Mr Juris Jansons, whose term as the present Ombudsman of the Republic of Latvia will expire on 16 March 2016 has been re-elected as Latvian Ombudsman for another term of five years.

In March 2016, Western Australian Ombudsman, Chris Field, gave a presentation on The Role of the Western Australian Ombudsman at the Legal Aid WA Summer Series Civil Law Day.

Members of the IOI’s Australasian & Pacific Region (APOR) will be meeting in Melbourne on 3 May 2016 at a one-day conference themed “Building Relationships, Meeting Global Challenges”. Commonwealth Ombudsman Colin Neave is delighted to announce that IOI President Adv. John R. Walters will be attending this meeting in Melbourne, Australia.

The Victorian Ombudsman has commenced an ‘own motion’ investigation into the transparency of local government decision making, reflecting a pattern of complaints to the Ombudsman on this issue.

A man complained to Ombudsman Peter Tyndall after the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine sought to recover a grant of over €25,000 from him following flooding of his land in Kerry. The man had received a grant under the Department’s Afforestation Scheme to establish a forest on his land. However the forest had been destroyed following severe flooding in 2009.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's latest snapshot of cases it has investigated includes cases about grieving parents and partners not being given answers as to why their loved ones died and mistakes not being admitted, which means that much needed service improvements are being delayed. The latest snapshot of cases published today details how one family was forced to bring their complaint to the Ombudsman service, after their nine-year-old son died of sepsis after he was wrongly discharged from hospital.

 

The Defensor del Pueblo Annual Report 2015 presented before the Parliament reflects the changes in the manner of operation of this institution, as well as in the work itself. The principle intent of these changes has been to establish a better relationship with citizens based on their right to know the actions and reasons of public administration, and of all public institutions and affairs that affect or interest them.

 

In February 2016, Western Australian Ombudsman and Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Western Australia, Chris Field was a lead presenter in the University of Western Australia Faculty of Law short course Government Accountability: Law and Practice.