Congreso de la Federación Iberoamericana del Ombudsman

Date of article: 17/12/2020

Daily News of: 17/12/2020

Country:  Spain - Basque Country

Author: Regional Ombudsman of the Basque Country

Article language: es

Vitoria-Gasteiz

La Federación Iberoamericana del Ombudsman (FIO), en colaboración con la Red de Instituciones Nacionales para la Promoción y Protección de los Derechos Humanos en el Continente Americano, celebra estos días un congreso sobre los ataques a defensorías y sobre los estados excepcionales.

En el encuentro, que se desarrolla de forma telemática y en el que participa la adjunta al ararteko Julia Hernández, se ha analizado la situación de estas instituciones y las agresiones que han sufrido en el marco de la pandemia del COVID-19.

El debate se ha centrado tanto en los desafíos como en las oportunidades que se avecinan para la protección de los derechos fundamentales en la era post COVID.

Los participantes han compartido su visión sobre cómo reforzar el papel de las defensorías y cómo abordar la situación para evitar ataques, agresiones y represalias, desde una perspectiva internacional, en una realidad que cambia constantemente a causa de la pandemia.

Vitoria-Gasteiz, 17 de diciembre de 2020

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(FRA) Law enforcement training to tackling child trafficking

Date of article: 17/12/2020

Daily News of: 17/12/2020

Country:  EUROPE

Author: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

Article language: en

According to the latest data, more than half of the children identified in Europe as victims of trafficking were EU nationals. FRA carried out training at a CEPOL webinar to raise awareness and exchange experiences about protection and transnational cooperation in tackling child trafficking.

During the webinar, FRA presented the European Commission’s and FRA’s guide on Children deprived of parental care found in an EU Member State other than their own. The training targeted law enforcement officers, psychologists and other professionals working on human trafficking, particularly with EU children nationals. A representative from the Swedish Police shared their practical experience of protecting child victims in Sweden. The webinar took place on 17 December. 

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Ombudsman annual report details further innovation in its service

Date of article: 17/12/2020

Daily News of: 17/12/2020

Country:  United Kingdom - England

Author: Local Government Ombudsmen for England

Article language: en

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has published its Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20, which details how it continued to be innovative in the way it improved its service and increased the value of its investigations.

Examples include the Ombudsman launching its interactive council performance map and the first phase of its online customer complaint portal, in the year ending 31 March 2020.

The interactive map is a UK first for an Ombudsman to publish such detailed information about its investigations. Now anybody can see how their council is performing against key measures such as uphold rate, compliance with Ombudsman recommendations and the service improvements it agreed to make – all with user-friendly charts and statistics. The map also enables comparisons with other councils and against average rates for similar council types.

The map was updated in July this year with the second year of annual data, and it also has weekly updates of service improvements data.

In 2019-20 the Ombudsman also updated its online complaint form, which makes it easier for people to understand how and when to log a complaint with the Ombudsman. It is the first phase of a project to make complaining to the Ombudsman digitally more convenient and secure through an online portal.

In addition, the Ombudsman maximised the public value of its investigations by securing more service improvement recommendations (1,769 in total) and publishing more public interest reports (63) than the previous year.

Service improvement recommendations are when the Ombudsman makes recommendations for councils and care providers to address systemic issues that affect more people than those that complained. They often comprise reviewing or changing policies, training staff and providing correct information to the public.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Michael King, said:

“Our interactive map is helping to increase public scrutiny and accountability of councils, by opening up a wealth of data and intelligence from our complaints. Via a simple tap of a screen, citizens can now see what mistakes their council has made, the improvements it has promised to make, and how it is faring against similar councils.

“The additional information we started publishing this year – especially the recommendations we make to improve local services for everyone – place the spotlight on the wider value our investigations have. I’m pleased to see councils and care providers agreed to make 1,769 service improvements this year.”

In 2019-20, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman dealt with a total of 36,767 complaints and enquiries from the public. 17,142 people received help on the telephone without requiring a case to be logged.

Of the 19,625 cases the Ombudsman decided, 5,913 were dealt with by an initial investigation and 4,455 through a detailed investigation. The Ombudsman upheld 62% of detailed investigations (2,742 in number). This has risen from 58% the previous year.

The Ombudsman met all its time targets for completing investigations. It completed 78% of investigations within 13 weeks, 89% of investigations within 26 weeks, and 99% of investigations within 52 weeks. This means more than three quarters of its investigations are completed within three months.

The Annual Report and Accounts covers the period of 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, so the COVID-19 outbreak has not had a significant impact on the statistics reported. The report notes the Ombudsman took the unprecedented decision, in the wider public interest, to suspend its casework towards the end of March to avoid adding to the pressures on local authorities to deliver vital frontline services at the time.

Article date: 17 December 2020

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Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case Syndicat interprofessionnel de défense du fromage Morbier

Date of article: 17/12/2020

Daily News of: 17/12/2020

Country:  EUROPE

Author: Court of Justice of the European Union

Article language: en

Link: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2020-12/cp200168en.pdf

Languages available: bg es cs da de et el en fr hr it lv lt hu mt nl pl pt ro sk sl fi sv

Court of Justice of the European Union

PRESS RELEASE No 168/20 Luxembourg, 17 December 2020

Judgment in Case C-490/19 Syndicat interprofessionnel de défense du fromage Morbier v Société Fromagère du Livradois SAS

EU law prohibits the reproduction of the shape or appearance of a product protected by a PDO in certain circumstances

It is necessary to determine whether that reproduction may mislead consumers taking into account all the relevant factors, including the way in which the product is presented to the public and marketed and the factual context

Morbier is a cheese produced in the Jura mountains (France) which has enjoyed a protected designation of origin (PDO) since 22 December 2000. It is characterised by the presence of a black line which divides the cheese in two horizontally. That black line, originally made from a layer of cinder and now made from vegetable carbon, is expressly referred to in the product description in the specification for the PDO.

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