Who is the ombudsman and what is included in his function

People who are far from legislation and politics do not know who the ombudsman is and what his functions are. The majority of citizens, by their ignorance, do not even suspect that by contacting this official, it is possible to resolve a number of issues that are difficult to resolve with other bodies (prosecutor's office, court, etc.).

Who is the Ombudsman?

The Ombudsman is an official or an official appointed to this position to control the activities of ministries, departments and other government bodies. He acts both on complaints of citizens and on his own initiative and is guided not only by legislation, but also by justice.

For example, the Ombudsman in Russia is the Ombudsman for Human Rights. In principle, in any country where such a position is envisaged, the ombudsman can decide on issues relating to the failure to fulfill his duties or the abuse of his powers by officials, resulting in disputes between the citizen and the authorities.

The history of the emergence of the post "ombudsman"

According to the history, for the first time the meaning "ombudsman" (words) was deciphered in the XVI century in Sweden. The official holding this post supervised the work of the court: Transparency of court hearings, and fairness of sentencing. After the defeat of the Swedes near Poltava, the ombudsman's competence was significantly expanded. In view of the fact that King Carl Xll of Sweden stayed in Turkey for a long time, the management system fell into decay and demanded capital adjustment. An official (Royal Ombudsman of Justice) was appointed to the position of ombudsman, who supervised the activities of government officials. The second ombudsman, whose role was to control the royal administration and the judiciary, was promoted to the Chancellor of Justice. In 1809, Sweden introduced the institution of the Ombudsman of Justice, which was separated from that which was subordinated to the King.

Thus, the chancellor stood for the protection of the king, and the parliamentary ombudsman - to protect the interests of the peasants and workers. To date, the meaning of the word "ombudsman" knows the population of such countries as Denmark, Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Great Britain, France, South Africa and so on.

Who can contact the Ombudsman?

The Ombudsman for Human Rights examines complaints from private individuals who are citizens of the country, foreign citizens, stateless persons who have a residence permit or are simply located in the territory of the state. Complaints are received from people who have previously been tried by the court or administrative authorities, but do not agree with the decision Or noticed any violations, were discriminated against, dissatisfied with total inaction.

The main tasks of the Commissioner for Human Rights

The main tasks of the Ombudsman, regardless of the country in which he holds his office:

• Restoration of justice and rights that have been violated.
• Conducting activities aimed at the development of international relations in the field of human rights.
• Educating citizens about their rights.
• Improvement of the country's legal legislation regarding citizens.
• Control over the work of state structures.

Institute of the Ombudsman in Russia

For the first time, the post of human rights commissioner in Russia appeared in 1994. The first Russian ombudsman, Sergei Kovalev, was appointed by the State Duma. In 1998-2004, this position was occupied by O. Mironov, and since 2004 - V. Lukin. In Russia, there is a law "On the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation", on the basis of which these specialists fulfill their duties.

What does the ombudsman mean for Russians? In short, it is an intermediary between the victim Party (citizen) and officials who protect the rights and interests of citizens. But his activities are not limited to the mere consideration of complaints or statements. The Ombudsman, on his own initiative, conducts an investigation, collecting information on gross violations or complete inactivity of some bodies.

Powers of the Ombudsman for Human Rights in Russia

The Ombudsman in Russia, which deals with the protection of the rights of citizens, has a number of powers:

• It protects the rights of citizens, and also monitors their observance by state bodies and officials.
• He makes a report to the State Duma with a request to organize a parliamentary commission to investigate the facts of a mass violation of the rights of citizens.
• In case of revealing the facts of the violation, the petition for instituting criminal proceedings or administrative proceedings concerning the official (s) person (s) is filed.
• It applies with a petition for verifying the correctness of the decision (decision or sentence) passed by the court that came into force.
• Appeals to the court with a request to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens who were violated by illegal actions or inaction of government agencies or an official.
• Appeals to the Constitutional Court concerning violations of the constitutional rights of citizens.

Financial Ombudsman

Who is the financial ombudsman? This is an official who helps to resolve a number of contentious issues that arose between a citizen and a bank. This may be the question of returning money to credit cards, unjustifiably inflated fines and penalties on long-term loans, re-issuing a loan from a foreign currency to a national one. Also, financial ombudsmen decide questions about illegal actions of collection offices and their employees.

