Review article
THE ROLE OF THE OMBUDSMAN IN THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS FROM THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL SELF-GOVERNMENT BODIES (COMPARATIVE PRESENTATION)
Anamarija Musa
orcid.org/0000-0002-4061-0335
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
About the middle of the 20th Century, the institution of the ombudsman was introduced in many countries, both on the national level and the level of regions or local units. The possibility that the ombudsman receives complaints against the work of administrative bodies of local and regional units is regulated dijferently in different countries: there are either national ombudsmen with the authority of control over local and regional self-government (e.g. the Netherlands and Croatia), special local or regional ombudsmen, with or without the national ombudsman (e.g. Switzerland), the special local ombudsman for the whole local self-government (e.g. England), or specialized ombudsmen who control a particular specific activity of local or regional self-government (e.g. England).
The fundamental issues on which the real scope of influence of the ombudsman on the activities of local and regional self-government depend are related to the question of his or her appointment, the existence of special rules which refer to the admissibility of the complaint and the availability of the office to citizens and the relation of the ombudsman with the public. In order to increase the efficiency of the work of the ombudsman, it is necessary for this duty to be performed by a person of great public respect and high moral principles, whose position should be additionally supported by being appointed by the representative body, i.e. Parliament. Furthermore, the rules which refer to the admissibility of the complaint should be limited to the minimum and in principle include only the requirement that the complaint refers to the work of the bodies which are within the competence o fthe ombudsman, while the requirement for the existence of legal interest of the applicant as well as the requirement that all legal remedies are exhausted should be rejected since they are contrary to the very fundaments of the institution. It is particularly necessary to establish communication with the public, especially by the media and other means of communication, so that citizens could be informed about the function of the ombudsman, but also with the work of public administration. In this respect, at the local and regional levels it is easier to make contacts with the public since citizens are more interested in everyday problems of social life.
Keywords
ombudsman; local self-government; regional self-government; parliamentary commissioner; protection of the rights of citizens
Hrčak ID:
197248
URI
Publication date:
9.12.2001.
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