BackThe Institution presented before the Mixed Committee for Relations with the Office of the Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo) a report on operations in the first five months of the year; the National Prevent Mechanism (NMP) annual report and two case studies.
It also presented the new website of the Defensor del Pueblo, which aims to share its work with and make it more understandable to the general public.
Report on operations
In the first five months of the year, the Defensor del Pueblo made 537 recommendations and suggestions. The acceptance rate is 76 percent. The Institution also began 198 own-initiative inquiries and dealt with 8,499 complaints.
Of particular note among the own-initiative inquiries are those concerning financial matters, such as the one launched on transparency in the sale of financial products; or town planning, such as access by the SAREB (bank restructuring asset-management company) to the Social Fund Agreement on housing, to make more public housing available to the general public. The most noteworthy complaints raise health-related matters, such as access to certain vaccines, and education-related issues, such as admission to university by people with a disability.
To provide the public with a better service, the Institution has endeavoured to reduce the average time it takes to reply to people and to the government departments. In this respect, the Defensor del Pueblo now takes 32 days on average to reply to members of the public, i.e. half as long as in 2012, when it took 64 days to reply.
NMP Annual Report 2014
In its capacity as the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (NPM), the Defensor del Pueblo made 204 resolutions (84 recommendations, 114 suggestions and gave 6 reminders of legal duties) in 2014. The Administration accepted 148, i.e. 72.5 percent of them.
Among the improvements detected, the Office noted that videosurveillance systems are being installed in detention centres. It also noted that the recommendations made in the study on “Reports of injuries among detainees” are being applied.
Study on “Listening to child victims or witnesses”
The “Listening to child victims or witnesses” study analyses the legal position of minors and their right to be listened to at three key moments in criminal proceedings: the police HQ, pre-constitution of evidence and the oral proceedings.
The Defensor del Pueblo makes recommendations for government departments to comply with the new Statute of the Victim as regards listening to child victims or witnesses. It also proposes measures for helping to bring about environments that soften, as far as possible, the emotional impact that children suffer when they have to make a statement or give evidence.
Study on “The situation of Spanish prisoners abroad”
The study “The situation of Spanish prisoners abroad” analyses 224 complaints received by the Institution over the last two years. It contains recommendations for improving the situation that the prisoners are in, facilitating the task of the consulates and above all speeding up procedures that enable sentences to be served in Spain.
The complaints, which are sent in by the prisoners themselves, their relatives or non-governmental organisations, relate to prisons in 27 countries, although the report looks into the situation of nine in detail.
Source: Defensor del Pueblo, Spain
