The Enforceability of Ombudsman Remedies and Competition with Judicial Review

Abstract

The very title of this book – The Ombudsman in the Modern State – presumes that the ombuds institution will continue to exist, but in so doing it must continue to evolve. That is because we proceed on the assumption that government and its individual elements will continue to develop relentlessly. This book examines one part of government that is as dynamic as it is static – dealing with complaints about bad government. As much as government evolves, one constant feature of government remains: mistakes. The form of those mistakes might change, so the error previously made by a person standing behind a counter might now be made through an automated decision-making process, but their substantive nature remains eerily familiar. Public agencies and their staff make decisions or devise policies that are unfair or wrong, or perhaps explain or implement their decisions in a clumsy manner. The people affected by those decisions and policies have a grievance and want to be heard, preferably by an office independent of the agency or official that caused the problem. Ombuds[1] assume a central role in meeting that need. Show more