SUMMARIES OF SELECTED CASES q. MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT No cases concluded in 2013 were selected for publication as part of the Annual Report. r. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS The following case concluded in 2013 was selected for publication as part of the Annual Report: 2013-20. Refusal of International Press Centre to ­accredit journalist prior to state visit The Danish Union of Journalists complained to the Ombudsman because the International Press Centre (IPC) had refused to accredit a journalist prior to a state visit from South Korea in May 2011. Prior to its refusal, the IPC had obtained a security assessment from the Da­ nish Security and Intelligence Service (PET), which stated that it could not recommend accreditation. Subsequently, the IPC refused accreditation without knowing the grounds for PET’s recommendation, and thus without making an individual assessment of the circumstances of the journalist and the case. The Ombudsman found this to conflict with the principle that decision-makers who have a duty to exercise discretion cannot restrict that discretion by automatically applying guidance or policy. Furthermore, it is evident from the case information that as grounds for not recommending accreditation, PET had given weight to factors from several years before, among other things a sentence for violence. The Ombudsman considered whether these factors could have justified refusal of accreditation at all if the IPC had weighed up the information – as it ought to have done. Based on the information available, the Ombudsman did not find that these factors could have constituted sufficient grounds for refusal of accreditation. 143