Inspections

The Parliamentary Ombudsman's inspection activities

1. The foundation − and stipulated sectors

The Parliamentary Ombudsman has carried out inspections since the opening of the office in 1955. The choice of which places to inspect is based particularly on the fact that the Parliamentary Ombudsman has a special obligation to watch those conditions under which individuals are incarcerated more or less against their will.  

In the preparatory work of the present Ombudsman Act, which came into force on 1 January 1997, it is stipulated that the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall carry out systematic inspections of the Danish prisons. 

A provision in Section 779 of the Danish Administration of Justice Act on the supervisory obligation of the regional councils was revoked on 1 January 1997, and it is hereby stipulated that the Parliamentary Ombudsman carries out systematic inspections of county gaols. 

It is also stipulated in the preparatory work of the Act that inspections of psychiatric ho­spitals will be carried out.

Finally, the preparatory work for the act stipulates that there will be inspections of certain social care homes.

A motion concerning equal rights for and non-discrimination of people with disabilities which the Danish parliament passed on 2 April 1993 contains a request that the Parliamentary Ombudsman follow developments within this field. This monitoring of developments is effected through inspections of (particularly) accessibility for the disabled to public buildings, etc. 

On 14 May 2004 (Folketingsbeslutning B129 (parliamentary resolution B129)) the Danish parliament passed the motion for a parliamentary resolution concerning the Danish ratification of the optional protocol for the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The protocol (in Ch. IV) presupposes that the participating states have an independent national body for the prevention of torture. This body must, i.a., have the competence to carry out investigations on a regular basis of the treatment of imprisoned individuals at their place of imprisonment. At the passing of the motion the Danish parliament took for its basis that the Parliamentary Ombudsman through his inspection activities fulfils the Convention’s provisions for an independent national body.

2. Number of inspections and distribution of these by type of institution

From 1955 until December 31, 1996, and from January 1, 1997, until December 31, 2009, the following inspections have been effected:

Type of institution

The period 1955 till 1996

The period 1997 till and including 31 December 2009

Prisons

37

33

Hostels

0

9 

County gaols

47

67

Secure institutions / substitutions of custody

0

11 

Psychiatric hospitals

17

34

Psychiatric outpatient clinics

0

5

Detentions

2

95

Police waiting rooms

0

41

Social care homes

14

24

24-hour care centers for children  and young people

 0

 3

Military duty stations

46

0

Non-discrimination of the disabled

0

20

Other

5

8 (incl. 5 inspections of local authorities)

Total

168

350 

3. The individual types of institution

Prisons

There are 13 state prisons in Denmark.

All have been inspected several times. And all were inspected anew following January 1, 1997.

The inspections have also given rise to a number of general cases which the Parliamentary Ombudsman has raised on his own initiative, e.g. cases concerning:

  • Purposeful activity 
  • The passing-on of medical information from one institution to another
  • Measures to combat narcotics being smuggled into prisons
  • Fittings and furnishings in the cells
  • Distribution of computer equipment
  • Source of error in connection with urine tests
  • Overcrowding
  • Violence and threats between inmates
  • TV administration
  • Administration of telephone use
  • Inmates with psychiatric ailments

Hostels

There are 8 Prison and Probation Service hostels. All have been inspected.

Secure institutions for juvenile offenders / substitutions of custody

There are also 8 secure institutions for  juvenile offenders/substitutions of custody. All have been inspected, some of them several times. 

County gaols

There are 40 county gaols. All county gaols have been inspected (again) following 1 January 1997, a number of them now for the second time.

The inspections of county gaols have also given rise to quite a number of general, own-initiative cases, e.g. cases concerning:

  • Purposeful activity
  • County gaol diet
  • Work and leisure time association
  • TV administration
  • Communal cooking activities
  • Questionnaire survey concerning all county gaols
  • Purchase and maintenance of mattresses, pillows and duvets
  • Overcrowding
  • An end to the use of double cells
  • Inmates with psychiatric ailments

Detentions

All 12 police districts in Denmark have detention facilities, often at several locations in the district. All detentions have been inspected.

The detention facility inspections have also led to a number of recommendations to the Commissioner of Police which have been taken into account in the promulgation of detention which came into force on 1 August 2001. This promulgation was replaced by a pro­mulgation of detention which came into force on 1 March 2006. 

Based on findings in connection with inspections carried out after the coming into force of the detention promulgation, it has been necessary to apply to the Commissioner of Police who, as a result, has subsequently impressed that the promulgation’s provisions must be observed.

Police waiting rooms

There are in Denmark around 300 police waiting rooms where detainees and remand prisoners are locked up for short periods of time while the police investigate. The inspection of these facilities is, i.a., concerned with the physical conditions of the waiting rooms and how long the prisoners are held there for.

Following recommendations from the Parliamentary Ombudsman the Commissioner of Police has surveyed the physical conditions of all waiting rooms in Denmark and has subsequently initiated a renovation of a large number of the rooms. New regulations on the size and physical condition of the rooms have been issued on 1 July 2005, and a final status report was issued in December 2006.

