Ombudsman: Encyclopedia II - Ombudsman - Government ombudsmen

Ombudsman - Government ombudsmen

Ombudsman - Sweden

In 1713 King Charles XII of Sweden, preoccupied with fighting the Great Northern War, was residing in Bendery and had not set foot in Sweden in over a

• Swedish Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities, or Jämställdhetsombudsmannen (JämO)
• Swedish Ombudsman for Children, or Barnombudsmannen. Observes matters affecting the rights and interests of children and young people.
• Swedish Disability Ombudsman, or Handikappombudsmannen. Monitors issues relating to the rights and interests of persons with disabilities.
• Swedish Ombudsman against Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation, or Ombudsmannen mot diskriminering på grund av sexuell läggning (HomO)
• Swedish Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination, or Ombudsmannen mot etnisk diskriminering

The Director-General of the Swedish Consumer Agency is also designated as a Consumer Ombudsman.

Ombudsman - Czech Republic

The Czech Ombusdman is known as Veřejný ochránce práv (Public Defender of Rights)..

Ombudsman - European Union

The European Ombudsman was established by the Maastricht treaty, the treaty establishing the European Union. The current European Ombudsman, holding office since 1 April 2003, is P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, former national ombudsman of Greece.

Ombudsman - Finland

In Finland the office of Parliamentary Ombudsman, modelled after the Swedish Ombudsman, was established by the Constitution of 1919. The Ombudsman is appointed by the Parliament, and has the task of ensuring that all government departments and officials follow the law. The Parliamentary Ombudsman shares many duties with the Chancellor of Justice. The Ombudsman has wide ranging oversight and investigative powers. She or he has access to all government facilities, documents and information systems and can order a police investigation if necessary. If the Ombudsman determines that a government official has not acted in accordance with the law she or he can advice on the proper application of the law, reprimand the official or in the extreme case order the criminal prosecution of the official. Partly because of the prosecutorial powers the Ombudsman enjoys considerable respect and her or his legal opinions are usually strictly followed. Her or his legal interpretations carry a lot of weight in the absence of a court precedent.

There are also special ombudsmen for gender equality, children's welfare, rights of ethnic minorities, and consumer protection, operating under the auspices of various ministries and other government agencies. Also, every health care provider in Finland is legally obliged to have a patients' rights ombudsman.

Ombudsman - Greece

The Greek Ombudsman is called Citizen's Advocate and is an Independent Authority. Currently, the Citizen's Advocate is Prof. Georgios Kaminis. The Advocate is assisted by five Assistant Advocates, which coordinate the activities of the Advocate's office in the five "theme circles" (areas) in which the office has authority: i) civil rights, ii) social protection, iii) quality of life, iv) state-citizen relationships and v) children's rights.

Ombudsman - Iceland

The post of umboðsmaður Alþingis was set up under the terms of law number 13/1987 in 1987, dealing with complaints against the government. In 1997 law number 85/1997 his authority was expanded to local government levels. The Ombudsman is appointed by Alþingi.

Ombudsman - Ireland

The Office of Ombudsman was set up under the terms of The Ombudsman Act, 1980. The Ombudsman, who is appointed by the President of Ireland upon the nomination of both Houses of the Oireachtas, deals with complaints against Government Departments, local authorities, health boards and An Post.

Ombudsman - Italy

The Italian Ombusdman is known as Avvocato Generale dello Stato (Attorney General of the Republic).

Ombudsman - New Zealand

The post of Ombudsman was established in New Zealand in 1962, with the aegis of investigation of complaints against government departments. In 1975 the post was expanded, with a Chief Ombudsman and several (number unspecified) of other ombudsmen.

New Zealand also has a Banking Ombudsman however this a non-government industry group.

Ombudsman - Philippines

The Office of the Ombudsman of the Philippines is empowered by the 1987 Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas to safeguard the government and government-related institutions and corporations from corruption and dispense justice in the case of such offenses.

Ombudsman - Poland

Polish Ombudsman is called the Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich.

Ombudsman - Romania

The Romanian Ombusdman is known as Avocatul Poporului' (People's Advocate).

Ombudsman - Spain

The Spanish laws translate "ombudsman" as defensor del pueblo ("People's defender"). There is a general Defensor del Pueblo for issues with the Spanish administration, and regional ones for the autonomous communities of Spain, for instance:

• Valedor do Pobo (Galicia)
• Ararteko (Basque Country)
• Justicia (Aragon)
• Síndic de Greuges (Catalonia)
• Defensor del Pueblo Andaluz (Andalusia)

The Spanish Defensor can start processes at the Constitutional Court.

