Despite this, these young people were mentioned under a special heading in the agency’s decision. Parliamentary Ombudsman Thomas Norling stated that there was, therefore, a risk that those who received the document perceived it as if the general decision on visiting restrictions also applied to residents placed in a home under the Enforcement of Secure Youth Care Act. This risked leading to the misconception that this group of young people could not apply for a visit under the Enforcement of Secure Youth Care Act, and, as such, there was also no obligation for the National Board of Institutional Care to consider such applications. At the final dialogue meeting that Parliamentary Ombudsman Thomas Norling had with the management of the National Board of Institutional Care, it emerged that the basic idea was that residents covered by the Enforcement of Secure Youth Care Act would be allowed to receive visits on the same terms as other residents in the agency’s special residential homes for young people. In the opinion of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, however, the routines in the National Board of Institutional Care’s support document stated that applications from young people covered by the Enforcement of Secure Youth Care Act to receive visits from guardians or parents with access rights would be assessed. The decision on visiting restrictions, which covered the Care of Young Persons Act, showed that it did not cover guardians or parents with rights of access. The Parliamentary Ombudsman then stated the following:8 “An important factor in this context is that the law on visiting restrictions does not cover the Enforcement of Secure Youth Care Act, and, as a result, the National Board of Institutional Care has to consider two different sets of rules. The National Board of Institutional Care should consider whether the agency should again introduce general visiting restrictions for residents covered by the Care of Young Persons Act, if it is possible to formulate the instruction concerning the Enforcement of Secure Youth Care Act in a way that better describes the agency’s intention on the matter. Furthermore, in its evaluation the agency should analyse whether, based on its own intention, there have been any unjustified differences in the extent to which residents covered by 8 See the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s decision of 3 September 2020, ref. no. O 13-2020. – 42 –