On November 7, 2025, the Public Defender of Georgia filed a general amicus curiae brief with Tbilisi City Court, in which he discusses the legal standard relating to face covering by participants in assemblies.

Based on publicly available information, the Public Defender's Office has learned that recently, common courts have been considering a large number of cases based on part 10 of Article 174¹ of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which is related to face covering by participants in assemblies with a mask or any other means. The Public Defender criticized such an unconditional legislative ban on face covering by participants in assemblies in his last parliamentary report and demanded its repeal. Periodically, the liability for the violation of the above-mentioned prohibition has been tightened, including by the imposition of criminal liability for the same act by a person subject to the penalty.

As a result of examining legislation and relevant decrees, the Office found out that when considering such cases, Tbilisi City Court has to consider many aspects of freedom of assembly, which are related to the sphere protected by the right and the scope of the restriction of the right. Since a number of similar cases may also become the subject of consideration by Tbilisi City Court in the future and the relevant practice is being established by the decisions currently adopted, the Public Defender decided to submit a general amicus curiae brief to Tbilisi City Court. The document serves to facilitate the establishment of an appropriate legal standard and is addressed to all cases within the framework of which the court will have to consider similar factual circumstances.

In order to interpret the provision of the Code in question in accordance with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the amicus curiae brief, among other things, reviews the relevant standard established by the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee and the OSCE/ODIHR. According to this standard, it is not permissible to hold participants of an assembly liable for covering their faces when their behavior is peaceful and they do not conceal their identity for committing a violent act or substantially disturbing public order.

The Ombudsman welcomes the adoption of the new law “On Gender Equality”, an important step towards the full approximation of the Albanian legal framework with international and European Union standards.

For years, the Ombudsman has recommended improvements similar to those highlighted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the GREVIO expert group, calling for the strengthening of institutional mechanisms for the implementation of the principle of gender equality in practice.

Gender equality is not an ideological or political issue, but a fundamental human right, sanctioned in the Constitution of the Republic of Albania and in international conventions ratified by the country. Its full implementation also constitutes one of the fundamental criteria of the European integration process.

In this context, the Ombudsman appreciates the efforts to improve the legal framework, but at the same time emphasizes the importance of such acts being built on broad political and social consensus, to ensure that their implementation is not hindered by polarization or public misunderstandings.

The Ombudsman will continue to closely monitor the implementation of the law and contribute with expertise, in order to ensure that any legal reform in this area serves a real purpose.

"The realisation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to healthcare for all residents of Slovenia is the foundation of the nation’s health. Unfortunately, this right is being violated increasingly often – both for individuals and at the systemic level," said Deputy Ombudsman Dr. Dijana Možina Zupanc, who also chaired the meeting, in a statement to the press at the end of the meeting, which took place today, 5 November 2025, at the initiative of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (Ombudsman). The meeting with Minister of Health, Dr. Valentina Prevolnik Rupel, and patient rights representatives was intended to discuss acute challenges in the healthcare sector, review the implementation of the Ombudsman's recommendations, and strengthen direct dialogue between patient representatives and the Ministry of Health (Ministry), which has so far been lacking. After the meeting, Deputy Ombudsman Zupanc, Minister Dr. Prevolnik Rupel, and patient rights representative Marjan Sušelj each outlined their perspectives on the issues discussed in a press statement (right).

The main topics of the meeting were the staffing shortages in the healthcare sector, which are reflected in the overload of employees and the difficulties in providing continuous care, the lack of nursing hospitals providing appropriate transitional care between hospital and home treatment, and ineffective supervision in the healthcare sector, which often fails to bring about improvements in practice. The participants also discussed the growing inaccessibility of family doctors, the shortage of paediatricians, gynaecologists, dermatologists, psychiatrists, and other specialists, which is also reflected in increasingly long waiting times and postponed diagnostic procedures. The need for optimised work processes, work organisation and, above all, effective management of healthcare providers was repeatedly expressed. Attention was also given to the worsening situation in mental health, particularly among young and elderly people, and to ineffective communication within the healthcare system, which causes inconsistencies between institutions, inadequate patient information, and diminished trust in the system.

