In the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE in Moscow, in October 1991, “the participating States recognized their common interest in promoting contacts and exchange of information amongst Ombudsman and other institutions entrusted with similar functions of investigating individual complaints of citizens against public authorities” (Article 29).

In 1991 the First International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was held in Paris. Its conclusions have been called the Paris Principles. They affirm that national institutions are to have competence to promote and protect human rights with as broad a mandate as possible set out clearly in a constitution or legislative act. Under the Paris Principles, a national institution shall comment on human rights matters to government, parliament and any other competent body; promote conformity of laws and practices with international standards; encourage implementation of international standards; contribute to international human rights reports; increase public awareness of human rights; and co-operate with other human rights institutions.

The Principles also recognized that national institutions in some countries have the mandate to receive and act on complaints of human rights violations. An Ombudsman conference on non-judicial mechanisms for protection of the fundamental rights of persons in the CSCE countries held in Madrid in May 1992 described the characteristics of an Ombudsman institution. The group said the Ombudsman should be a parliamentary office offering free services for people with complaints. It should be completely independent, its recommendations treated with the greatest respect, and no area of public administration should be outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. The conference also agreed that the Ombudsman should be provided with sufficient resources to fulfill all duties, deal with every complaint and be well-known so complainants will know where to turn for help.

The OSCE approach is in line with other Intergovernmental Organizations’ stance on the issue. The UN World Conference on Human Rights adopted the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, in 1993, which reconfirmed “the important and constructive role played by national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, in particular in their advisory capacity to the competent authorities, their role in remedying human rights violations, in the dissemination of human rights information, and education in human rights” and encouraged “the establishment and strengthening of national institutions” (Article 36), recommended “that priority be given to national and international action to promote democracy and human rights” and “that special emphasis should be given to measures to assist in the strengthening and building of institutions relating to human rights . . . ” (Articles 66 and 67).

In October 1998 OSCE organized a “Human Dimension Implementation Meeting”, where the main topic was the institution of Ombudsmen. In the document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference of the Human Dimension of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (1990) the participating States affirmed that they “will . . . facilitate the establishment and strengthening of independent national institutions in the area of Human Rights and the Rule of Law.”

Since the adoption of the Paris Principles, and the OSCE decisions mentioned above, the majority of the OSCE participating States have created national or state Ombudsman and human rights protection institutions as democratic ways to promote and protect human rights, and they were often supported by OSCE and other international organizations and bilateral donor nations.

One of the first steps in creating an Ombudsman or human rights institution is educating the country’s leadership about what these institutions are, what they do, how they are organized, and what kind of support they need. That is most frequently done at a roundtable to which are invited leaders in government, courts, parliament, human rights experts, NGOs, the mass media, etc. International participants are invited from Ombudsman and human rights protection institutions to discuss different aspects of the purpose, structure, work, and organization of Ombudsman and human rights protection institutions.

The next stage is to draft legislation. Frequently a consultant who is expert in the laws creating such institutions is contracted by an international organization to assist national experts in this work. If that is not done, international organizations will engage one or more consultants to comment on the draft law.

Once a law is passed, the person or persons to head the institution are selected. International organizations will often offer study tours to other countries for the new head of the institution to meet with peers and learn first hand how offices operate, function, are staffed and organized.

Once the head of the institution is chosen, one or more of the international organizations may develop a project for assistance to the new institution, gather agreement from the government on the project and begin to seek funds from donor governments or agencies. Projects exist in a number of countries.

ODIHR has several activities in support of Ombudsman and human rights protection institutions, like seminars and meetings; some of them conducted together with other international organizations or with the support of bilateral donor nations.

Analysis provided by: Antonella C. Attardo PhD (History of Law), Italy.