The Commissioner for Human Rights has asked the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for information on the progress of work on a draft law implementing the requirements of the European Media Freedom Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1083 of the European Parliament and of the Council). The Act will apply from 8 August 2025, but some of its provisions require the adoption of national regulations, without which its effectiveness would remain significantly limited.

Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights Stanisław Trociuk recalled that, according to the Ministry’s announcements, the draft law was expected to be included in the List of Legislative Works in mid-2025. He therefore inquired about the current stage of the legislative process.
This work concerns key issues previously raised in the CHR’s interventions, including the procedure for appointing management and supervisory boards of public radio and television companies, regulation of market concentration in the media sector, and the prohibition on publishing newspapers by local government units. Statutory regulation of these matters will be of fundamental importance in guaranteeing citizens’ enjoyment of their rights and freedoms, with particular emphasis on freedom of expression and the right to receive and impart information under Article 54(1) of the Polish Constitution. The strong interest expressed by civil society organisations during public consultations further demonstrates the need for efficient progress in implementing the Regulation.
The Ministry has informed that the draft law is currently under consideration by the Government Work Programming Team and will subsequently be submitted for public consultation. It stressed that the planned reform is intended to ensure stable funding for public media, strengthen the independence of the National Broadcasting Council, safeguard the autonomy of public broadcasting companies’ governing bodies, and introduce rules on media market concentration and a ban on newspaper publishing by local governments.
https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/rpo-europejski-akt-wolnosci-mediow-mkidn

La institución Defensor del Pueblo recogió en su Informe 2023 una actuación, implementada en 2022, en la que se emite un recordatorio de deberes legales para instar a las administraciones a mejorar y reforzar las medidas de prevención y de coordinación en la lucha contra los incendios forestales, ante el escenario de constante incremento del número y gravedad de los incendios, como consecuencia, entre otras causas, del cambio climático.

Tras concluir una veintena de actuaciones de oficio con las consejerías competentes de todas las comunidades autónomas, las diputaciones forales, las dos ciudades autónomas y la Secretaría de Estado de Medio Ambiente, dirigió un recordatorio de deberes legales en los que incidió en la necesidad de aplicar políticas destinadas a favorecer la gestión forestal sostenible, la resiliencia de los montes frente al fuego y una correcta ordenación de los usos del suelo. Además, instó a intensificar la coordinación administrativa y la coherencia entre las políticas públicas relacionadas.

Según trasladó entonces el Defensor del Pueblo a las administraciones, “el incremento de las temperaturas, la disminución de las precipitaciones y la sequía, como consecuencia del cambio climático, configuran un escenario de constante incremento de la gravedad de los incendios que obliga a prestar mayor atención a las medidas preventivas y de gestión forestal sostenible. Debe superarse el enfoque del incendio únicamente como emergencia e incidirse en la prevención”, aseguró.

Por ello, urgió a las administraciones públicas “a asumir el aumento de recursos públicos que van a ser necesarios para atender las labores de extinción y acometer la restauración de los montes” y destacó que la prevención de los incendios y la minimización de sus impactos, desde un enfoque ambiental y sostenible, debían convertirse en elementos centrales de la gestión forestal”.

El Defensor del Pueblo recuerda que no tiene capacidad ejecutiva, pero que la institución, en virtud de las atribuciones recogidas en la Ley Orgánica 3/1981 que la regula, está en disposición de recordar la legislación y supervisar posteriormente a las administraciones en su actuación. En todo caso, la institución seguirá supervisando el cumplimiento de los deberes legales, también en este caso.

Ángel Gabilondo, en nombre de toda la institución, hace llegar el pésame a los familiares de las víctimas, y el apoyo a todos los afectados por las pérdidas que les haya podido ocasionar esta catástrofe.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon, has today presented the 44th edition of the Case Notes 2024 to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. Anġlu Farrugia.

This bilingual publication brings together a selection of 36 investigations concluded during 2024 by the Ombudsman and the three specialised Commissioners – for Health, Education and Environment and Planning. This publication provides readers with clear summaries of complaints, the issues that emerged, and the outcomes reached, explained in language that is accessible to the wider public while offering lessons of value to public authorities.

This year’s edition includes cases ranging from disputes about vehicle towing procedures and ferry fare policies, to questions of fairness in recruitment within the education sector, to challenges arising in planning regularisations and environmental management. Other cases highlight the Ombudsman’s role in safeguarding access to healthcare, including equitable treatment for patients requiring specialised medication or procedures abroad.

In his foreword to the publication, the Ombudsman emphasised that investigations carried out by his Office should not be seen as hostile encounters but as part of the accountability loop. Through the Case Notes, the Ombudsman and his Commissioners seek to encourage public authorities to strengthen their internal quality control systems, including effective complaint-handling mechanisms, in order to improve standards of governance and service to the public.

The Case Notes 2024 is intended for a broad readership and provides insight into the importance of accountability and transparency in public administration.

