CURACAO | Court Ruling fortifies Office of the Ombudsman

An important ruling of the Civil Court in Curacao from June 18, 2015 has fortified the institution of the Ombudsman of Curaçao and gives a guideline for courts when reviewing the actions of the Ombudsman in general.

The ruling of the Court concerns issues such as:

• the use of information obtained by the Ombudsman from anonymous informants during an ex-Officio investigation against the Plenipotentiary Minister of Curaçao stationed in the Netherlands;
• the scope of the authority of the ombudsman;
• the importance of the ombudsman as an important instrument for legal protection of citizens against the government and to promote proper government in general by the government itself;
• the position of the ombudsman [appointed by Parliament, with a view to safeguarding her autonomous functioning] as High Council of State with the responsibility to assess with authority whether and when any behavior of administrative bodies is improper;
• the degree of discretion of the Ombudsman and
• the restraint of the civil court when requested to review the ombudsman's actions.

For further interest, you can download the entire judgement from below.

Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Curacao