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Ombudsman

January 19, 2024

For the Wikimedia Ombuds, see m:Ombuds commission. For the TV series, see Ombudsman (TV series).

An ombudsman (/ˈɒmbʊdzmən/, also US: /-bədz-, -bʌdz-/[1][2][3]), ombud, ombuds, bud, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and attempt to resolve them, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation.

Sign in Banjul, capital of The Gambia, giving directions to the ombudsman's office

Ombudsmen sometimes also aim to identify systemic issues leading to poor service or breaches of people's rights. At the national level, most ombudsmen have a wide mandate to deal with the entire public sector, and sometimes also elements of the private sector (for example, contracted service providers). In some cases, there is a more restricted mandate to a certain sector of society. More recent developments have included the creation of specialized children's ombudsmen.

In some countries, an inspector general, citizen advocate or other official may have duties similar to those of a national ombudsman and may also be appointed by a legislature. Below the national level, an ombudsman may be appointed by a state, local, or municipal government. Unofficial ombudsmen may be appointed by, or even work for, a corporation such as a utility supplier, newspaper, NGO, or professional regulatory body.

In some jurisdictions, an ombudsman charged with handling concerns about national government is more formally referred to as the "parliamentary commissioner" (e.g. the United Kingdom Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, and the Western Australian state Ombudsman). In many countries where the ombudsman's responsibility includes protecting human rights, the ombudsman is recognized as the national human rights institution. The post of ombudsman had by the end of the 20th century been instituted by most governments and by some intergovernmental organizations such as the European Union. As of 2005, including national and sub-national levels, a total of 129 offices of ombudsman have been established around the world.[4]

Origins and etymology edit

A prototype of an ombudsman may have flourished in China during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC), and later in Korea during the Joseon Dynasty.[5] The position of secret royal inspector, or amhaeng-eosa (암행어사, 暗行御史) was unique to the Joseon Dynasty, where an undercover official directly appointed by the king was sent to local provinces to monitor government officials and look after the populace while travelling incognito. The Roman Tribune had some similar roles, with the power to veto acts that infringed upon the Plebeians. Another precursor to the ombudsman was the Diwān al-Maẓālim (دِيوَانُ الْمَظَالِمِ) which appears to go back to the second caliph, Umar (634–644), and the concept of Qaḍī al-Quḍāt (قَاضِي الْقُضَاةِ).[6] They were also attested in Siam, India, the Liao dynasty, Japan, and China.[7]

An indigenous Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish term, ombudsman, ombudsmann or ombudsmand is etymologically rooted in the Old Norse word umboðsmaðr, essentially meaning 'representative' (with the word umbud/ombud meaning 'proxy', 'attorney'; that is, someone who is authorized to act for someone else, a meaning it still has in the Scandinavian languages). In the Danish Law of Jutland from 1241, the term is umbozman and concretely means a royal civil servant in a hundred. From 1552, it is also used in other Nordic languages such as the Icelandic and Faroese umboðsmaður, the Norwegian ombudsmann/ombodsmann, and the Swedish ombudsman (pronounced [ˈɔ̂mːbʉːdsˌman]). The general meaning was and is approximately 'a man representing (someone)' (i.e., a representative) or 'a man with a commission (from someone)' (a commissioner). The Swedish-speaking minority in Finland uses the Swedish terminology. The various forms of the suffix -mand, -maður, et cetera, are just the forms the common Germanic word represented by the English word man have in the various languages. Thus, the modern plural form ombudsmen of the English borrowed word ombudsman is likely.

Use of the term in its modern use began in Sweden with the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman instituted by the Instrument of Government of 1809, to safeguard the rights of citizens by establishing a supervisory agency independent of the executive branch. The predecessor of the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman was the Office of Supreme Ombudsman (Högste Ombudsmannen), which was established by the Swedish King, Charles XII, in 1713. Charles XII was in exile in Turkey and needed a representative in Sweden to ensure that judges and civil servants acted in accordance with the laws and with their duties. If they did not do so, the Supreme Ombudsman had the right to prosecute them for negligence. In 1719 the Swedish Office of Supreme Ombudsman became the Chancellor of Justice.[8] The Parliamentary Ombudsman was established in 1809 by the Swedish Riksdag, as a parallel institution to the still-present Chancellor of Justice, reflecting the concept of separation of powers as developed by Montesquieu.[8]

