The Public Defender expresses his sorrow over the casualties caused by the collapse of the facade of a residential building located on Tevdore Mghvdeli Street in Tbilisi on July 14. According to reports, two people lost their lives and one person sustained health injuries. The Public Defender expresses his condolences to the family members of the deceased and their relatives.

According to the Tbilisi City Hall, the building located on Tevdore Mghvdeli Street was assigned the third category of dilapidation. For years, citizens living in various categories of damaged houses have been addressing the Public Defender's Office with regard to their right to live in a safe environment. Despite the existence of a rule for replacing dilapidated multi-apartment residential buildings in the territory of Tbilisi Municipality, many families have to live in a dangerous environment for years. It is worth emphasizing that such dilapidated buildings pose a danger to both residents and citizens who may be moving and/or working nearby. Cases studied over the years show that dealing with this systemic problem requires timely and effective steps, which the existing legislative guarantees and programmes cannot provide.

The Public Defender’s Office has launched an examination of the incident on Tevdore Mghvdeli Street and will study issues related to the right of residents of dilapidated buildings and other citizens to live in a safe environment and the measures taken/to be taken by the responsible agencies.

In 2024 and early 2025, the Parliamentary Ombudsman received several complaints concerning the processing of applications for international protection submitted by Russian asylum seekers. The most important criticism in the complaints concerned exceeding the absolute maximum processing time of 21 months laid down in the Aliens Act.

Deputy-Ombudsman Mikko Sarja separately investigated four complaints and also requested that the Ministry of the Interior and the Finnish Immigration Service provide a more general report on the situation in the processing of matters concerning international protection and which measures they intended to take with regard to the situation with processing times. 

In the matters that resulted in the Deputy-Ombudsman's criticism, the processing times had been at least 24–28 months from when the applications had been submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service. The Deputy-Ombudsman reprimanded the agency for unlawful conduct. However, the cases in which the applications had been returned to the Finnish Immigration Service from administrative courts did not lead to any measures.

The Finnish Immigration Service already took several measures to shorten the processing times in 2024, and the Ministry of the Interior monitors the implementation of the processing time targets in its monthly performance monitoring meetings as well as yearly and half-yearly in connection with the performance target negotiations. 

According to the Deputy-Ombudsman, in spite of the positive aspects stated above, the report received and the observations made on the basis of individual complaints supported the conclusion that the public authorities have not been able to sufficiently secure the requirement of lawful processing in the processing of applications for international protection. The Deputy-Ombudsman therefore decided to further monitor how the measures taken by the Finnish Immigration Service affect the processing times of applications and has requested that the Ministry for the Interior notify him of the matter by the end of the year.

The Deputy-Ombudsman’s decision no 3806/2025 has been published (in Finnish) on the website www.oikeusasiamies.fi.

The Ombudsman has published a Thematic Report on noise control which identifies the main problems found and presents a set of recommendations on an issue which, despite its significant impact on public health and quality of life in Portugal, is often undervalued by the public authorities, which contributes to a certain lack of civic awareness of the issue.

Under the motto “Noise control: Planning, managing and raising awareness”, the document identifies shortcomings in compliance with legal acoustic planning obligations, particularly in the case of large transport infrastructures, an omission that continues to expose thousands of people to harmful noise levels. It also points out shortcomings in the licensing of noisy activities and an excessively tolerant attitude on the part of the authorities towards offences.

The report ends with a set of concrete recommendations addressed to the central state, local authorities and other entities with responsibility in this area.

These include a call for the process of approving and implementing a National Strategy for Environmental Noise to be finalised, for more active municipal inspections, for schools to be involved in raising awareness among the school community and for investment in the acoustic comfort of buildings.

Although aimed primarily at the competent authorities, the report also aims to reach citizens, emphasising the importance of information and awareness of the risks of noise and the forms of protection available against what is now considered the second biggest environmental risk factor for health in Europe.

The full report can be read here [In Portuguese only].

The Parliamentary Ombudsman of Malta, Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon, has been appointed Vice Regional President of the European Regional Board of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI). His appointment follows a decision by the European Regional Board during a meeting held yesterday and reflects the growing recognition of Malta’s active participation in international Ombudsman fora.

