Provincial Assembly Decision on the Provincial Protector of Citizens - Ombudsman
("Official Gazette of AP Vojvodina", no. 37/2014)
In accordance with Article 56 Paragraph 7 of the Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (“The Official Journal of the APV number 20/2014”)
The Assembly of AP Vojvodina at a session held on 23 September 2014 enacted the following
Provincial Assembly Decision on
the Provincial Protector of Citizens - Ombudsman
I GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
This Provincial Assembly Decision on the Provincial Protector of Citizens - Ombudsman (hereinafter: the Decision) shall establish an independent and autonomous body, Provincial Protector of Citizens – Ombudsman and define the competences, the procedure of the activities of this body, method of election and the cessation of the function of the provincial protector of citizens – ombudsman and the deputy provincial protector of citizens – ombudsman.
Article 2
All grammatical gender determined nouns in this Decision shall denote and refer both to the male and female gender.
Article 3
The Provincial Protector of Citizens - Ombudsman (hereinafter: the Ombudsman) is an independent and autonomous body of the AP Vojvodina which shall see to the protection of the rights of citizens and monitor the work of the provincial administration bodies, public enterprises and institutes which have administrative and public competences and which were founded by AP Vojvodina (hereinafter: Administration bodies), regarding their actions in enacting the decisions and other legal acts of the AP Vojvodina.
The Ombudsman shall protect, in particular, the rights of citizens from any violations due to the illegal, inexpediently and inefficient actions of administrative bodies.
The Ombudsman shall protect the rights of citizens from any violation committed by illegal, inexpediently and inefficient actions of the city or municipal administration in performing administrative and public competences, which were conferred to them by AP Vojvodina from their original competences.
Article 4
The Ombudsman is independent and autonomous in performing the tasks determined this Decision and no one shall have the right to influence their work or activities.
The Ombudsman shall see to the protection and improvement of human and minority rights.
The Ombudsman shall act in accordance with the Constitution and law, ratified and published international treaties on human rights and generally accepted rules of the international law.
The fundamental principles of the Ombudsman's activity are legality, impartiality, independence and righteousness.
Article 5
The seat of the Ombudsman shall be in Novi Sad.
II ELECTION AND TERMINATION OF TERM OF OFFICE
Article 6
The function of the Provincial protector of citizens-ombudsman shall be performed by the provincial protector of citizens – ombudsman (hereinafter: the Ombudsman) and the deputies of the provincial protector of citizens – ombudsman (hereinafter: Deputies of the ombudsman).
The Ombudsman, i.e. the deputy of the ombudsman shall not perform other public or professional duty, have membership in political organisation or any other activity or job that could influence his/her autonomy and independence.
Exceptionally, the Ombudsman i.e. the deputy of the ombudsman may continue with their scientific and research-related, educational or artistic activities as well as with the activities of publishing.
On the date of assuming the office of the Ombudsman, i.e. the deputy of the ombudsman all other public duties and offices shall terminate, i.e. duties or offices they performed prior to the tasks of the Ombudsman if they are in contradiction with the provisions of this Decision including the membership in political organisations.
Article 7
The Ombudsman shall be elected by the Assembly the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (hereinafter: the Assembly) on the basis of a two-third majority votes of the total number of deputies.
Candidates for the Ombudsman shall be proposed by at least 30 deputies or the Assembly Committee responsible for issues related to the organisation and work of the administration (hereinafter: the Committee).
The Ombudsman's term of office shall be six years. He/she may be elected to the same office twice in succession, at the most.
The procedure for the election of the Ombudsman shall commence no later than two months before the termination of the mandate of the previous office holder.
The Ombudsman shall report to the Provincial Assembly for their work.
Article 8
The Ombudsman shall have four deputies one of whom shall be elected for the field of national minority rights, children’s rights and gender equality.
At least one of the deputies shall be elected from among the less represented gender and people belonging to national minorities.
Deputies shall be elected by the Assembly on the basis of the majority votes of the total number of deputies, at the Ombudsman's proposal.
Term of office of a deputy shall be six years. The deputy may be elected to the same office twice in succession, at the most.
