Barcelona, 9 de septiembre de 2020 –

Dos quejas ciudadanas, referentes a problemas con una salida de emergencia y a la inexistente prohibición de fumar, han puesto de manifiesto denuncias sobre posibles agravios en el interior del Pasaje Arcadia, ubicado en el Distrito de Sarriá-Sant Gervasi y formado por unas galerías interiores que enlazan las calles Tuset y Balmes.

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El Procurador del Común ha recibido en visita institucional al secretario regional del PSOE, Luis Tudanca, donde han abordado diversos temas de actualidad.

The Ombudsperson, Sabina Aliyeva held an online meeting with the officials of the Anti-discrimination Department of the Council of Europe.

The purpose of the meeting was to assess the state of implementation of the EU/CoE Eastern Partnership Project on "Strengthening access to justice through non-judiciary redress mechanisms for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in EP countries" at the national level with the purpose to increase the accessibility for vulnerable groups of population in accordance with the international standards.

During the meeting, the Ombudsperson gave broad information about the activities on the Project implementation, including training and seminars for the staff of the Ombudsman Office targeted at legal awareness raising to raise the effectiveness of NHRI. It was noted that the combating discrimination is also considered within the mandate of the Ombudsperson according to the Constitutional Law on Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Ombudsperson spoke about the recent online meetings held with the ethnic minorities, representatives of the local communities and civil society from rural places of the country in the period of COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted the measures taken in the country in this regard.

Sabina Aliyeva also noted that exchanging experience contributes to revealing challenges and preventing further human rights violations. The CoE representatives highlighted the importance of effective cooperation between Ombudsman Institution and civil society organizations. The CoE representatives also suggested holding a round table with the relevant state bodies and civil society organizations in near future with participation of international experts as well.

Summary

The Parliamentary Ombudsman conducted an inspection in the middle of October 2019 at a Family Law Unite in Göteborg municipality. Cases on child custody support were, among other things, investigated. During the inspection it became apparent that the Family Law Unite provided child custody support (opportunities when separated parents and children meet and spend time together in a controlled environment) in a venue where several children could receive custody support at the same time. This solution posed some questions which the Parliamentary Ombudsman deemed as relevant also for other social service, in other municipalities. The Parliamentary Ombudsman therefore decided to conduct an enquiry on how the social services execute the courts' decisions on custody support. Within the framework of the enquiry the Parliamentary Ombudsman inspected four social welfare boards and investigated cases on custody support.

In the decision the Parliamentary Ombudsman notes that the solution, to have a meeting venue for families that receive custody support works, but it is combined with some issues.

According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s understanding the solution does not live up what chapter 6, section 15 c of the Parents Code asks of the social services as the authority execute the courts' decision on child custody support. Moreover, there is no legal support for a social welfare board to offer custody support on the precondition that it can be held at the board’s venue.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman states that a social welfare board must be able to offer flexible solutions when decisions on custody support are to be implemented, but the social welfare committees, that were included in the enquiry, rarely did so. When a social welfare board does not offer an alternative to their own venue the courts’ examination of what is best for the child becomes deceptive as the court often adjust a decision on custody support according to what a particular social welfare board is able to offer.

According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, there may be a risk that the solution, for parents and children to meet in the venue that the social services offer, results in that the child does not receive the individual support that he or she needs and is entitled to. The principle of adhering to the best interests of the child thereby risks not having an impact.