The Parliamentary Ombudsman is the institution that the Scandinavian countries subsequently developed into its contemporary form, and which subsequently has been adopted in many other parts of the world. The word ombudsman and its specific meaning have since been adopted in various languages, such as Dutch. The German language uses Ombudsmann, Ombudsfrau and Ombudsleute. Notable exceptions are French, Italian, Spanish, and Finnish, which use translations instead. Modern variations of this term include ombud, ombuds, ombudsperson, or ombudswoman, and the conventional English plural is ombudsmen. In Nigeria, the ombudsman is known as the Public Complaints Commission or the ombudsman.[9]

In politics edit

In general, an ombudsman is a state official appointed to provide a check on government activity in the interests of the citizen and to oversee the investigation of complaints of improper government activity against the citizen. If the ombudsman finds a complaint to be substantiated, the problem may get rectified, or an ombudsman report is published making recommendations for change. Further redress depends on the laws of the country concerned, but this typically involves financial compensation. Ombudsmen in most countries do not have the power to initiate legal proceedings or prosecution on the grounds of a complaint. This role is sometimes referred to as a "tribunician" role, and has been traditionally fulfilled by elected representatives – the term refers to the ancient Roman "tribunes of the plebeians" (tribuni plebis), whose role was to intercede in the political process on behalf of common citizens.

The significant advantage of an ombudsman is that they examine complaints from outside the offending state institution, thus avoiding the conflicts of interest inherent in self-policing. However, the ombudsman system relies heavily on the selection of an appropriate individual for the office, and on the cooperation of at least some effective official from within the apparatus of the state. The institution has also been criticized:[by whom?] "Ombudsmen are relics of absolutism, designed to iron out the worst excesses of administrative arbitrariness while keeping the power structures intact."[10]

In organizations edit

Main article: Organizational ombudsman

Many private companies, universities, non-profit organisations, and government agencies also have an ombudsman (or an ombuds office) to serve internal employees, managers and/or other constituencies. These ombudsman roles are structured to function independently, by reporting to the CEO or board of directors, and according to the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) Standards of Practice, they do not have any other role in the organisation. Organisational ombudsmen often receive more complaints than alternative procedures such as anonymous hot-lines.[11]

Since the 1960s, the profession has grown in the United States, and Canada, particularly in corporations, universities, and government agencies. The organizational ombudsman works as a designated neutral party, one who is high-ranking in an organization, but who is not part of executive management. Using an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or appropriate dispute resolution approach, an organisational ombudsman can provide options to whistleblowers or employees and managers with ethical concerns; provide coaching, shuttle diplomacy, generic solutions (meaning a solution which protects the identity of one individual by applying to a class of people, rather than just for the one individual) and mediation for conflicts; track problem areas; and make recommendations for changes to policies or procedures in support of orderly systems change.

In fiction edit

For the Canadian television series, see Ombudsman (TV series).

In the science fiction television series Babylon 5, the arbiters aboard space station Babylon 5 who preside over cases stemming from public complaints are referred to as ombuds (this is both the singular and plural designation), a sometimes used gender-neutral title for an ombudsman. Just as with their modern European counterparts, the ombuds only preside over public cases, including robbery, assault, and murder, and do not interpret law as a regular judiciary does.

Opus the penguin was an ombudsman in the strip Bloom County until he was fired.

John Perry, the protagonist of The Last Colony, written by John Scalzi starts off the novel as an ombudsman for a newly settled human colony.

The webcomic PvP ran a story arc starting at the beginning of March 2009 parodying the comic series and movie Watchmen called The Ombudsmen.

The Fox News parody show, Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, met three times per episode with "TV's Andy Levy, Ombudsman".

Season 9 Episode 4 of the British sitcom Peep Show features a joke in which Jeremy believes the ombudsman to be a single individual.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "ombudsman". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Ombudsman". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  3. ^ (US) and . Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
  4. ^ Mahbubur Rahman, Muhammad (July 2011). BCS Bangladesh Affairs (in Bengali). Vol. I & II. Lion Muhammad Gias Uddin. p. 46 (Vol. II).
  5. ^ Park, S. (2008). "Korean Preaching, Han, and Narrative (American University Studies. Series VII. Theology and Religion)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Pickl, V. (1987). "Islamic Roots of Ombudsman Systems". The Ombudsman Journal.
  7. ^ McKenna Lang, "A Western King and an Ancient Notion: Reflections on the Origins of Ombudsing", Journal of Conflictology. 22 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine http://www.raco.cat/index.php/Conflictology/article/viewArticle/251703/0 http://openaccess.uoc.edu/webapps/o2/handle/10609/12627
  8. ^ a b ombudsmän, Riksdagens. . Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  9. ^ The Public Complaint's Commission (Amendment) Act No. 21 of 1979.
  10. ^ Beyer, Jürgen (2014). "The influence of reading room rules on the quality and efficiency of historical research" (PDF). Svensk tidskrift för bibliografi. 8 (3): 125.
  11. ^ Charles L. Howard, The Organizational Ombudsman: Origins, Roles and Operations, a Legal Guide, ABA, 2010.

