The year 2021 was intense and full of challenges in Lithuania. The country continued to fight the coronavirus pandemic, while migrant flows from Belarus reached the Lithuanian border at the beginning of the summer. The challenges of managing irregular migration have forced state institutions to consolidate their efforts to address national security and human rights issues.

Roberto Moreno, the officer in charge of justice affairs at the Ararteko’s office and himself an expert in restorative justice, is participating from June 23 to 25 in the biennial conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice. There, he will present a pioneering experience: a restorative circle carried out in 2020 at the Office of the Ararteko, the Ombudsman for the Basque Country.

Despite prisons being inherently challenging environments, it is disturbing that allegations of excessive force against prisoners do not appear to be declining, Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass said. In 2019 and 2020, the Ombudsman began investigating complaints about the unreasonable use of force at the Metropolitan Remand Centre and Metropolitan Assessment Prison. 

Following his official visit to the Republic of Austria, President Field undertook a brief official visit to Paris to meet with the Secretary General of the OECD, Mr Mathias Cormann.

The Federal Ombudsman was established on 3 January 1997. 25 years on, more and more people are calling on them for help. In 2021, they opened 8,202 new files. That is a 9 % increase compared to 2020 and a 20 % increase compared to 2019. That rise was due to the corona crisis which continues to take its toll on the relationship between citizens and the public administrations.

As part of his brief official visit to Paris, IOI President Field met the Australian Ambassador to France, Her Excellency Gillian Bird.

IOI President Chris Field was invited by the IOI General Secretary (SG) Werner Amon to participate in the festivities on the occasion of the Austrian Ombudsman Board’s (AOB) 45th anniversary.

Présenté sous le thème “Ici pour vous”, ce rapport fait état d’un vaste éventail de sujets et de chiffres records : 2 365 dossiers traités, incluant 211 nouvelles enquêtes, dont 40 lancées à notre initiative.