El síndic de greuges de la Comunitat Valenciana, Ángel Luna, da por concluida su investigación sobre el funcionamiento de la oficina de empadronamiento de Valencia, tras recibir la respuesta del Ayuntamiento aceptando todas sus recomendaciones.

El defensor del pueblo valenciano inició el expediente por la falta de recursos humanos y de medios necesarios de la administración local para atender los trámites relacionados con el padrón municipal, así como por la ineficacia e insuficiencia del sistema de cita previa para atender las necesidades de la ciudadanía; una situación que era especialmente gravosa en el caso de las personas mayores o con alguna discapacidad y que dificultaba directamente el acceso a determinados servicios y prestaciones públicas.

En el informe remitido al Síndic, el Ayuntamiento de Valencia reconocía la imposibilidad de atender la demanda en la prestación de los servicios derivados del padrón municipal con el personal que disponía. En cuanto a la cita previa, también venía a confirmar que la demanda era superior a la oferta de citas, por lo que desaparecía rápidamente, independientemente del día o el momento en que se ofrecían.

A finales de septiembre, Luna recomendó al consistorio que, además de mantener y asegurar la atención presencial, revisara el sistema de atención ciudadana mediante cita previa de manera que resulte adecuado y suficiente a la demanda. Asimismo, esta institución instaba a que los procedimientos telemáticos del padrón municipal fuesen más eficaces y que hubiese mayor interconexión entre las solicitudes de la sede electrónica y la aplicación de gestión del padrón.

Las consideraciones del Síndic han sido expresamente aceptadas por el Ayuntamiento de Valencia que ha concretado detalladamente el incremento de personal para atender a la ciudadanía, así como las medidas organizativas y de carácter tecnológico que ha implementado para mejorar el servicio.

Consulta nuestra actuación sobre este asunto.

Between 9 and 10 Novembre 2023, ombudspersons united in the European Network of Ombudsmen – ENO discussed the current issues in the field of human rights at the European Parliament, with an emphasis on questions of artificial intelligence and ethical standards in the work of public administration but also devoted some time to questions regarding migrations. The conference was organised by the European Human Rights Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly.

In the discussion about artificial intelligence in public administration, the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina pondered on its potential benefits and challenges in ensuring the protection of people’s rights. He advocated the high respect of ethical standards in the operation of the public administration, since this is the only manner of operation that also enables full respect of human rights. “People employed in the public administration must always keep in mind the person for whom they are performing certain services. They must work according to ethical standards that apply in public administration, while human rights must be one of those essential pillars of operation and a beacon enabling them to act in favour of people,” emphasised Ombudsman Svetina.

Regarding migrations, he highlighted the importance of joint action of the European Union member states. “Today there are no fewer crisis centres than a year ago. Ever more frequently they are joined by environmental disasters, due to which people are forced to leave their homes and search for new hope. It is not possible to build a dam strong enough to stop the flow of migrations nor can it be halted with the erection of wire fences; rather, an appropriate European migration policy must be formed,” the Ombudsman stated unambiguously.

Prior to the official start of the conference, on 8 November, the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina together with the European Human Rights Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly and his fellow ombudsmen from Greece Dr Andreas Pottakis and from the Netherlands Rainer van Zutphen responded to the invitation of the European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas for a working dinner in Berlaymont. They focused on the questions of migrations and fundamental human rights and also discussed challenges important for the European Union. Ombudsman Svetina assessed this dinner invitation as an enormous acknowledgement of the work and efforts of the Slovenian institution of the Human Rights Ombudsman both at home and abroad. In the discussion with his fellow ombudsmen and the Vice-President of the European Commission he stressed the significance of open communication and collaboration in addressing challenges connected to migrations. He reminded them of the letter he sent a while ago to the European Commission and emphasised that EU law places on the EU member states certain obligations that cannot be simply unilaterally overlooked or bypassed. “In the EU, we need to strive for synchronised actions of the member states. For we cannot overlook that every single country can be influenced by completely unilateral decisions of other countries, which has happened in the past,” added Ombudsman Svetina, who believes that the issue of migrations should be more appropriately and more actively addressed on the supranational level.

On the margins of the ENO conference, Ombudsman Svetina also participated at the meeting of the board of directors of the European part of the International Ombudsman Institute – IOI, of which he is one of the European directors.

As in previous years, the complaints of discriminatory treatment received by the Ombudsman in 2022 are uneven in terms of content. More specifically, about half of the complaints involved discrimination on grounds of gender, whereas disability appears as grounds for discrimination in 1/5 of the cases. The effects of the legislative initiatives taken in the last few years to mitigate or eliminate discrimination on grounds of both gender and disability remains to be seen. Proper, universal and effective implementation of protective regulations is monitored, recorded and publicised by the Ombudsman through periodic reports on equal treatment and the rights of persons with disabilities.

Il Difensore civico regionale Guido Giusti si è unito alla delegazione italiana, composta da Marino Fardelli, Difensore Civico della Regione Lazio e Presidente dei Difensori Civici italiani e Lucia Annibali, Difensore della Regione Toscana per la due giorni di lavoro della Rete dei Difensori Civici Europei che si è conclusa il 10 novembre.

Tutela de diritti e promozione della partecipazione civica i temi al centro degli incontri in programma nella prima giornata, "Norme Etiche nelle Pubbliche Amministrazioni" è stato invece il tema al centro del sessione del 10 novembre. 

La Rete dei Difensori Civici Europei è una rete informale destinata ai difensori civici e agli organi analoghi affinché si scambino informazioni sul diritto e sulla politica dell’Unione e condividano le migliori pratiche. 

Leggi le notizie sul sito del Coordinamento Difesa civica Italia