BackOn 22 June 2011, the Council of Ministers appointed Mr Dominique Baudis for a period of six years to the post of Défenseur des droits (Defender of Rights) of France.
The Defender of Rights is the new Ombudsman institution in France, which replaces not only the Médiateur de la République (Mediator of the Republic), but also the Défenseur des enfants (Defender of Children), the Haute autorité de lutte contre les discriminations et pour l'égalité (the High Authority against Discrimination and for Equality), and the Commission nationale de déontologie de la sécurité (National Commission on the Ethics of Security). The four institutions have thus been merged into one.
Mr Baudis was previously a radio and television journalist, Mayor of Toulouse, Member of the European Parliament, President of France's Audiovisual Council, President of the Institute of the Arab World, and Member of the Cultural Council of the Mediterranean Union.
Source: http://www.defenseurdesdroits.fr