The deputies shall report to the Provincial Assembly for their work.
Article 9
A person to be elected the Ombudsman must be a citizen of the Republic of Serbia and fulfil the following conditions:
1. to hold a Bachelor of Law degree
2. to have at least seven years of professional experience in legal affairs which are of significance for the performance of tasks within the competences of the Ombudsman
3. to have no convictions for crimes for which the penalty is an unconditional prison sentence for at least six months or a punishable crime which would make them inapt to perform tasks in a state authority
4. to have distinguished professional skills and high moral integrity
5. to have remarkable experience in the field of the protection of rights of citizens.
Article 10
A person to be elected the deputy to the Ombudsman must be a citizen of the Republic of Serbia and fulfil the following conditions:
1. to hold a higher education or tertiary education degree
2. to have at least five years of professional experience in legal affairs which are of significance for the performance of tasks within the competences of the Ombudsman
3. to have no convictions for crimes for which the penalty is an unconditional prison sentence for at least six months or a punishable crime which would make them inapt to perform tasks in a state authority
4. to have distinguished professional skills and high moral integrity
5. to have remarkable experience in the field of the protection of rights of citizens.
Article 11
The Ombudsman and the deputy shall take an oath before the Assembly prior to assuming duty. The text of the oath is as follows: “I swear that I shall perform my duty with due conscience, responsibility, and independence and without bias and that I shall divert all my efforts towards the improvement and the protection of human rights in accordance with the Constitution and the law”.
The Ombudsman and the deputy shall be obligated to assume duty within 30 days from the date they were elected for the duty.
If the Ombudsman i.e. the deputy do not assume office within 30 days from the date of the election without valid explanation they shall be considered as not elected which shall be confirmed by the Assembly in accordance with the information received from the Committee. In such cases, a procedure for the election of the new Ombudsman i.e. deputy shall start immediately.
Article 12
The Ombudsman's term of office shall terminate in the following cases:
1. expiry of the term of office, if not re-elected
2. death
3. resignation
4. exclusion from citizenship
5. meeting the legal requirements for retirement
6. permanent physical or mental inability to perform the tasks given
7. discharge from service.
The reasons for the termination of the office from Paragraph 1 of this Article shall be determined by the Committee which shall than inform the Assembly.
In case the termination of office for the Ombudsman or the deputy arises from the reasons stated in Paragraph 1 Items 1-6 of this Article, the Assembly shall enact a decision thereby confirming that the conditions for the termination of office have been met without any discussion.
Legal consequences of the termination of the office shall enter into force on the date the decision from Paragraph 3 of this Article is enacted.
Article 13
The Ombudsman i.e. their deputy shall be relieved of duty prior to the expiration of the period they were elected for in the following cases:
1. if failing to discharge the office in a professional, independent and conscientious manner
2. if holding other public offices or performing public duties i.e. performing other jobs or duties that may influence their independence or autonomy or if acting contradictory to law which defines the prevention of conflict of interest in holding public duties,
3. if sentenced to imprisonment for committing a criminal offence rendering them inapt to hold this office.
The Ombudsman and their deputy shall be entitled to address the provincial deputies during the Assembly session during which the issue of their discharge shall be discussed.
The procedure for discharging from the duty shall be launched at the initiative of the Committee or one-third of deputies, whereas the Ombudsman's initiative shall be additionally needed to relieve of duty a Deputy Ombudsman.
The Assembly shall relieve the Ombudsman or Deputy Ombudsman of duty if their relief of duty is supported by votes cast by the same majority of deputies required for the election of the Ombudsman and/or Deputy Ombudsman.
Article 14
In the event of the Ombudsman's absence or inability to perform duties, the Deputy Ombudsman appointed by the Ombudsman shall stand in for them.
In the event of termination or relief of duty, the deputy whom the Ombudsman appointed to stand in for them in case of absence or inability to work shall hold the office until the new Ombudsman is elected.
The election for the new ombudsman shall take place within six months from the date the term of the previous Ombudsman ended.