Deputy Ombudsman Dr. Dijana Možina Zupanc emphasised that the Ombudsman has been warning about the critical shortage of health and nursing staff for more than a decade. "Patients feel the consequences of this staff shortage every day in long waiting times, limited access to services, and a lack of appropriate post-hospital care. Due to the shortage of staff and facilities in Slovenia, we still do not have enough nursing accommodation for people who cannot live independently after hospital treatment. They remain in hospitals or are left in the care of relatives, who often lack both knowledge and support. Such circumstances further burden the health system and extend waiting times for other patients," warned the Deputy Ombudsman. More about the issue of nursing hospitals.

On behalf of the Ombudsman institution, the Deputy Ombudsman welcomed the Ministry’s efforts, but warned that the situation on the ground is already urgent, and the effects of certain measures will only become visible over time. She also questioned how it will be possible to retain additional staff in healthcare, as many healthcare workers are leaving the profession due to overwork and poor working conditions. "It is therefore necessary to address the appropriate organisation of work, education, remuneration, and to ensure a transparent salary system that provides appropriate and decent working conditions for all healthcare employees. Their work is of exceptional importance for society as a whole. Until these issues are properly resolved, it is difficult to expect any improvement in the situation," said Deputy Ombudsman Dr. Dijana Možina Zupanc.

She further stressed the Ombudsman continues to warn of excessively long and ineffective supervision in healthcare and of poor information of patients about their rights, which increases their distress and further undermines trust in the system. Both the Ombudsman and patient rights representatives agree that effective mechanisms must be established to eliminate the systemic causes of safety deficiencies in healthcare and that greater efforts are need to detect and address them. "The mere implementation of various forms of supervision appears ineffective, especially given the fact that there is often no conclusion," stressed Dr. Možina Zupanc. According to her, there is also a gap between the severity of violations and the appropriateness of measures taken, which reduces patients' trust in the system, damages the reputation of healthcare providers, undermines their integrity, and negatively affects relations with the public and service users.

At the end of the meeting, she reiterated that Slovenia, as a welfare state, must not allow situations in which access to health services depends on luck or personal connections. "When the path to a doctor becomes longer than the path to a diagnosis, we can be sure that the compass of health policy must change direction. The state must ensure clear and effective standards, decent working conditions, and systemic financing. Without this, care for vulnerable groups, among whom we may all find ourselves at some point in our lives, will fall to an unacceptably low level. And we must not allow this as a society," stressed Dr. Možina Zupanc.

The Deputy Ombudsman concluded that it is therefore essential to strengthen the dialogue with those stakeholders in healthcare who face accumulated problems in healthcare on a daily basis. "One such group is certainly the representatives of patient rights, so we therefore welcome the assurance given at today’s meeting that the competent ministry will begin holding regular meetings with them. Such meetings enable regular and, above all, direct insight into the situation on the ground and contribute to faster identification and resolution of problems within the system," added Dr. Možina Zupanc.

Two years after the deadline for submitting applications to the Support Programme for More Sustainable Buildings (PAE+S 2023), the Ombudsman continues to receive new complaints on the subject.

Marking these two years, a new assessment of the programme’s implementation was sent to the Secretary of State for the Environment. The document is being released at a time when thousands of applications remain to be analysed.

Based on the analysis of hundreds of complaints submitted by applicants, the Ombudsman’s Office continues the systematic monitoring it has been carrying out since the launch of the Programme, reaffirming the need to ensure greater rigour, clarity, simplicity, effectiveness and predictability in the management of this public support. It should be noted that these general requirements should be reinforced here, as this is a programme intended exclusively for private individuals, for use in their own permanent homes.

 PAE+S 2023, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), was created with the aim of financially supporting interventions that promote rehabilitation, energy efficiency, water efficiency, decarbonisation and the circular economy in the Portuguese housing stock. It operated on a reimbursement basis, requiring beneficiaries to make the investments in advance using their own resources.

