YOU HAVE a choice as regards who you can appeal to for redress when you have been wronged by the state authorities: you can either move legally or appeal to the office of the Ombudsman.
At a talk given yesterday, in the presence of Ombudswoman Eliana Nicolaou, EU Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros argued it was high time that the wronged citizens of Cyprus and of Europe realised they had a choice in the liberal democracies they inhabit: a choice as regards who to appeal to for redress.
“You have a twin citizenship: you are a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus and of the European Union,” exclaimed Professor Diamandouros.
The choice involves a trade off:
“On the one hand, courts will cost you time and money, but will render a decision which is committing and final upon all parties.
“On the other hand, should you choose to go to the Ombudsman, then the procedure will not cost you any time and money, but there is no guarantee that the decision will come into effect,” Diamandouros attested.
As EU Ombudsman, the Greek academic can investigate cases which concern bad management practices by state authorities, such as unequal treatment and abuse of power.
“‘Ombudsman’ is a Swedish term,” he explained.
“The first Ombudsman was appointed in 1809 in Sweden and was a watchdog of the courts.”
Although he admitted that social justice and democracy did not always co-exist in harmony, Diamandouros did say that, “the Ombudsman’s role can function to its full potential when this co-existence materialises.”
He also had something specific to say about what he called, “post-Ottoman societies”, such as Cyprus and Greece:
“It is very often the case that social justice is not highly rated in these societies, while public authority is often personified as well.”
This means that the Ombudsman’s office has a lot more work to do in informing the public of their rights.
People have to realise that, “our institution is an alternative mechanism through which the citizens can secure their rights.”
“National and regional Ombudsmen contribute to informing the public of their rights and how they can pursue these.”
Ombudswoman Nicolaou agreed with the EU official: “Our most vital task is to inform the citizens,” she said.
Ombudsmen stand and fall on their moral integrity and their ability to persuade.
“Failing persuasion, all that we can do is expose wrongdoings and raise the stakes for authorities if these were to be made public.”
“If it were the case that the public authorities did not comply with the Ombudsman’s suggestions, then the only recourse for the aggrieved is to go to Court.”
“We occupy the moral high ground and this makes our work indirect in nature; for example, we expose wrongs to public judgement and then these may be righted.”
Therefore, Ombudsmen are not all-powerful and should not be perceived as a panacea by the public:
“We cannot intervene when legal proceedings are already under way, or when the courts have taken a decision on the matter we are asked to investigate,” he said.
“This is a general rule which applies to our institution, but variations of the theme can be found in Finland, Sweden and France.”
Diamandouros highlighted the need for a climate of constant co-operation between both national and regional Ombudsmen with public authorities, concluding that,
“there is no sense of a hierarchy between the office of the Ombudsman and the government.”
n The EU Ombudsman can be contacted at his Strasbourg office via phone on 00-33-88172313 or via e-mail at [email protected]