External links edit

 
Look up ombudsman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ombudsman.
  • JPGMOnline.com – 'The role of the ombudsman in biomedical journals', Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, Vol 48, No 4, pp 292–296, 2002
  •  – 'EPA Ombudsman Resigns: Accountability in Handling of Superfund Sites Threatened', Project on Government Oversight (22 April 2002)
  •  – 'What is an Ombudsman'
  •  – 'A practical guide to the role of military ombudsman', Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)
  • , Study by the European Centre for Minority Issues
  • SÖP Schlichtungsstelle für den öffentlichen Personenverkehr e.V., Ombudsman Institution of Public Transport in Germany
  • Deflem, Mathieu. 2017. "The Ombuds and Social Control." The Independent Voice, IOA newsletter, May 2017.

International and regional ombudsman associations edit

  • Africa
    • African Ombudsman Research Centre (AORC), 2023-03-28 at the Wayback Machine
  • North America
    • Association of Canadian College and University Ombudspersons (ACCUO)
  • Asia
    • Asian Ombudsman Association (AOA) – "To promote the concepts of Ombudsmanship and to encourage its development in Asia"
  • Australasia
    • Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association (ANZOA)
  • Europe/N.Africa
    • Association of Mediterranean Ombudsmen (AMO)
    • Ombudsman Association (formerly the British and Irish Ombudsman Association, BIOA)
    • European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC)
    • European Network of Ombudsmen in Higher Education (ENOHE), 30 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine – webpage at Universiteit van Amsterdam
    • European Ombudsman Institute (EOI)
  • global
    • International Ombudsman Association (IOA)
    • Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO)

Ombudsman directories edit

  • IOI – International Ombudsman Institute (international directory of ombudsmen)
  • Ombuds Blog includes lists of organizational ombuds offices in corporations, academic, governmental, and other organizations