The assessment highlights problems with the wording of the call for applications; untimely changes to eligibility requirements; excessive complexity of forms and supporting documentation; deficiencies in the reasoning behind decisions; difficulties in communicating with the responsible services; and extreme delays in the analysis and payment of applications.

All these factors are cause for concern, not least because they contribute to a loss of confidence and demotivate people from participating in future programmes, thereby undermining the essential objectives of this type of support, which is designed to stimulate the economy and correct social inequalities.

In view of this diagnosis, the Ombudsman recommends a structural review of the application procedures, calling for them to be clear, rigorous and legally secure, and also recommends changes to the functioning of the IT platforms used, making them more intuitive, accessible and appropriate to the profile of the recipients.

This new assessment follows other interventions by the Ombudsman on this issue. You can consult the full text:

•    November 2025: Assessment of PAE+S 2023 [in Portuguese only]

•    November 2025: Letter addressed to the Secretary of State for the Environment [in Portuguese only]

•    April 2025:  ‘More Sustainable Buildings’. Ombudsman suggests review of rejected applications [in Portuguese only]

•    November 2022: ‘More Sustainable Buildings’. Ombudsman suggests changes to the support programme [in Portuguese only]

In der ORF Sendung Bürgeranwalt wurde der Fall von Herrn W. behandelt, der sein Fahrrad an einem Fahrradständer im 7. Wiener Gemeindebezirk mit einem Schloss gesichert abgestellt hat. Ein paar Tage später war es weg. Ebenso, wie sämtliche Radständer in diesem Bereich. Wegen Bauarbeiten vor Ort wurden im Auftrag der MA28 die Ständer entfernt und die Räder an anderen Stellen in der Umgebung mit Blechbändern abgestellt. Erst durch Suche konnten die Besitzer ihre Räder wieder finden. Hinweistafeln zu den Bauarbeiten gab es im Vorfeld laut Herrn W. nicht. Für Volksanwältin Gaby Schwarz ist klar: „Die Stadt Wien soll Verantwortung für den entstandenen Schaden übernehmen und sich entschuldigen.“

Die zuständige Magistratsabteilung entgegnet, dass sie nur die Bewilligung erteilt und der Bauwerber für die Aufstellung der Hinweistafeln zu sorgen hat. Ob diese behördliche Verpflichtung erfüllt wurde, ist dem Magistrat nicht bekannt. Und außerdem behält sich der Magistrat die tatsächliche Entfernung der Räder gegen Kostenersatz selbst vor. „Das reicht nicht! Die zuständige MA28 hat zu kontrollieren, ob die von ihr beauftragte Firma die Hinweistafeln ordnungsgemäß und fristgerecht aufstellt. In diesem Fall wurden Räder ohne Vorankündigung entfernt. Ich appelliere an die Stadtverwaltung, den Fehler einzusehen und sich zu entschuldigen“, betont Volksanwältin Gaby Schwarz.

Das Rad von Herrn W. tauchte übrigens nicht mehr auf.

Teilerfolg: Golf am Sportplatz mittlerweile verboten

Einen Teilerfolg erzielte die Volksanwaltschaft im Fall eines Sportplatzes in der Stadtgemeinde Amstetten. Anrainer beklagten, dass regelmäßig Golfbälle in Gärten landen und ein Risiko darstellen. Der Golfspieler und auch die Polizei entgegneten, dass der Sportplatz für „Ballsportarten“ ausgeschildert ist und Golf eben ein Ballsport sei. Nach Appell von Volksanwältin Gaby Schwarz wurde nun ein neues Schild aufgestellt, mit dem Hinweis „Golf spielen verboten“.

„Das ist ein Schritt in die richtige Richtung, dem noch weitere folgen müssen. Nach wie vor wird der Schließmechanismus des elektronischen Tors umgangen. Dadurch leiden die Anrainer unter Lärmbelästigung nach der offiziellen Öffnungszeit des Sportplatzes. Auch wenn die Stadtgemeinde engmaschigere Kontrollen durch die Exekutive angekündigt hat, empfehle ich den Anrainern, bei Übertretungen die Behörde zu verständigen“, betont die Volksanwältin.