El Síndic de Greuges de la Comunitat Valenciana acaba de dirigir una recomendación a la Generalitat encaminada a hacer efectivo el derecho de las personas con discapacidad intelectual a integrarse en la función pública valenciana. 

La actuación del defensor del pueblo valenciano vino motivada por la queja presentada por un ciudadano que se había presentado a unas oposiciones para personas con discapacidad psíquica en 2010 y que, aunque no consiguió sacar una de las quince plazas, quedó el primero en la bolsa de trabajo activada por la Generalitat en 2012. El afectado se lamentaba de que, a pesar de tener ese primer puesto y haber transcurrido más de 25 meses desde su constitución, nunca le habían llamado para trabajar. 

Por su parte, la Conselleria comunicó al Síndic que durante ese periodo no se había recibido en el Servicio de Selección de Personal y Provisión de Puestos de trabajo solicitud de cobertura de puestos de estas características, que requieran el uso de la bolsa de discapacitados intelectuales.

En la situación planteada por este ciudadano, esta institución, que es especialmente sensible con las cuestiones que afectan al empleo público de las personas con discapacidad, entiende que, a nivel de organización administrativa, el derecho a emplear a personas con discapacidad está lejos de una plasmación real y efectiva.

Por ello, el Síndic considera necesario que los poderes públicos adopten medidas de acción positiva que, no solo garanticen la igualdad en el acceso al empleo público de este colectivo, sino que también eliminen todos los obstáculos que dificulten la integración real y efectiva a la función pública valenciana de las personas con discapacidad.

En este sentido, el Síndic entiende que la cobertura de plazas a través de personal interino que forme parte de la bolsa de trabajo de personas con discapacidad es una medida de acción positiva para la deseada integración, por lo que insta a la Conselleria a poner en funcionamiento, lo antes posible, dicha bolsa.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino, has today published his reflections on the White Paper ‘Towards the establishment of the human rights and equality commission’. The Ombudsman described the setting up of another National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) in Malta, as an important instrument that would further consolidate what has been achieved so far in promoting and protecting human rights in the country.

The Ombudsman said that there is general consensus in principle on the way forward and the proposals made in the White Paper are a step in the right direction. However, care should be taken to ensure that existing structures are not weakened or demotivated. It is the opinion of the Ombudsman that any new mechanism needs to take into account the existing legal order. If it is to be effective the Human Rights and Equality Commission (HREC) has to integrate with and complement existing institutions.

On the proposed Equality Act, the Ombudsman said that oversimplification should be avoided at all costs. Allowing for wide areas of interpretation in the hands of judicial or quasi-judicial bodies, and even more in the hands of monitoring authorities, can often lead to conflicts of jurisdiction, counter-productive litigation and contrasting decisions. He recommends that national authorities entrusted with the protection of vulnerable persons or specific human rights are fully consulted when drafting provisions that could affect their functions.

On the proposed Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Ombudsman reiterated that the issue to be debated and determined is whether the suggested model is suitable for Malta’s needs considering its level of democratic development, its observance of human rights generally and the quality and efficacy of its judicial, quasi-judicial and institutional authorities that have a specific or non-specific mandate to promote, monitor and enforce them.

The Ombudsman continued that his Office, that satisfies the stringent criteria of the Paris Principles, is universally recognised as an NHRI and qualifies for accreditation by the International Coordinating Committee on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC). In fact there is no obstacle for the Office of Malta’s Parliamentary Ombudsman to seek ICC recognition on the strength of its conformity to the Paris and indeed the Belgrade Principles as well as its positive record.

In his reflections the Ombudsman made a number of recommendations on how the Human Rights and Equality Commission could be set-up in line with his proposal submitted to Government in October 2013. The Ombudsman had suggested that the NHRI model most suitable for Malta would be a supra-institutional commission on which all major stakeholders would be invited to sit and participate. Such a commission would be able to draw on the experience and expertise of these institutions and others. It would be able to coordinate activities to promote and protect human rights generally and to devise and execute common policies and initiatives.

Reflections on the White Paper ‘Towards the establishment of the human rights and equality commission’

Executive Summary