III COMPETENCES
Article 15
The Ombudsman shall have the competency to monitor the exercise of human rights, the legality, suitability, efficiency and regularity in the work of the administration authority regarding their actions in enacting decisions and other legal acts of the AP Vojvodina and protect the rights of citizens especially from violations arising from illegal, unsuitable and inefficient activities by an administrative body. The Ombudsman shall protect the rights of citizens from violations arising from the illegal, unsuitable and inefficient activities of the city or provincial administrative authorities in performing tasks conferred to them from its original competences by the AP Vojvodina.
Article 16
The Ombudsman shall monitor the processes of enacting the provincial regulations and the changes and amendments to the existing regulations in all fields of exercise of human rights.
The Ombudsman is entitled to propose provincial assembly decisions and other general acts enacted by the Assembly within its competences especially if they consider that the violation of citizen’s rights arises due to a lack of definition in regulations.
The Ombudsman is authorised to provide their opinion to the Provincial Government or the Assembly during the regulation preparation process, as well as recommendations regarding the proposals for decisions if they define the issues of importance for the protection of rights of citizens.
Article 17
The Ombudsman shall continuously monitor and oversee the application of international treaties, standards and regulations in the field of human rights and on the grounds of gathered information propose measures for the improvement of status in the field of protection and improvement of human rights.
Article 18
The Ombudsman shall conduct research in order to have insight in to the state of human rights, to identify problems and formulate recommendations with the aim of exercising, protecting and improving human rights.
Article 19
The Ombudsman is authorised to inform the citizens about the regulations and provide legal advice about the opportunities of exercising their rights, informing the applicant to start an appropriate legal procedure before the competent authority, if such a procedure is envisioned by law.
Article 20
The Ombudsman is authorised to publically propose a discharge of an office holder responsible for the violation of the rights of citizens, i.e. to initiate the procedure for the determination of responsibility of an employee in a public administration body who’s is directly responsible for the committed violation.
If they find that there are elements or a crime or a criminal act in the activities of an office holder or an employee in a public administration body, the Ombudsman is authorised to submit a request to the competent body, i.e. a request for the initiation of a criminal, offence or other appropriate procedure.
Article 21
The Ombudsman shall submit a regular annual report to the Assembly in which they state the information on the activities in the previous year, information on observed faults in the activities of the administration body, provide an estimate about the work of an administration body with regards to the change in regulations, as well as proposals for the improvement of the position of citizens in relation to the administration bodies.
The report shall contain information on the number and the structure of complaints, observed faults and recommendations for their resolution, as well as criticism and praise to specific administration bodies or office holders.
The report shall contain specific chapters for the field of rights of national minorities, rights of children and rights pertaining to gender equality. Specific chapters of the reports shall be made by the Ombudsman’s deputies.
The report on the activities shall be submitted no later than 31 March for the previous year and published on the official website of the Provincial Protector of Citizens – Ombudsman.
Upon the request of the Ombudsman the Assembly shall put on the agenda the report form Paragraph 1 of this Article and hold a discussion.
The Ombudsman may take part in the discussion about the report.
Article 22
The Ombudsman may submit a special report to the Assembly, where, in the opinion of the Ombudsman, there are particularly significant reasons for it or it is requested so by the Assembly.
The special report shall be published on the official website of the Provincial Protector of Citizens – Ombudsman.
Article 23
The Ombudsman shall inform the competent authorities and inform the broader public on the violation of human rights and publish a communication about the violation of human rights.
Article 24
Organise and take part in the organisation of conferences and campaigns aimed at education pertaining to human rights and relevant issues pertaining to the exercise of human rights.
Article 25
The Ombudsman shall have the power to initiate the proceedings in front of the Constitutional Court for the assessment of constitutionality and the legality of the laws, other regulations and general acts.
Article 26
The Ombudsman shall be entitled to attend all sessions of the Assembly and Assembly Committees, as well as to participate in the Assembly discussions whenever the issues within his/her competence are discussed.
Article 27
The Ombudsman shall cooperate and exchange experiences with other Ombudsmen in the country and abroad and be a member of national and international ombudsmen associations.