January 19, 2024
ombudsman, wikimedia, ombuds, ombuds, commission, series, series, ombudsman, also, ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson, public, advocate, official, usually, appointed, government, parliament, often, with, significant, degree, independence, investigate, co. For the Wikimedia Ombuds see m Ombuds commission For the TV series see Ombudsman TV series An ombudsman ˈ ɒ m b ʊ d z m en also US b e d z b ʌ d z 1 2 3 ombud ombuds bud ombudswoman ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament often with a significant degree of independence to investigate complaints and attempt to resolve them usually through recommendations binding or not or mediation Sign in Banjul capital of The Gambia giving directions to the ombudsman s officeOmbudsmen sometimes also aim to identify systemic issues leading to poor service or breaches of people s rights At the national level most ombudsmen have a wide mandate to deal with the entire public sector and sometimes also elements of the private sector for example contracted service providers In some cases there is a more restricted mandate to a certain sector of society More recent developments have included the creation of specialized children s ombudsmen In some countries an inspector general citizen advocate or other official may have duties similar to those of a national ombudsman and may also be appointed by a legislature Below the national level an ombudsman may be appointed by a state local or municipal government Unofficial ombudsmen may be appointed by or even work for a corporation such as a utility supplier newspaper NGO or professional regulatory body In some jurisdictions an ombudsman charged with handling concerns about national government is more formally referred to as the parliamentary commissioner e g the United Kingdom Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Western Australian state Ombudsman In many countries where the ombudsman s responsibility includes protecting human rights the ombudsman is recognized as the national human rights institution The post of ombudsman had by the end of the 20th century been instituted by most governments and by some intergovernmental organizations such as the European Union As of 2005 including national and sub national levels a total of 129 offices of ombudsman have been established around the world 4 Contents 1 Origins and etymology 2 In politics 3 In organizations 4 In fiction 5 See also 6 References 7 External links 7 1 International and regional ombudsman associations 7 2 Ombudsman directoriesOrigins and etymology editA prototype of an ombudsman may have flourished in China during the Qin Dynasty 221 BC and later in Korea during the Joseon Dynasty 5 The position of secret royal inspector or amhaeng eosa 암행어사 暗行御史 was unique to the Joseon Dynasty where an undercover official directly appointed by the king was sent to local provinces to monitor government officials and look after the populace while travelling incognito The Roman Tribune had some similar roles with the power to veto acts that infringed upon the Plebeians Another precursor to the ombudsman was the Diwan al Maẓalim د يو ان ال م ظ ال م which appears to go back to the second caliph Umar 634 644 and the concept of Qaḍi al Quḍat ق اض ي ال ق ض اة 6 They were also attested in Siam India the Liao dynasty Japan and China 7 An indigenous Swedish Norwegian and Danish term ombudsman ombudsmann or ombudsmand is etymologically rooted in the Old Norse word umbodsmadr essentially meaning representative with the word umbud ombud meaning proxy attorney that is someone who is authorized to act for someone else a meaning it still has in the Scandinavian languages In the Danish Law of Jutland from 1241 the term is umbozman and concretely means a royal civil servant in a hundred From 1552 it is also used in other Nordic languages such as the Icelandic and Faroese umbodsmadur the Norwegian ombudsmann ombodsmann and the Swedish ombudsman pronounced ˈɔ mːbʉːdsˌman The general meaning was and is approximately a man representing someone i e a representative or a man with a commission from someone a commissioner The Swedish speaking minority in Finland uses the Swedish terminology The various forms of the suffix mand madur et cetera are just the forms the common Germanic word represented by the English word man have in the various languages Thus the modern plural form ombudsmen of the English borrowed word ombudsman is likely Use of the term in its modern use began in Sweden with the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman instituted by the Instrument of Government of 1809 to safeguard the rights of citizens by establishing a supervisory agency independent of the executive branch The predecessor of the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman was the Office of Supreme Ombudsman Hogste Ombudsmannen which was established by the Swedish King Charles XII in 1713 Charles XII was in exile in Turkey and needed a representative in Sweden to ensure that judges and civil servants acted in accordance with the laws and with their duties If they did not do so the Supreme Ombudsman had the right to prosecute them for negligence In 1719 the Swedish Office of Supreme Ombudsman became the Chancellor of Justice 8 The Parliamentary Ombudsman was established in 1809 by the Swedish Riksdag as a parallel institution to the still present Chancellor of Justice reflecting the concept of separation of powers as developed by Montesquieu 8 The Parliamentary Ombudsman is the institution that the Scandinavian countries subsequently developed into its contemporary form and which subsequently has been adopted in many other parts of the world The word ombudsman and its specific meaning have since been adopted in various languages such as Dutch The German language uses Ombudsmann Ombudsfrau and Ombudsleute Notable exceptions are French Italian Spanish and Finnish which use translations instead Modern variations of this term include ombud ombuds ombudsperson or ombudswoman and the conventional English plural is ombudsmen In Nigeria the ombudsman is known as the Public Complaints Commission or the ombudsman 9 In politics editIn general an ombudsman is a state official appointed to provide a check on government activity in the interests of the citizen and to oversee the investigation of complaints of improper government activity against the citizen If the ombudsman finds a complaint to be substantiated the problem may get rectified or an ombudsman report is published making recommendations for change Further redress depends on the laws of the country concerned but this typically involves financial compensation Ombudsmen in most countries do not have the power to initiate legal proceedings or prosecution on the grounds of a complaint This role is sometimes referred to as a tribunician role and has been traditionally fulfilled by elected representatives the term refers to the ancient Roman tribunes of the plebeians tribuni plebis whose role was to intercede in the political process on behalf of common citizens The significant advantage of an ombudsman is that they examine complaints from outside the offending state institution thus avoiding the conflicts of interest inherent in self policing However the ombudsman system relies heavily on the selection of an appropriate individual for the office and on the cooperation of at least some effective official from