THE OMBUDSMAN AND THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS porated in Danish law at the time, should be taken into consideration by the immigration authorities (the Ombudsman’s Annual Report for 1982, p. 156, in Danish only). As far back as the 1970s, the Ombudsman has also included international protocols, including non-binding guidelines, in his monitoring activities with regard to prisons and psychiatric institutions etc. One example is an inspection visit in 1975 to ‘Ebberødgård’, an institution under the then National Mental Deficiency Service, where the Ombudsman in his report on the institution’s secure wards concluded, among others with reference to a UN declaration on the rights of mentally retarded persons, that ‘the clients live under conditions which, based on humanitarian standards and (...) otherwise recognised ideas on the treatment of human beings in institutions, in my opinion must be considered unjustifiable’ (the Ombudsman’s Annual Report for 1975, p. 571, in Danish only). In various ways, international rules constitute elements of Danish law and thereby form a natural part of the Ombudsman’s activities in the same way as for other law-applying authorities in Denmark, for instance the courts. In this context, EU treaties and EU law are particularly important, as they have direct validity in Denmark, together with the European Human Rights Convention which was incorporated into Danish legislation by law in 1982. Other international obligations assumed by Denmark but not related to the EU or incorporated by law are also relevant when laying down what is existing Danish law. This applies to, for instance, the Convention against Torture, the Equal treatment of persons with disabilities: The Ombudsman keeps tabs on the issue of equal treatment of persons with disabilities and addresses any problems when they are within his jurisdiction. Parliament has asked him to do so – most recently when implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010. 2010 At the same time, Parliament also designated the Danish Institute for Human Rights to promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the Convention. The Danish Institute for Human Rights carries out this task in conjunction with the Danish Disability Council and the Parliamentary Ombudsman. 35