Article 28
The Ombudsman shall cooperate with the Protector of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia in completing the tasks within the National mechanism for the prevention of torture and regularly visit places where imprisoned persons reside, with the aim of preventing torture and other cruel inhumane or humiliating punishments or procedures.
Article 29
The Deputy Ombudsman for national minority’s rights shall protect national minority rights and shall be authorised to control the work of the administration bodies in the field of exercise and improvement of national minority rights.
The Deputy Ombudsman for children’ rights shall protect children’s rights and shall be authorised to control the work of the administration bodies in the field of exercise and improvement of children’s rights.
The Deputy Ombudsman for gender equality shall protect the citizens on the grounds of gender equality and shall be authorised to control the work of the administration bodies in the exercise and improvement of gender equality.
Competences from Articles 15-28 shall apply to the deputies, within their field of work.
Article 30
The Ombudsman shall perform other tasks in accordance with the law, decisions and other Assembly acts.
IV PROCEEDINGS
Article 31
The Ombudsman shall start proceedings upon the petition of the citizen or upon their own initiative based on information from other sources, when they asses that there was or there still is a violation of the rights of citizens by administrative bodies.
The term citizen, with respect to this Decision, shall imply a natural person who is a citizen of the country and any natural person who is a foreign citizen as well as every domestic or foreign legal person whose rights and obligations shall be decides on by the administrative bodies from Article 3 of this Decision.
A legal representative, an authorised person or an authorised person from the foster institution may address the Ombudsman on behalf of the natural person and a person authorised for the representation of a legal entity may address the Ombudsman in cases of violation of rights of legal entity. On behalf and with the authorisation of a person whose rights were violated a petition may be submitted by an organisation working in the field of protection of human rights or a different person.
Article 32
A petition must be made within a year of the date of the committed violation, i.e. from the last occurrence, or the failure on the side of the administrative body to act regarding the committed violation of human rights.
Exceptionally, the Ombudsman shall be entitled to act upon the petition after the date of submitting of the petition should they asses that a harsher form of citizens’ rights violation has occurred.
Article 33
The condition for the commencement of the proceedings is the fact that prior to the submission of the petition the petitioner tried to protect their rights in an appropriate legal proceedings and that all legal remedies have been exhausted i.e. that there is no legal remedy to remove the violation the applicant is referring to.
In case the condition from Paragraph 1 of this Article is not fulfilled, the Ombudsman shall refer the petitioner to start appropriate legal proceedings, if such proceedings are envisaged, and shall not start proceedings until all legal remedies have been exhausted.
Exceptionally, the Ombudsman may start proceedings even if the petitioner has not tried to protect their rights, i.e. even before all legal remedies have been exhausted, if the petitioner is submitted due to illegal activities, failure to respect the principle and standards of administrative procedure, the principle of ethical behaviour and inappropriate treatment of citizens by the employees.
Article 34
The Ombudsman shall not act on anonymous petitions.
Exceptionally, if they consider that the anonymous petition has grounds for proceedings; the Ombudsman may start proceedings according to their own initiative.
Upon the request of the petitioner, in exceptionally justified instances, the Ombudsman shall not reveal the identity of the petitioner to the administrative body.
Article 35
A petition shall be submitted in written form, including all electronic ways of communication, without specifically determined form and shall not be subject to any payment of taxes.
Exceptionally, a petition may be given orally and recorded.
Individuals deprived of liberty shall have the right to submit a petition in the sealed envelope.
Individuals employed in the institutions where individuals deprived of liberty live shall be obliged to deliver to the Ombudsman their petition, without opening or withholding it, and without delay.
Article 36
A petition shall contain the title of the authority concerned, the description of the violation of rights, the facts and evidences the petition is based on, the information on the legal means used and exhausted and the data on the petitioner.
