THE OMBUDSMAN, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM

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1 THE OMBUDSMAN, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM

2 International Studies in Human Rights VOLUME 79 The Titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.

3 The Ombudsman, Good Govemance and the International Human Rights System by LINDA C. REIF SPRINGER-SCffiNCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.

4 A C.I.P. Catalogue record of this book is available from the Library of Congress. Parts of Chapters, I, 3-8 and 12 are from L.C. Reif, "Building Democratic Institutions: The RoJe of National Human Rights Institutions in Good Govemance and Human Rights Protection" (2000) 13 Harvard Human Rights Journal with permission (2000) by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and The Harvard Human Rights Journal. Printed on acid-free paper. ISBN DOI / ISBN (ebook) Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2004 Originally published by Koninklijke Brill Nv, Leiden, The Netherlandas in 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for intemal or personal use is granted by Brill Academic Publishers provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.

5 CONTENTS Dedication vii Acknowledgments... ix Chapter One Introduction.... Chapter Two Variations on the Ombudsman Concept Chapter Three The Ombudsman: Democratic Accountability and Good Governance 55 Chapter Four The Ombudsman: Domestic Protection and Promotion of International Human Rights Chapter Five The Ombudsman, Good Governance and Human Rights in Europe Chapter Six The Ombudsman, Good Governance and Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean Chapter Seven The Ombudsman, Good Governance and Human Rights in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Region Chapter Eight Post-Conflict Peace-Building: Establishment of the Human Rights Ombudsman Chapter Nine The Ombudsman for Children: Human Rights Protection and Promotion Chapter Ten The Ombudsman in the International Organization System: Small Steps Chapter Eleven The European Ombudsman: Good Governance, Human Rights and the European Union Chapter Twelve Conclusion Index

6 To Carl Ley, M.D.

7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My interest in the intersections between the ombudsman and human rights protection dates back to 1990 when, during a secondment as lawyer to the Office of the Ombudsman of Alberta, I discovered that human rights issues arose in the work of a classical ombudsman. The explosion in the number of human rights ombudsman institutions since that time added another dimension to the theme. As a result, my research and writing interests increasingly addressed issues relating to the ombudsman and human rights protection, culminating in this book. I wish to thank the University of Alberta for the financial assistance it provided through the EFF Support for the Advancement of Schalarship Small Faculties research grant and travel grant programs which enabled me to undertake and present the foundational research leading to this book, and for the award of a McCalla Research Professorship which provided me with teaching relief for the 2002 to 2003 academic year. I am also very grateful to the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta for its support, and to the law librarians at the Weir Law Library who have been of great assistance over the years it has taken me to complete this book. I have also learned much about the ombudsman system from my years as Editor of Publications of the International Ombudsman Institute. I must emphasize, however, that this book is written in my personal capacity and does not represent in any manner the views of the International Ombudsman Institute. For the most part I have tried to provide information current to mid However, in a few cases some of the information on ombudsman institutionswas available only for 2001 or I am very grateful to the ombudsmen who have invited me to visit, conduct research and talk about my work over the past seven years, and I also wish to thank the staff of these ombudsman offices. In particular, I would like to thank Mr. Jacob Söderman, former European Ombudsman; the staff of the European Ombudsman office; Dr. Nikiforos Diamandouros, former Ombudsman of Greece and currently European Ombudsman; the staff of the Greek Ombudsman office; Mr. Enrique Mugica, Defensor del Pueblo of Spain; the staff of Spain's Defensoria del Pueblo; Mr. Jose Chamizo, Defensor del Pueblo of Andalusia, Spain; the staff of the Defensoria del Pueblo of Andalusia; Mr. Anton Caiiellas, Sindic de Greuges of Catalonia, Spain; the staff in the Sindic's office; Dr. Jorge Luis Maiorano, former Defensor del Pueblo of Argentina; and the staff of Argentina's Defensoria del Pueblo. Thanks also go to the ombudsmen and staff of the various international organizations who provided me with documentation on their ombudsman mechanisms. I greatly appreciate the wonderful hospitality ofthe Faculty oflaw at the University of Granada, Spain where I spent my study leave in 2001 engaged in writing this book.

8 X ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I especially wish to thank Professor Francisco Bossini of the Faculty of Law, University of Granada for his invaluable collegiality and assistance. Thanks also to Professor Koshi Yamazaki, Faculty of Law, Niigata University, for our conversation on the national human rights institution situation in Japan. I also wish to thank the student assistants who have provided research support over a number of years, who by now are embarking upon their own academic and professianal careers: Barbara von Tigerstrom, Remegius Chibueze, Emeka Duruigbo and Katherine Lopez-Ley. I am particularly indebted to Barbara von Tigerstrom, Faculty oflaw, University of Canterbury, New Zealand for reading parts of the manuscript and giving me valuable comments. 1t would not have been possible to complete this book without the love and support of my family. My parents, Zygmunt and Dorothy Reif, have always been a source of encouragement. Many thanks to Chris, Ryan, Robin, Cory, Kate and Jaime for all their interest and support. Finally, I want to express my deep appreciation to my busband Carl Ley, for bis constant encouragement, patience and good humour during the writing of this book. Linda C. Reif