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A fair amount of information about public employees is contained
in so-called personnel files. Pursuant to the Act on Public Access
to Documents on Public Files, others cannot, as a starting point,
get access to such information. This was the argument of the
Central Customs and Tax Administration when a journalist re
quested access to information about a high-profile case where
tax administration management had been invited on expensive
trips by collaborators. The journalist lodged a complaint with the
Ombudsman and it turned out that the information about the trips
was not only included in the personnel files, but also in a general
file. The Central Customs and Tax Administration therefore could
not simply reject the journalist’s request, but had to carry out a
specific assessment of which information was confidential and
which was not. The Ombudsman recommended that the Central
Customs and Tax Administration reopen the case.
It may be necessary to use force and compulsion against elderly
people with dementia. The Ombudsman’s so-called OPCAT unit
therefore visited a nursing home in Rødovre. The Ombudsman
employees spoke with both personnel and residents. The recur
rent question was what was done to prevent so-called degrading
treatment of residents. A doctor from the Rehabilitation and
Research Centre for Torture Victims also participated in the visit.
During the visit, various specific issues were discussed. During
the discussions, the nursing home management stated that the
problems would be resolved. The final report was a couple of
pages long, as the Ombudsman found no grounds for submitting
written comments to the responsible authorities.
OPCAT is an abbreviation of the UN Optional Protocol to the
Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. In Denmark, the Ombudsman monitors
that persons deprived of their liberty are treated in accordance
with the principles of the international rules against torture etc.
An Afghan woman applied
for family reunification
with her Afghan husband.
Pursuant to the rules, this
was conditional on the
couple’s joint association
with Denmark being greater
than their association with
another country. In this
case, the authorities took
the view that the couple had
a greater association with
Afghanistan or Iran than
with Denmark.
The Ombudsman could not
criticise this view. However,
the case caused him to emphasise to the Immigration
Service that the authorities
are responsible for ensuring
that foreigners understand
their letters. There is no
obligation to translate a
letter which a foreigner understands, just because he
or she would prefer another
language, and if an authority
receives a letter in Danish,
it may usually also reply in
Danish.
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