Governing principles of the ombudsman’s activities

While performing his or her activities the ombudsman must comply with the following fundamental, minimum standards. These primarily include:

➤ legality: all actions performed by the ombudsman must comply with the law, the internal regulations of the University and high standards of moral and ethical behaviour

➤ individual approach: the ombudsman must assess and deal with complaints on the basis of the careful evaluation of the concrete situation and strictly with regard to the needs and interests of the person who has submitted the complaint

➤ confidentiality of information: the ombudsman must treat information received from complainants as sensitive data that is subject to a special level of protection; information must not be disclosed to third parties without the consent of the complainant

➤ safety: the activities of the ombudsman, and in particular investigations into individual complaints or suggestions and their outcomes, must not jeopardize the safety of complainants

➤ transparency: while investigating complaints the ombudsman must take foreseeable measures that are at all times in accordance with the law and internal regulations, and shall inform the complainant of individual measures; the ombudsman must also maintain clear, transparent relationships with other relevant constituent parts of the University with which he or she works while performing his or her duties

➤ subsidiarity: the ombudsman must promote the use of available resources and conciliatory resolutions to disputes