The ombudsman

The ombudsman is a part of the system of administrative law for scrutinizing the work of the executive. He is the appointee not of the executive but of the legislature. The ombudsman enjoys a large measure of independence and personal responsibility and is primarily a guardian of correct behaviour. His function is to safeguard the interests of citizens by ensuring administration according to law, discovering instances of maladministration, and eliminating defects in administration. Methods of enforcement include bringing pressure to bear on the responsible authority, publicizing a refusal to rectify injustice or a defective administrative practice, bringing the matter to the attention of the legislature, and instigating a criminal prosecution or disciplinary action.

When Sweden created the office of ombudsman in the constitution of 1809, the holder of that office was occupied with civil affairs and was appointed by the legislature. He was independent of both executive and judiciary and had full powers to inquire into the details of any administrative or executive act and into certain judicial activities if reported to him by individuals as an abuse of rights. He had effective authority to prosecute civil servants and other public officials—including, on occasion, ministers themselves.

The Swedish ombudsman’s responsibility now comprises civil affairs, including the judicature, the police, prisons, and the public administration, both central and local, but excluding ministers and the monarch. He can act as a public prosecutor (although he does not often do so); as a receiver of complaints from aggrieved citizens; or as an inspector of such institutions as jails, mental hospitals, homes for delinquent children, and retreats for alcoholics to discover if they are being administered in accordance with the law.

The institution of ombudsman was first adopted in other Scandinavian countries and then—especially from the 1960s—in many countries throughout the world, including New Zealand (1962), the United Kingdom (1967), Israel (1971), Portugal (1976), the Netherlands (1981), and Spain (1981). Australia, the United States, and Canada have ombudsmen at the state or provincial level, and in the United States several cities have municipal ombudsmen. In Britain there is an ombudsman to investigate complaints against local government, the National Health Service, and administration in Northern Ireland, in addition to the ombudsman operating at the national level. Some specialized ombudsmen have been appointed in the United States to safeguard the rights of prisoners to medical treatment. In Israel the police have an office of public complaints, and there is a military ombudsman; there is also a state controller, who issues annual reports on executive procedures.

There is no doubt about the value of the ombudsman in the states in which the institution has been established. Part of the ombudsman’s usefulness lies in his ability to reassure citizens who believe they have been unjustly treated that careful inquiry into their complaints shows their suspicions to be groundless. In most countries the ombudsman has little positive power other than the right to inspect and to demand the fullest information. He may, however, recommend a particular interpretation of, or a particular modification of, the law. He can also recommend that the government pay compensation to a complainant.

Administrative procedure

An orderly procedure, besides being efficient, allows responsibility to be fixed on a particular officer or body at each stage of the administrative process. It can safeguard the rights of citizens and protect the executive against the criticism of having acted in an arbitrary manner. It can ensure regularity and consistency in the handling of individual cases. Much depends, however, on the quality and purpose of the procedural requirements. Most countries possess only an uncodified mass of administrative law prescribing procedure. Much of it is to be found in the laws and regulations governing particular functions of government, such as taxation, public health, education, and town planning.

Rules of administrative procedure cover such matters as the setting of administrative machinery in motion; methods for lodging appeals; the rights of interested persons; the time limits that must be observed; the conditions to be satisfied by objectors; and the right of legal representation. The leading treatise on U.S. administrative law devotes many chapters to such procedural topics as rule making, requirement of opportunity to cross-examine and rebut, adjudication procedure, examiners, bias, evidence, official notice, findings, reasons, and opinions.

Some countries have a general code of administrative procedure embodied in legislation. Among them are Austria, Poland, Spain, and the United States.

In common-law systems, the doctrine of natural justice influences administrative procedure in two ways: (1) that a person may not be judge of his own cause, and (2) that a person shall not be dealt with to his material disadvantage, whether of person or property, or removed from or disqualified for office, without being given adequate notice of what is alleged against him and an opportunity to defend himself.

An indirect result of the second principle is the public hearing, widely used by government departments (and in the United States by regulatory commissions) in deciding matters involving individual or corporate rights. In the United Kingdom a public inquiry is now a common means of handling appeals to the Department of the Environment against the decisions of local authorities in such matters as planning applications and compulsory purchase of land.

In 1957 the Franks Committee was appointed by the British lord chancellor to study administrative tribunals and such procedures as the holding of a public inquiry. The committee declared that the work of administrative tribunals and of public inquiries should be characterized by openness, fairness, and impartiality, and their report applied these aims in great detail. The recommendations of the committee were largely accepted and resulted in the Tribunals and Enquiries Act of 1958.