On 15 March 2019, the “Principles on the Protection and Promotion of the Ombudsman Institution”, (“The Venice Principles”) were adopted by the Venice Commission. The Venice Commission is the Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law providing legal advice to its Member States.  

Los miembros del Yuan de Control (YC) prestando atención a la seguridad de los conductores mayores, llevó a cabo una investigación en la que descubrió que el proyecto de atención a los conductores mayores, elaborado por el Ministerio de Transporte y Comunicaciones, solamente se aplicaba a aquellas personas que cambiaban la licencia de conducir con 75 años.

Le 20 mars 2019, comme chaque année, 300 millions de francophones répartis sur les 5 continents fêtent leur langue en partage et leur diversité, à l’occasion de la Journée internationale de la Francophonie. L’Association des Ombudsmans et Médiateurs de la Francophonie (AOMF) est l’un des réseaux institutionnels membre de l’OIF. Elle a fêté ses 20 ans d’existence le 20 mai 2018.

The Defender inquired into a complaint where the complainant alleged that his employer was discriminating against employees because of their age. Allegedly, employees over 65 years of age were being offered less favourable contracts as concerned their term, number of working hours and sources of funding.

On Wednesday 13 March IOI President and Irish Ombudsman Peter Tyndall published a report on his Office’s experience of dealing with complaints from refugees and asylum seekers living in direct provision centres in 2018.

The Annual Report 2017-2018 covers the period from 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2018. The report has been published in a new web form and it includes information on children's rights, inspection visits, local authorities, equal treatment, courts and many other topics.

Polish Commissioner for Human Rights discovered alarming case of deprivation of liberty in psychiatric facility during one of his preventive visits. A citizen was placed in the mental hospital for stealing a bike. This happened 10 years ago by a court decision that was based on the opinion of a psychologist who had not even examined the patient.

A high-level conference on the topic of “Impacts of artificial intelligence development on human rights, democracy and the rule of law” was held from February 26-27, 2019, in Helsinki, Finland. The conference was organized by the Finnish government and Council of Europe (CoE) within the framework of the Finnish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.