The Ombudsman : a comparative study

Abstract

In recent years the Scandinavian office of Ombudsman has gained widespread attention in the democratic world as a device for controlling the public Administration. The Ombudsman is an officer of Parliament who investigates complaints from citizens who allege that they have been unfairly dealt with by government Departments. The institution was so successful in its home countries of Sweden and Finland that neighbouring Denmark and Norway adopted it to give more protection to citizens against arbitrary authority. From there it spread to New Zealand, Britain, Australia and Canada. The Ombudsman concept has also been embraced in Western Europe where Administrative Courts are the traditional means for redressing administrative injustice. The Ombudsman is similarly making an impact in the United States. Not only that, but the Ombudsman scheme is being adopted in several developing countries and former colonies. The reason is that the rise of the welfare state in the modern world has resulted in a rapid and bewildering growth of government. This has made necessary new protections against administrative abuse of power. The Ombudsman is a novel and uniquely appropriate institution for dealing with the citizen's complaints about unfair administrative action. It differs from the traditional methods of handling individual grievances and has important advantages over these methods. What is the nature of the original Ombudsman system? Why is it needed elsewhere? Can it be easily transferred? What conclusions may be drawn regarding the adoption of the Ombudsman plan in the British Commonwealth, in Western Europe and in the United States? What advantages does the office have over similar complaint-handling agencies? Finally, does Malta need an Ombudsman? Would an Ombudsman be compatible with our legal system? These are some of the questions to be explored in this thesis. I should like to take this opportunity to thank the Ombudsmen who have supplied me with up-dated legislation and recent Reports on the subject. I would also like to thank Randall E. Ivany, Director of the International Ombudsman Institute, for his support in conducting two surveys on the handling of complaints about the public Administration in Malta. Above all, I should like to thank the Heads of the Departments and the Members of Parliament who have been willing to co-operate in the two surveys: their generosity and their patience is evidence of their belief in the value of the Ombudsman idea and of their dedication to finding a solution to the problems of Administration in Malta.