Psychiatric hospitals / clinics

At the coming into force of the public sector structure reform on 1 January 2007 psychiatry became the responsibility of the five new regions. The individual regions have chosen different approaches to the organisation of the psychiatric sector. There are now 53 psychiatric centres/hospitals/clinics in Denmark, and 27 of those have never been inspected by the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The plan is to inspect all of the psychiatric hospitals/clinics, and the number of inspections of these places per year has been increased.

A number of own-initiative cases have been raised on, among other things, the shielding unit practice.

Based on an investigation of annual reports from all regional patient complaints boards, re­commendations were given to the Ministry of Health, and the ministry subsequently sent out new guidelines to the regional patient complaints boards concerning their annual reports. 

In addition, an investigation of a number of cases from a selected patient complaints board has been carried out (a so-called own-initiative project).

The Parliamentary Ombudsman was involved in the work concerning a revision of the Psychiatry Act which came into force on 1 January 2007 (Consolidated Act No. 1111 of 1 November 2006). 

The inspections now include community psychiatry.

Social care homes, including psychiatric care homes 

There are a very large number of social and psychiatric care homes in Denmark.

The basis for our efforts with this type of institution is to ensure that the individual regions/local authorities observe their supervisory obligations according to, respectively, Section 5(7) and 148a of the Act on Social Services. 

Before 1 January 2007 such care homes were run by the counties, and Ombudsman inspections were carried out of selected care homes for severely disabled persons in the individual counties. Since then the inspections have been directed towards similar care homes now run by the regions and the local authorities.

Social residential care homes for children and juveniles

Denmark has a large number of social residential care homes for children and juveniles. 

Here also, the basis for our efforts with this type of institution is to ensure that the individual regions/local authorities observe their supervisory obligations according to, respectively, Section 5(7) and 148a of the Act on Social Services.

Military duty stations

Up till 1976, inspection of duty stations was of more importance when the compulsory military service was more restrictive than now (no possibility of leaving the duty station at the beginning of the training and no conscription salary).

At some point in time inspection activities in this field may be resumed to a limited extent.

Other 

This includes one inspection of an asylum center, two inspections of the Immigration Service and five inspections of local authorities. 

Non-discrimination of the disabled

Primarily, the Parliamentary Ombudsman monitors this issue in a number of ways, and several general own-initiative cases have been raised within this sphere.

Own-initiative cases have been carried out for example on the subject of a number of building and construction cases from two local authorities concerning dispensation from accessibility requirements for the disabled; an investigation of accessibility for the disabled at all railway stations has been initiated; an investigation of accessibility to the buildings of the Prison and Probation Service has been concluded; an investigation of accessibility to the Danish churches, cemeteries and church-related buildings has been carried out; and individual transportation services for the disabled have also been the subject of an investigation. 

At the inspection of accessibility for the disabled to public buildings a wheelchair-user assists the inspection team so that the real need for changes to the buildings, etc. may be uncovered. 

Since 2007 the Parliamentary Ombudsman has submitted an annual report to Parliament on the Ombudsman’s activities on the basis of the 1993 parliamentary resolution. You may read the reports on the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s website.

4. Method

The inspection activities, which are administered and carried out by the Inspections Division, are planned for one year at a time, leaving enough flexibility, however, to allow for ad hoc inspections when there appears an acute need for it. 

Notice of coming inspections is given four to six weeks in advance in a letter to the institution in question. The background and purpose for the inspection is explained and the institution is asked to send various documents to the inspection division and to announce the inspection to the inmates/patients, including the offer of a personal interview during the inspection. Inspections without notice have taken place on special occasions.  

The inspection itself is mainly concentrated on:

  • The physical framework (structural conditions, state of maintenance, outdoor areas, etc.)
  • Occupational possibilities, educational possibilities, food, care, leisure activities, medical care, etc. for inmates / residents / patients
  • Any legal matters
  • Interviews with the institution’s management and employee representatives
  • Interviews with representatives for the inmates / residents /patients and any relatives
  • Interviews with those inmates / residents / patients who have asked for this

During the inspection the institution is asked to hand over reports, etc. for a specific period, reports which the institutions are obligated to keep concerning interventions and the like towards the inmates/residents/patients. The inspection team takes the material away with them on the day for closer perusal.

5. The Parliamentary Ombudsman’s assessment

The basis for the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s assessment is first and foremost current le­gislation. There are a large number of rules concerning conditions in institutions, particularly concerning the conditions of inmates/residents/patients. Thus, on the basis of reports and the like on the rights provided by the rule of law for the inmates/residents/patients, it is ensured that these rights are observed. 

Next, the Parliamentary Ombudsman applies some more universally human standards concerning the need for the creation of a good framework for the institution’s inmates/residents/patients. Developed through the more than 50 years that the office has been in existence, these standards concern, among other things, conditions of accommodation and care, the possibility for leisure activities, education, work, social interaction, etc. This assessment basis has now been given statutory form in Section 18 of the Ombudsman Act. 

Following the inspection, an interim report is prepared which the inspected institution − and any appropriate higher authority or municipal central administration − will be allowed to comment on before the final report is made. The report will also contain an analysis of the material submitted by the institution.

The final report is communicated to the institution in question, the inmates/residents/patients of the institution, the institution’s superior authority and the Legal Affairs Committee of the Danish parliament. The report and any follow-up reports are published regularly on the website of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

The above-mentioned follow-up reports are used systematically to monitor that any recommendations, etc. are observed.