At the request of Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland, Petri Jääskeläinen, two officials from the Office of the Ombudsman of Finland performed unannounced inspections at the polling stations of eight municipalities in the region of Southern Finland during the European election day on 26 May. The purpose of the inspections was to determine the accessibility of polling stations, the possibilities for inclusion of persons with disabilities, and the realisation of the secrecy of the polls. One of the official conducting the inspection used a wheelchair.

 

A new report about National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and their work on migrants’ human rights has been produced by the German Institute for Human Rights on behalf of GANHRI, the Global Alliance of NHRIs. The report highlights examples of NHRIs’ work to promote and protect migrants’ rights, including several practices from Europe.

The Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman, Jørgen Steen Sørensen, has just published the institution´s Annual Report 2018 and as every year the Ombudsman has given many talks on the institution´s work. The talks usually give rise to discussions and questions, mostly about cases the Ombudsman has investigated. But also many questions on what it is really like to be Ombudsman.

 

The Ombudsman of Montréal (OdM), Johanne Savard, filed the 15th Annual Report (2018) of their institution. This report includes statistical and general information on the activities of the Ombudsman, examples of files that were handled as well as information on the role and mandate of the office of the Ombudsman. Part 4 of the report is particularly interesting: it provides an overview of all the 2018 OdM interventions for each entity over which the Ombudsman has jurisdiction.

La Procuración Penitenciaria de la Nación de Argentina publica el Boletín Estadístico Nº14 correspondiente al primer trimestre de 2019. Allí se encuentran datos relacionados a los fenómenos estructurales del sistema carcelario en Argentina.

Continuously with its constitutional powers, the Control Yuan (CY) has maintained its independent and impartial position and been meticulous in its approach to bringing overall improvement to government, protecting human rights, and promoting good governance. CY recently published the 2018 Annual Report with explanation of its achievements and performance.

Nova Scotia's highest court has reaffirmed the power of the provincial ombudsman's office to investigate allegations against government departments and agencies. In a decision, the Appeal Court ruled the Ombudsman's office has the authority to receive unredacted records from the Department of Health and Wellness, after the province had objected to releasing the documents in full.

On April 5th, a public hearing on the “National Human Rights agenda: UN Universal Periodic Review” was held in the National Assembly of Armenia with the participation of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and civil society organizations, representatives of public authorities, media, diplomatic missions and international organizations.