Ombudsman - Ukraine

In the Ukraine a post of Ombudsman is held Nina Karpachova since 1998. Recently, Ukraine installed staff of ombudsmans dedicated to childrens' rights, including world's youngest ombudsman, 14-year-old Ivan Cherevko.

Ombudsman - United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom a post of Ombudsman is attached to the Westminster Parliament with additional posts at the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and other government institutions.

The main UK Ombudsman is known as the Parliamentary Comissioner for Administration (PCA). The Creation of the post of the UK PCA was spurred on by the 1954 Crichel Down affair. The position was created, and his or her powers are documented in, the Parliamentary Comissioner Act 1967, the most notable section of which is s4 and Schedule 2, which constrain his (currently her) powers. Amongst other things, the ombudsman cannot investigate Crime, national security, foreign affairs, the armed forces and other civil services. However, the office of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman emphasises that it looks into complaints "that government departments, their agencies and some other public bodies in the UK - and the NHS in England - have not acted properly or fairly or have provided a poor service". The first UK Ombudsman was Sir Alan Marre, a career civil servant who later became chairman of Age Concern and the post is currently held by Ann Abraham (since 2002). She is a former director of the National Association of Citizen's Advice Bureaux.

Those seeking the assistance of the PCA generally find the process to be difficult. Firstly, all complaints have to go through an MP - this is known as the "MP filter", which checks they are legitimate. In many cases, the MP attempts to solve the problem themselves, though the effectiveness of this can be called into question. Secondly, the Ombudsman rejects nearly 50% of his received applications (once that have passed through the filter) at first instance. Finally, the ombudsman will not investigate complaints where recourse to an alternate remedy (tribunal, internal complaints etc) exists. This can be extremely offputting if you wish to complain - most people do not want to get involved in this process.If you can plough through all this, complaint resolution normally takes about 40 weeks.

The Ombudsman's powers are completely non-binding upon any authority. He or she may publish a report, but that is all the coercion he can give. Usually, this does exert enough moral power to make an authority change its decision. The Ombudsman does not exist to complain about the merits of a decision. For example, in 1996 those suffering "planning blight" on their houses due to the creation of the Channel Tunnel were eventually awarded compensation without admission of fault or liability.

Finally, the Ombudsman's decision may be challenged by Judicial Review if he fails to consider whether the complaint is suitable for judicial resolution. This happens rarely, but does occour. For example, in R v PCA, Ex Parte Dyer [1994], a complaint was addressed, but the plaintiff considered the remedy inadequate. The House of Lords however, ruled that the plaintiff should be satisfied with the remedy obtained.

• Estate Agents Ombudsman
• Financial Ombudsman Service
• Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme for the Isle of Man
• Health Service Ombudsman - England
• Health Service Ombudsman - Wales
• Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS)
• Independent Police Complaints Commission
• Legal Services Ombudsman
• Local Government Ombudsman - England
• Local Government Ombudsman - Wales
• Northern Ireland Ombudsman
• Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman
• Parliamentary Ombudsman
• Welsh Administration Ombudsman
• Pensions Ombudsman
• Removals Industry Ombudsman Scheme
• Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman
• Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
• Telecommunications Ombudsman (OTELO)

The impartiality of some UK Ombudsman services has been questioned. In particular the Local Government Ombudsmen - whose senior staff are recruited from the ranks of local government officials and whose appointment process is vetted by the Local Government Association - have been accused of bias and of merely acting as a rubber stamp.

Ombudsman - United States

The US Navy implemented an ombudsmen program in 1970 under direction of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. Through the Navy Ombudsman Program, communication between the spouses of active duty and the command is kept open, thereby improving the quality of life for everyone involved. The Navy command ombudsman is a volunteer position, with no special favors bestowed upon them. The purpose of this program is to ensure the dependents of active duty military have a channel of resources for their needs and quality of life. A command ombudsman can guide you to the help you may need, before, during or after a deployment. The Navy Ombudsman undergoes almost constant training, and is bound by confidentiality in most cases, the exception being any hint of child abuse. An ombudsman meets with department heads aboard a naval installation to find out the latest news, and pass it on, including news on ship deployments, cutting down on potentially harmful gossip.

The New York Public Advocate has an Ombudsman team that investigates and responds to telephone and written complaints/queries regarding city agency services, providing information and referrals.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Government ombudsmen", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki