14
LEANDER v. SWEDEN JUGDMENT
documents of any such court or authority. Any court, any administrative
authority and any civil servant in central or local government must provide
the Ombudsman with such information and reports as he may request. In the
performance of his duties, the Ombudsman may request the assistance of
any public prosecutor.
39. It follows from the foregoing that the National Police Board and its
activities come under the supervision of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen.
According to information submitted by the registrar of the Parliamentary
Ombudsmen, the procedure in cases of individual complaint is the
following. When the complaint is lodged, the Ombudsman responsible
contacts the Board or the requesting authority (see paragraph 25 above). He
will then be furnished with oral information on the circumstances of the
case and be afforded the opportunity to study the relevant documents and
files. This information is not entered on any record kept by the
Ombudsman, as that would entail problems as to how to preserve the secret
character of the information. The Ombudsman arrives at his opinion on the
basis of the inquiry described above and of the results of any other
investigations undertaken. His report is always drawn up in writing and
made accessible to the public. It does not therefore set out any secret
information.
Since 1969 there have been at least eight individual complaints relating
to the personnel control system. Four were complaints of a general nature
by notorious complainants. After having investigated the factual
circumstances underlying the other four complaints, the Ombudsman closed
the file in two of them only after having expressed specific criticism in
respect of certain issues (reports of 20 February 1984 in case 684-1983 and
of 15 February 1985 in case 2316-1984). The criticism expressed by the
Ombudsman in the report of 20 February 1984 has, according to a recent
judgment of the Labour Court (no. 28 of 12 March 1986), led the Supreme
Commander of the Armed Forces to change a previous practice regarding
the application of section 19 of the Ordinance.
4. Parliamentary Committee on Justice (riksdagens justitieutskott)
40.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice consists of
fifteen Members of Parliament nominated on a proportional basis. Since
1971, it has considered the appropriations for the security branch of the
police and, almost every year, scrutinised the expenses of the security
police, its organisation and activities. A great interest has, according to the
Government, been shown in matters concerning the Personnel Control
Ordinance and its application and in the question of assessing the influence
of the lay members of the National Police Board on the activities of the
security police. The Committee normally informs itself by holding hearings
with spokesmen of the Board and its Security Department and by regular
visits. Such visits took place in the spring of 1977, the autumn of 1979 and