On March 12, 2025, Tamar Gvaramadze, First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, participated in the annual conference of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) held in Geneva.

The event discussed the challenges and priorities in the direction of protection of the rights of women and girls, the role of national human rights institutions in legislative and policy reform, education, combating stereotypes, eliminating violence against women, and access to justice. They also discussed issues of ensuring pluralism and gender inclusion in national human rights institutions.

Welcoming remarks were delivered at the opening ceremony by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and President of the Human Rights Council Jürg Lauber.

In her speech, the First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, Tamar Gvaramadze, spoke about the importance of raising awareness of women’s rights and empowering women and girls through education; she highlighted the special needs of women and girls living in rural areas, internally displaced persons and ethnic minorities. She also reviewed the activities of the Public Defender’s Office aimed at promoting the protection of women’s rights and advocating for policy reforms focused on the protection of women’s rights.

On 10 and 12 March, Deputy Ombudsman Miha Horvat and Jerneja Turin, advisor-analyst of the Human Rights Centre, as representatives of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (Ombudsman), were in Geneva, Switzerland to attend the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), which has around 118 members from all over the world. The Ombudsman was previously a member of it, but 2020 was historic because it was then that the (final) key actions of the approximately three-year-long efforts to obtain A status under the so-called Paris Principles on the Status of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) took place. After a successful oral defence before the GANHRI accreditation subcommittee on 10 December 2020, which was conducted by the aforementioned Deputy Ombudsman, the Ombudsman managed to obtain A status for the first time at the beginning of 2021, making the country the first (and still only) national institution to be so accredited. The Ombudsman has thus also gained full rights in international associations such as GANHRI and ENNHRI (European Association of National Human Rights Institutions) and greater opportunities for cooperation within the framework of the United Nations and at the regional level. 
 

During the reporting and discussions at this year's GANHRI annual meeting, it was repeatedly highlighted that the role of NHRIs is also critical in the current changes on the global stage, but at the same time they are themselves subject to new challenges. In this regard, for example, issues such as undermining the rule of law, the inclusion of artificial intelligence in the framework of human rights and human rights in the armed forces were highlighted, and a special topic on the agenda was the human rights of women and girls in particular. The report on the European region was presented by the regional chair, Ms Louise Holck, a representative of the Danish NHRI, while Jerneja Turin, as chair of the ENNHRI working group on the rights of persons with disabilities presented her experiences with the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities.

The agenda also included the accreditation procedure and accreditation of national institutions with statuses according to the so-called Paris Principles by the GANHRI Accreditation Subcommittee, which is particularly important for the Ombudsman this year, as it will soon have to apply for re-accreditation with status A. To this end, it will be necessary to demonstrate, in a reasoned manner and supported by documentation, how the institution has achieved the standards of status A according to the so-called Paris Principles in the past five years, with the aforementioned subcommittee expecting institutions with already granted status A, and therefore also the Ombudsman, to demonstrate further strengthening of their efficiency and independence before re-accreditation

As an interesting fact in the context of the European space, it should be noted that the Swedish national human rights institution first acquired A status in 2024, in Iceland, after the relevant legislative changes, the national human rights institution began operating in the new year, and in the Czech Republic, the legal basis has already been adopted and the national human rights institution is expected to be established on this basis. Italy and Malta are examples of countries in the European Union where such an institution has not yet been established or accredited.

Summary of the decision: The Parliamentary Ombudsman has reviewed the Swedish Migration Agency’s processing times. The review looked at processing times in general for four types of case (citizenship and residence permits based on connections to someone in Sweden, higher education or work), as well as five individual complaints.

The cases that have previously caused the Swedish Migration Agency major problems are those related to citizenship and residence permits based on connections to someone in Sweden. The Parliamentary Ombudsman notes that the backlog of cases remains very high. In the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s opinion, the situation is completely unacceptable.

Previous reviews by the Parliamentary Ombudsmen have not included residence permits for higher education and labour-market cases. The Swedish Migration Agency has clearly prioritised cases related to higher education and highly qualified labour, and there is no need for the Parliamentary Ombudsman to comment on processing times for these types of cases. In terms of other labour-market cases, there remains a large backlog of cases.
The Parliamentary Ombudsman notes that there remains an obvious need for greater effort so that the Swedish Migration Agency can get to grips with its long processing times. Withe regard to the individual complaints, the Swedish Migration Agency is criticised for slow and passive administration.

JO intends to continue to monitor the Swedish Migration Agency’s processing times. A copy of the decision is therefore sent to the Government Offices of Sweden for information.

Published 

6.3.2025

Deputy-Ombudsman Maija Sakslin issued reprimands to the electoral commissions of Mäntsälä and Kerava for their seriously reprehensible actions in violation of the Election Act at the special advance voting during the presidential election in 2024. The electoral commissions at the polling stations concerned had consisted of two members, although under the Election Act, an electoral commission has a quorum when three members are present. The deficiencies in the compositions and quorum of the electoral commissions were observed during inspections of special advance polling stations that Sakslin had ordered at healthcare and social welfare institutions.

However, because the unlawful actions did not appear to have affected the casting of the ballot or the outcome of the election, a pre-trial investigation was not required to examine issues concerning criminal liability.

Deputy-Ombudsman Sakslin emphasises that according to the election guidelines issued by the Ministry of Justice, the central election board must ensure – for example, by providing training and disseminating the election guidelines – that the members of the electoral commission are aware of the quorum and their other tasks and responsibilities.

Sakslin also drew the attention of the Sipoo electoral commission to the quorum of the electoral commission. The electoral commission in Sipoo was also planning to use the composition of two members for voting organised on wards. When this had been observed in the inspection, the electoral commission was directed to follow the lawful procedure.

The full text of the Deputy-Ombudsman’s decisions no EOAK/1368/2024, EOAK/1065/2025 ja EOAK/1066/2025 have been published (in Finnish) on the website www.oikeusasiamies.fi.

For more information, please contact Senior Legal Adviser Juha-Pekka Konttinen, tel. +358 9 432 3338.