La Defensoría de la Infancia y Adolescencia de Andalucía (DIAA) ha analizado la salud mental infantil y juvenil como una prioridad en las políticas públicas en la última publicación de la revista que editan defensores de España e Iberoamérica integrados en la Red de Niñez y Adolescencia de la Federación Iberoamericana del Ombudsperson (FIO). En esta publicación participan junto a la Defensoría andaluza la Defensoría del Pueblo de Bolivia, el Síndic de Greuges de Cataluña, el Ararteko vasco, la Defensoría del Pueblo de Perú, la Comisión estatal de Derechos Humanos del Estado de Nuevo León (México) y la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la Ciudad de México.  

En su posicionamiento del 29 de octubre de 2024, la Red de Niñez y Adolescencia de la FIO ya instó a los países a reconocer el derecho a la salud mental de las infancias y adolescencias como una “prioridad tanto en las agendas públicas como en las instituciones nacionales de derechos humanos, estas últimas tienen la importante labor de alertar continuamente sobre los hechos que puedan vulnerar el derecho a la salud, la vida y la integridad”.

A este respecto, la Organización Mundial de la Salud reconoce la salud mental como un derecho humano fundamental, entendido como un estado de bienestar que permite a las personas desarrollar sus habilidades, afrontar situaciones difíciles y participar activamente en su comunidad. Por ello, todas las personas, incluidas niñas, niños y adolescentes, tienen derecho a acceder al más alto nivel de salud mental y a recibir atención accesible, digna y de calidad.

En las últimas décadas se han impulsado cambios significativos; se ha transitado de visiones marcadas por el estigma a enfoques que buscan sensibilizar sobre su impacto en el bienestar integral y el respeto a la dignidad humana, y se ha avanzado hacia la adopción de un modelo biopsicosocial que integra factores biológicos, psicológicos y sociales en la prevención y tratamiento, alejándose de una perspectiva exclusivamente biomédica. Asimismo, se reconoce que el lenguaje desempeña un papel crucial en la salud mental, pues influye en la percepción, el acceso a la atención y la reducción del estigma. Debido a que el derecho a la salud mental de niñas, niños y adolescentes es prioritario, esta publicación se centra en las experiencias y reflexiones que en torno al tema tienen las instituciones que integran esta Red.

•  Revista FIO SALUD-MENTAL

The complainant contacted the Ombudsman because she believed that the Ljubljana District Court had wrongly served her court documents in her secure electronic mailbox (SED) in probate proceedings, even though she had not requested this, and as a result, she had missed the deadline for appealing against these court documents. Since the court had not responded to her warnings, she asked the Ombudsman to intervene.

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A complainant contacted the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (Ombudsman) on 14 March 2025 with a complaint in which she stated that she was not informed in a timely manner about the service of a Summons to Submit Statements or Inheritance Agreements of the District Court in Ljubljana, case no. O 553/1949 of 20 December 2024 (hereinafter: summons). She emphasized that the summons was served on her in a secure electronic mailbox, although she did not give permission for such a method of service, and that she therefore missed the deadline for appealing against the additional decision on inheritance. Since the court did not respond to her additional written warning on 5 February 2025, she asked the Ombudsman for assistance.

The Ombudsman conducted an inquiry into the matter at the District Court in Ljubljana. In response to the inquiry, the President of the said court explained that in the case under consideration, an error had occurred when serving the Summons and the decision to suspend the procedure for issuing an additional decision on inheritance. Namely, the complainant notified the court electronically in January 2025 that she had not received the court documents, and upon checking the service of the Summons, it was determined that the court document had been sent to her via a secure electronic mailbox (SEP), which the court explained to her in a letter dated 20 January 2025, but it was overlooked that the complainant had not consented to such a method of service. The complainant again alerted the court to the error in service on 28 January 2025 and 5 February 2025, so the deliberating judge took the case over for review and further action.

After reviewing the file, the deliberating judge determined that the service to the complainant's electronic mailbox was incorrect. When performing the service, it was identified in the electronic register that she had an SEP and that the aforementioned option had been selected by the court staff, but it was overlooked that service to natural persons to the SEP, in accordance with the provision of Article 132 of the Civil Procedure Act (ZPP), is only possible if the party requests it or if the court expressly warns them of this. The court therefore served the decision and court documents on the complainant again on 19 May 2025 and explained in the accompanying letter that there had been an error, which was why the documents were served on her again and that she therefore had a (new) appeal period against the issued decision. Thus, the complainant as a party (heir) was subsequently enabled to participate in the proceedings.

After examining the available information in the case at hand, both that provided by the complainant and that provided by the District Court in Ljubljana on the basis of an inquiry, in connection with the probate proceedings No. O 553/1949 and the issuance of an additional decision on inheritance, it was possible to establish that the complainant's warnings that the service of court documents in connection with the said probate case to her SEP was not correct were clearly justified. On that basis, the District Court in Ljubljana itself recognised this error and corrected it by correctly re-serving and serving the court documents. The error in serving the court documents did not result in any harmful consequences for the complainant, since only with the (correct) service of the court documents could the time limit for her to (have) to perform individual procedural actions (such as, for example, filing an appeal) begin to run.

Since the consequences of the incorrect service of court documents (only on 19 May 2025) were eliminated and no potentially harmful consequences arose that could affect the legal position of the complainant, the basis for further consideration of the matter in question and any further intervention by the Ombudsman in relation to it ceased to exist, and therefore the Ombudsman closed the procedure for considering this matter.