The IOI’s European Regional Board is composed of seven Directors representing Ombudsman institutions across Europe. Of these, five are also elected to serve on the IOI’s global Board of Directors. Judge Zammit McKeon was elected to the European Board and the Global IOI Board in December 2023, following an election involving over 90 Ombudsman institutions and human rights bodies from across Europe.

Judge Zammit McKeon succeeds Mr Marc Bertrand, Ombudsman of Wallonia and of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Belgium, whose term as Ombudsman expired earlier this year. In accepting the appointment, Judge Zammit McKeon expressed his sincere gratitude to his fellow Board members for their trust and reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the objectives of the IOI and promoting good governance and the protection of rights throughout Europe.

Established in 1978, the International Ombudsman Institute is the leading global organisation for independent Ombudsman institutions. With over 200 members from more than 100 countries, the IOI provides a platform for collaboration, capacity-building, and the promotion of best practices through training, research, and project support. Its six regional chapters ensure that regional priorities are addressed within the broader framework of international cooperation.

Rule of law guarantees democracy and citizens’ rights and freedoms; it is one of the fundamental values of the European Union (EU). Although each Member State has their national laws, they must act in accordance with EU requirements to jointly promote the interests of democratic countries and the rights of individuals.

For the sixth year in a row, the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) has been inviting participating institutions to report on the situation in their country, focusing on various aspects of human rights and rule of law. The report is an opportunity to see Latvia in relation to other EU countries, to assess aspects where our country manages to implement good practices and where improvements are needed. At the same time, it is also an opportunity for the Ombudsman’s Office to show what the institution has done to strengthen human rights in Latvia.

Some of the areas described in the report are highlighted here, the full report includes detailed information on these and other aspects of the rule of law.

It is worth highlighting the fact that, as of 6 March 2025, the functions of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) have also been enshrined in the Ombudsman’s Law. In practice, the Ombudsman’s Office has been performing these functions for several years. At the same time, preventive work with monitoring human rights becomes the duty of the Ombudsman. The report mentions that work on the implementation and strengthening of the NPM has also taken place in other countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands. National human rights institutions in individual countries have obtained other new mandates.If we compare the National Human Rights Institution of Latvia or the Ombudsman’s Office with similar institutions in other EU countries, it is still important to highlight that the Ombudsman is entitled to turn to the Constitutional Court if he sees that other means and efforts to solve the problem have not been effective. For example, in 2025, following an application by the Ombudsman, the Constitutional Court initiated two cases: one case on the right of students to receive a scholarship for social support, and another case on the regulation of noise assessment and management. The authorities of other countries do not have such a right; accordingly, it is difficult to influence the rule of law at constitutional level.As another important cornerstone of a healthy rule of law, we want to highlight the Ombudsman’s role in educating the public. The Office’s experts have been actively involved in the ‘Ready for Life’ programme for school children, promoting open dialogue and lively conversations with young people. The Office has been education the society on several other topics, such as the respect of patients’ rights and the prevention of human trafficking risks, working with both public and sectoral specialists. Several studies were carried out in 2024, in particular, regarding discrimination prevention. Information on the studies is available to the public on Ombudsman’s website.

Ombudsman’s Office stands out in the ENNHRI report with very high rates of implementation of the recommendations issued by the institution. At least 61% of the Ombudsman’s recommendations have been implemented, which is a very good performance and testifies to the institution’s constructive, meaningful and internationally appreciated work.

ENNHRI Rule of Law Report is available on the ENNHRI website. In addition, the European Commission (EC) has also published its Rule of Law Report. The two reports are complementary, but the EC report is binding on the country and commits to action. The Commission has drawn the attention of the Latvian authorities to the following recommendations: 1) to take measures with the aim of ensuring adequate safeguards that would prevent unauthorised political influence in the procedures for the appointment of Supreme Court judges, taking into account European standards on the appointment of representatives of the judiciary; 2) to ensure the effective implementation of legislation on lobbying, including with regard to a special temporary register of lobbyists.