But the most frequent complaints are regarding the refusal of banks to restructure the loan. This is due to the increase in the amount of debt, together with fines and penalties, which as a result is practically impossible to pay. The task of the ombudsman is to negotiate with the bank and convince him to make concessions in the form of a partial lifting of sanctions, provided that the remaining amount is paid on an agreed schedule.

Insurance Ombudsman

Equally important is the intervention of the ombudsman (who is the ombudsman we discussed above) in the insurance sector. Some insurance companies violate the terms of the contract, if the amount of insurance is insignificant, hoping that the client will not begin legal red tape. Insurance ombudsmen work practically in all countries where this post is provided. For example, European insurance companies treat them with respect, as the powers of these officials are quite broad, and they have enough rights. Moreover, it is not profitable for European companies to save on non-payment of insurance, as they are paid for by the ombudsman, not by policyholders.

The ombudsman institution in Germany is also well developed. The only downside of the system is that only members of insurance organizations can use the services of officials, and when the case is transferred to the prosecutor's office, the effect of the ombudsman on the outcome of the case is completed.

Ombudsman for Businessmen

Ombudsman of entrepreneurs as a separate independent post appeared not so long ago. The list of his duties includes:

• Submission of statements of claim aimed at protecting the rights of entrepreneurs.
• Performance of functions of the defender in court on affairs of businessmen.
• Registration and filing of requests to the authorities at the state and local level on business affairs.
• Visits and consultations of suspected or convicted citizens whose business is related to business.

Features of the institution of ombudspersons for the protection of the rights of the population

Based on the experience of European countries, it becomes clear that, by recourse to the ombudsman, a number of minor conflicts can be resolved. But there are also disadvantages in this system. For example, the decision taken by the Ombudsman of Ukraine for two years is voluntary for insurance and credit organizations. And only after this time it becomes mandatory for execution. Also, the Ombudsman can not consider disputable issues that have been referred to the court or for which an arbitration award has already been made. The advantages of the system is that consumers no longer need to go to courts and spend their time (and money on lawyers).

Children's Ombudsman

Children's ombudsmen stand for the protection of the rights of underage citizens of the country. Their duties include:

• Protection and restoration of the rights of the child.
• Consultation, education, education of children regarding their rights.
• Work with federal bodies, local and state authorities on request and obtain the necessary information or documents.
• Visiting organizations and authorities for obtaining explanations, checking their activities related to the rights and freedoms of children.
• Preparation and referral to relevant bodies of recommendations for improving their work on the observance of the rights of the child.
• Involvement of specialists for carrying out analytical work that deals with the protection of children's rights.

In some countries, the post of school ombudsman is provided. It assists all participants of the educational process: children, teachers and parents. Anyone who believes that there are violations of the rights of students in the learning process can apply to it. This may be a misunderstanding between the teacher (school administration, class teacher) and schoolchildren, as well as the need for consultation on the rights of the child within the school, clarification of organizational issues, hygiene norms, regulations, etc. Also, applying to the Ombudsman, you can make your suggestions for improving the educational process and institution. The Ombudsman works in the following areas:

• Active participation in the School Council, whose goal is to improve the work of government bodies.
• Work aimed at preventing harmful habits of schoolchildren.
• Control over observance of all rights and freedoms of students.
• Work with parents and parents' committee, aimed at improving relations in the family.
• Psychological and legal support of school staff, aimed at preventing emotional burnout.

How this system works

Regardless of the direction in which the Ombudsman works, the scheme of his actions is almost standard. As mentioned above, he works on the basis of a complaint received from a private person or on his own initiative. The ombudsman can not disassemble the case, which is submitted to the court. For the period of consideration of the disputable issue by the Ombudsman, the applicant undertakes not to surrender the case to the court.

Before applying to this specialist, a citizen must write a complaint to the bank or insurance company in writing and wait for a reply within 30 days. The complaint sent to the Ombudsman must be formalized in the form of an application with attached copies of the documents (contracts, correspondence, receipts, etc.). The expert considers disputes concerning the financial institutions that joined the institute. However, the decision made by him is not appealed.

But to credit organizations, the ombudsman can send proposals for settling disputes or send an appeal to the court. The result of the consideration of disputes is a conciliatory agreement signed by the parties, or a resolution authorizing them.