The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon, met with the European Ombudswoman, Ms Teresa Anjinho, during her visit to Malta to address the International Ombudsman Conference commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The European Ombudswoman was one of the keynote speakers at the conference, which was held under the theme “Upholding Good Governance in Challenging Times: The Role of the Ombudsman.”

In her address, Ms Anjinho explored the challenges of ensuring good governance in the current climate and the importance of strengthening citizens’ trust in public administration. Speaking from a European Union perspective, she reflected on the impact of recent geopolitical developments and crises on EU institutions, while underlining the importance of meaningful citizen participation in decision-making.

Drawing on examples from her Office’s inquiries, Ms Anjinho highlighted the need to maintain accountability and transparency standards even when there is pressure to simplify legislation or act swiftly. She emphasised that citizen-centred administrations must communicate clearly and openly, showing a willingness to explain decisions, anticipate concerns, and be proactively transparent.

During the meeting, Judge Zammit McKeon and Ms Anjinho discussed ways to strengthen the European Network of Ombudsmen (ENO) and enhance cooperation among national ombudsman institutions. The ENO has developed into a powerful platform for collaboration and knowledge-sharing among more than 95 offices in 36 European countries. It includes national and regional ombudsmen and similar bodies across EU Member States, candidate and EEA countries, as well as the European Ombudsman and the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament.

The network promotes cooperation on case handling, sharing of best practices, and the organisation of seminars, meetings, and visits. The next ENO meeting will take place in Brussels on 20 November 2025.

The two Ombudsmen also exchanged views on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in public administration, acknowledging both its potential and the challenges it presents to fairness, transparency, and accountability.

Judge Zammit McKeon thanked Ms Anjinho for visiting Malta and for her valuable contribution to the 30th Anniversary Conference, which brought together Ombudsman institutions and human rights defenders from across Europe, the Mediterranean and beyond.

According to Deputy-Ombudsman Mikko Sarja, the equal right of children in prisons to free basic education must be safeguarded, and completing compulsory education must be possible for them. Their imprisonment does not limit these rights. The importance of this issue is underlined by the fact that underage remand prisoners and children who are serving a prison sentence are a very vulnerable group of children. 

The Ombudsman oversees the legality of actions taken by the authorities and inspects especially places where persons deprived of their liberty are held. One of the priority areas for the Parliamentary Ombudsman is the oversight of the rights of the child. 

The Deputy-Ombudsman investigated this issue on his own initiative. The Deputy-Ombudsman obtained reports from the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa and had inspections carried out in the prisons of Helsinki and Vantaa. 

The Deputy-Ombudsman welcomed the measures that the authorities have taken since then. The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Justice have appointed a working group for the year 2025 to develop prison education. Among other things, the working group has been tasked with developing upper secondary education organised as prison education and examining the situation in the provision of education and training for children and young people of compulsory education age as prison education.

The Deputy-Ombudsman has brought his decision to the attention of the working group developing prison education and requested that the Ministry of Education and Culture provide the documents concerning the working group’s conclusions after their completion.

The Deputy-Ombudsman’s decision no 2971/2024 has been published (in Finnish) on the Parliamentary Ombudsman's website at www.oikeusasiamies.fi.

Further information is available from Principal Legal Adviser Piatta Skottman-Kivelä, tel. +358 9 432 3347.

On November 17, 2022, the Public Defender of Georgia filed a constitutional claim[1] with the Constitutional Court of Georgia, challenging Order No. 663 of the Minister of Justice of Georgia of November 30, 2020 - “On Approval of the Procedure for Recording Injuries of Accused/Convicted Persons Sustained as a Result of Alleged Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment in Penitentiary Institutions”. In particular, according to the disputed rule, the patient’s consent to a medical examination was a mandatory prerequisite for a doctor to record prisoners’ visible injuries and refer them to the relevant investigative body.

After accepting the constitutional claim for consideration on its merits, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia informed the Constitutional Court that by Order No. 1096 of the Minister of Justice of Georgia of July 11, 2025, amendments were made to the normative act challenged in Constitutional Claim No. 1748, and the current regulation completely eliminated the issue raised by the plaintiff.

The Public Defender of Georgia welcomes the decision of the Minister of Justice, which echoes the Public Defender's request - even in the absence of the prisoner's consent, the doctor should draw up a certificate based on the patient's physical examination and inform the relevant body/official about alleged torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

During a panel discussion ‘Is the Union prepared to shield European democracy?’, FRA highlighted the importance of a rights-based approach to tackling threats to democracy.

Speaking alongside European Chief Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi, Czech MEP Danuše Nerudová and Senior Fellow Dalibor Roháč of the American Enterprise Institute, FRA underlined key findings from its Fundamental Rights Survey, and stressed the need to rebuild trust in our societies through participation and accountability, to protect civil society space and to uphold information integrity in the digital age.

Beyond this panel, the Agency also contributed to several other discussions, bringing in FRA’s rights-based approach and evidence on digitalisation, civic space, inclusion, and public trust as drivers of democratic resilience.