On 18 May 2020 the IOI Board of Directors held its annual meeting to identify and discuss projects and priorities for the upcoming membership year. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, the Board held its annual meeting by electronic means for the first time and despite the challenge of a wide range of different time zones, 15 out of currently 20 Directors joined the videoconference hosted by the Office of IOI President and Ireland Ombudsman Peter Tyndall.

A group of independent UN experts today recalled that "the prohibition of arbitrary detention is absolute even during times of public emergencies" and urged governments worldwide to prevent arbitrary deprivation of liberty in the context of the measures currently adopted for controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

In the 15th edition of the Radio Ombudsman podcast, IOI President Peter Tyndall talks to Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Rob Behrens about the value of the international ombudsman community.

En este informe se presentan los resultados del análisis de la información registrada por la Procuración hasta fines de 2019 de casos de violencia física, amenazas y hostigamientos y de los casos en que la violencia física desencadena otras situaciones violentas como aislamientos prolongados o la escasa o nula alimentación durante el aislamiento.

The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, declared a direct investigation today (21 May) to examine whether the Government has properly handled problems related to the misconnection of private building sewers to stormwater drains.

L’attention du Défenseur des droits et de son adjointe, la Défenseure des enfants, a été appelée par plusieurs parents d’élèves exerçant une profession médicale sur les conditions de la réouverture de certaines écoles maternelles et primaires.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman has studied the use of restraint beds in Norwegian prisons in more detail over the past six months and has criticised the use of restraint beds in prisons following several visits. This article looks at some of the most important findings and what they mean.

Family members and associates of principals in Victorian government schools continue to be hired without principals properly declaring or managing their conflicts of interest, the Victorian Ombudsman has warned. Tabling her investigations into allegations of nepotism in government schools, Ombudsman Glass said she hoped her report would draw attention to the problem and its consequences.

The impact of COVID-19 has drastically affected the way National Preventative Mechanisms monitor places of detention under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.  The Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand is the designated National Preventative Mechanism for places of detention in New Zealand, and discusses the challenges of monitoring places of detention during the lockdown.

‘A call for clarity!’ This is the title of the third joint annual report published by the National Ombudsman, the Ombudsman for Children and the Ombudsman for Veterans, and presented to parliament today by the National Ombudsman, Reinier van Zutphen.

The Human Rights Ombudsman has been closely monitoring the coronavirus disease situation in Slovenian and abroad as well as the measures adopted by the state authorities to contain the epidemic and protect the most vulnerable groups of citizens. Many people have also contacted us via email and the toll-free number raising questions and issues.

The Ombudsman’s Office seizes the opportunity to repeatedly call for respect for the principle of proportionality in the interventions of the police and other law enforcement agencies, which in no case and in no way should use the pretext of Covid-19 restrictions (which, moreover, are not respected by themselves), as a reason for the suppression of civil law for peaceful assembly.

Since BC’s new whistleblowing protection law came into effect in December 2019, current and former provincial government employees have been coming to the Ombudsperson with enquiries, seeking advice, or making disclosures, according to the office’s first public interest disclosure annual report.