General state of the office To the necessary extent, some of the cases assigned by law to the ­Ombudsman are handled by the Director General and the Head of the General ­Department. The Ombudsman may delegate his functions within this area to them, ­including final statements on cases. The Director General may also carry out ­inspections. In the Ombudsman’s absence, the Director General takes over the ­Ombudsman’s functions when the Ombudsman so decides, cf. section 27 of the Ombudsman Act. If the Director General is also absent, the Head of the General Department takes over. The Director General has overall responsibility for the operation of the Ombudsman institution. Further information about the organisation and ­personnel of the institution is provided in Appendix A. Every year, the Ombudsman himself and several of the office’s employees give a number of lectures, either of a general informative nature or more ­specialised, about the activities of the Ombudsman. Some employees, and to some extent the Ombudsman himself, also teach at courses on subjects pertaining to ­public law, and a number of employees serve as tutors and external examiners at ­Danish universities. Further information (in Danish only) about the teaching activities of the Ombudsman and the members of the management team can be found in the Ombudsman’s annual reports on the website www.ombudsmanden.dk. Every year, the office receives foreign visitors, often with very different backgrounds. Common to them all is the wish to know more about the ­Danish Ombudsman institution, its history and international influence. General information is always offered. In addition, the office participates in international collaboration at ­various ­levels, for instance through a collaboration agreement with the Ministry of ­Foreign Affairs. The agreement allows the office to enter into collaboration ­projects with other ombudsman institutions – often in the poorest countries of the world. 27