CHAPTER V COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCESS Part I Processes and Procedure Article 35 Initiative The Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice shall act on the basis of a complaint or representation, individual or collective, or on his or her own initiative. Article 36 Lodgement of complaints 1. Any natural or legal person may, directly or through their representative, address complaints to the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice about violations and infringements as set out in Articles 23 to 27 of the present law. 2. Complaints shall be made orally or in writing, and shall include the complainant’s identity and contact address. 3. Where a complaint is made in writing, it shall be signed by the complainant, if he or she is able to sign, or his or her legal representative or agent. 4. Where a complaint is made orally, it shall be reduced to writing and signed by the person to whom the complaint is made and by the complainant, if he or she is able to sign; where the complainant is not able to sign, his or her fingerprint shall be taken. 5. Except as otherwise provided, where a letter written by a person held in any place of detention or a patient in a hospital or other institution is addressed to the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, it shall be immediately forwarded in a sealed envelop, unopened and unaltered by the person in charge of the place or institution where the writer of the letter is detained or in which he or she is a patient. 6. Where a person who may have laid a complaint under this law has died or is for any reason unable to act for himself or herself, the complaint may be continued by a member of his or her family, by his or her legal representative or other individual suitable to represent him or her. 7. Complaints can only be lodged in connection with acts or omissions, which were committed after the entry into force of the present law. 8. Complainants shall not be required to pay a fee, compensation, tax or charge in respect of the lodgement of a complaint, or in respect of the handling of such complaint or services provided by the Office. 17