within the apparatus of the state The institution has also been criticized by whom Ombudsmen are relics of absolutism designed to iron out the worst excesses of administrative arbitrariness while keeping the power structures intact 10 In organizations editMain article Organizational ombudsman Many private companies universities non profit organisations and government agencies also have an ombudsman or an ombuds office to serve internal employees managers and or other constituencies These ombudsman roles are structured to function independently by reporting to the CEO or board of directors and according to the International Ombudsman Association IOA Standards of Practice they do not have any other role in the organisation Organisational ombudsmen often receive more complaints than alternative procedures such as anonymous hot lines 11 Since the 1960s the profession has grown in the United States and Canada particularly in corporations universities and government agencies The organizational ombudsman works as a designated neutral party one who is high ranking in an organization but who is not part of executive management Using an alternative dispute resolution ADR or appropriate dispute resolution approach an organisational ombudsman can provide options to whistleblowers or employees and managers with ethical concerns provide coaching shuttle diplomacy generic solutions meaning a solution which protects the identity of one individual by applying to a class of people rather than just for the one individual and mediation for conflicts track problem areas and make recommendations for changes to policies or procedures in support of orderly systems change In fiction editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed December 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message For the Canadian television series see Ombudsman TV series In the science fiction television series Babylon 5 the arbiters aboard space station Babylon 5 who preside over cases stemming from public complaints are referred to as ombuds this is both the singular and plural designation a sometimes used gender neutral title for an ombudsman Just as with their modern European counterparts the ombuds only preside over public cases including robbery assault and murder and do not interpret law as a regular judiciary does Opus the penguin was an ombudsman in the strip Bloom County until he was fired John Perry the protagonist of The Last Colony written by John Scalzi starts off the novel as an ombudsman for a newly settled human colony The webcomic PvP ran a story arc starting at the beginning of March 2009 parodying the comic series and movie Watchmen called The Ombudsmen The Fox News parody show Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld met three times per episode with TV s Andy Levy Ombudsman Season 9 Episode 4 of the British sitcom Peep Show features a joke in which Jeremy believes the ombudsman to be a single individual See also editChildren s ombudsman Public authority in charge of children s rights Complaint system Set of procedures used in organizations to address complaints amp resolve disputes Human rights activists Person who acts to protect human rightsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Information commissioner government regulator of freedom of information and protection of personal dataPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions GANHRI coordinates the relationship between national human right institutions and the United Nations human rights system International Ombudsman Institute IOI representing 150 public sector independent ombudsman institutions on the national state regional and local level around the globe Liaison officer Coordinator and communicator between organizations National human rights institution Type of independent state based institutionReferences edit ombudsman The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 5th ed HarperCollins Retrieved 10 May 2019 Ombudsman Collins English Dictionary HarperCollins Retrieved 10 May 2019 ombudsman US and ombudsman Lexico UK English Dictionary Oxford University Press Archived from the original on 22 March 2020 Mahbubur Rahman Muhammad July 2011 BCS Bangladesh Affairs in Bengali Vol I amp II Lion Muhammad Gias Uddin p 46 Vol II Park S 2008 Korean Preaching Han and Narrative American University Studies Series VII Theology and Religion a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Pickl V 1987 Islamic Roots of Ombudsman Systems The Ombudsman Journal McKenna Lang A Western King and an Ancient Notion Reflections on the Origins of Ombudsing Journal of Conflictology Archived 22 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine http www raco cat index php Conflictology article viewArticle 251703 0 http openaccess uoc edu webapps o2 handle 10609 12627 a b ombudsman Riksdagens Historik Archived from the original on 9 October 2007 Retrieved 19 May 2017 The Public Complaint s Commission Amendment Act No 21 of 1979 Beyer Jurgen 2014 The influence of reading room rules on the quality and efficiency of historical research PDF Svensk tidskrift for bibliografi 8 3 125 Charles L Howard The Organizational Ombudsman Origins Roles and Operations a Legal Guide ABA 2010 External links edit nbsp Look up ombudsman in Wiktionary the free dictionary nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ombudsman JPGMOnline com The role of the ombudsman in biomedical journals Journal of Postgraduate Medicine Vol 48 No 4 pp 292 296 2002 POGO org EPA Ombudsman Resigns Accountability in Handling of Superfund Sites Threatened Project on Government Oversight 22 April 2002 Transparency org What is an Ombudsman Ombudsman Institutions for the Armed Forces Handbook A practical guide to the role of military ombudsman Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces DCAF Ombudsman Institutions and Minority Issues Study by the European Centre for Minority Issues SOP Schlichtungsstelle fur den offentlichen Personenverkehr e V Ombudsman Institution of Public Transport in Germany Deflem Mathieu 2017 The Ombuds and Social Control The Independent Voice IOA newsletter May 2017 International and regional ombudsman associations edit Africa African Ombudsman Research Centre AORC Archived 2023 03 28 at the Wayback Machine North America Association of Canadian College and University Ombudspersons ACCUO Asia Asian Ombudsman Association AOA To promote the concepts of Ombudsmanship and to encourage its development in Asia Australasia Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association ANZOA Europe N Africa Association of Mediterranean Ombudsmen AMO Ombudsman Association formerly the British and Irish Ombudsman Association BIOA European Network of Ombudspersons for Children ENOC European Network of Ombudsmen in Higher Education ENOHE Archived 30 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine webpage at Universiteit van Amsterdam European Ombudsman Institute EOI global International Ombudsman Association IOA Organization of News Ombudsmen ONO Ombudsman directories edit IOI International Ombudsman Institute international directory of ombudsmen Ombuds Blog includes lists of organizational ombuds offices in corporations academic governmental and other organizations Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ombudsman amp oldid 1189455983, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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