Article 37
The Ombudsman shall be obligated to act upon every petition unless:
1) the subject the petition refers to does not fall within the competences of the Ombudsman,
2) the petition was submitted after the date provided for the submission of the petition and the condition from Article 32 Paragraph 2 of this Decision was not fulfilled,
3) the petition was submitted before the use of all available legal remedies and the conditions from Article 34 Paragraph 2 of this Decision have not been fulfilled,
4) the petition is anonymous and the conditions from Article 34 Paragraph 2 of this Decision have not been fulfilled,
5) the petition does not contain the necessary information for the proceedings and should the petitioner fail to remove the faults even within the subsequently determined deadline for the amendment to the petition.
Should the Ombudsman fail to find the grounds for proceedings, they shall inform the petitioner of it and provide reasons for such actions.
Should the petitioner refrain from the petition, the procedure shall be cancelled. Exceptionally, the procedure shall continue if the petition is submitted due to illegal activities, failure to respect the principles and standards of administrative procedures, the rules of ethical behaviour and the inappropriate treatment of citizens towards by employees.
Article 38
The Ombudsman shall inform the petitioner and the body the petition pertains to, about the commencement and the completion of the proceedings.
Article 39
The administrative body shall be obligated to reply to the requests of the Ombudsman and provide all the requested information and documents within a deadline determined by the Ombudsman which may not be shorter than 5 or longer than 15 days.
The administrative bodies shall be obligated to cooperate with the Ombudsman and provide access to the premises and provide all the information at their disposal and which are significant for the ongoing proceedings i.e. for the realisation of the goal of their preventive activities regardless of the degree of secrecy unless that in direct violation of the law.
The Ombudsman is entitled to conduct an interview with every employee in an administrative body when that is of significance to the proceedings.
The Ombudsman and the deputies shall be obligated to, even after their term expires, keep the information they obtained during their term a secret.
The obligation to keep secrets shall apply to the Administrative and Technical Service of the Provincial Protector of Citizens – Ombudsman.
Article 40
The office holders and managers in administrative bodies shall be obligated to see the Ombudsman at their request no later than 8 days from the date of the written request.
Article 41
Should the administrative body against which the petition has been submitted remove the faults during the proceedings, the Ombudsman shall notify the petitioner of it and cancel the proceedings.
Article 42
Upon determining all relevant facts and the circumstances the Ombudsman may notify the petitioner that the petition was not grounded or may determine that there were irregularities in the activities if the administrative bodies.
The Ombudsman shall provide their opinion to the administrative bodies should they find irregularities in the activities of the administrative bodies.
Should the Ombudsman find such regularities i.e. the consequences which may be eradicated, the Ombudsman shall in addition to their opinion, provide recommendations on how to eradicate the irregularity i.e. the consequence.
The administrative body shall be obligated to, no later than 15 days from the date of the reception of the opinion or recommendation, notify the Ombudsman about the measures taken.
Should the administrative bodies fail to act upon the recommendation, the Ombudsman may notify the public of it, a higher instance, the Assembly, the Government i.e. the municipal/city council.
Article 43
The provisions of Articles 31-42 of this Decision shall be applied to the proceedings the Ombudsman started upon their own initiative.
Article 44
In addition to the right to start and manage the proceedings, the Ombudsman shall act preventively by mediating and providing advice and opinions regarding the issues from the competency, with the aim of improving the activities of the administrative bodies and the improvement of the protection of human rights and liberties.
V ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL SERVICES AND SUPPLIES
Article 45
The Ombudsman shall establish administrative and technical services to perform professional and administrative-technical duties.
Administrative and Technical Services shall be managed by the Director of the Services.
The Ombudsman shall appoint and dismiss the director of Administrative and Technical Services.
The Ombudsman may decide to delegate to any expert associate any of his powers.
The regulations on work relationships and salaries in provincial bodies shall apply to the Director and the employees in the Administrative and Technical Services.
The Ombudsman shall enact decisions on the commencement and the termination of employment and the exercise of rights pertaining to employment.
Article 46
The Ombudsman shall be entitled to a salary in the amount of the salary of a provincial secretary and the deputies shall be entitled to salaries in the amount of a salary of a deputy provincial secretary enlarged by 20%.
Article 47
The Ombudsman and the deputies shall be entitled to all rights with regards to work, in accordance with the regulations on employment in provincial administrative bodies.
Article 48
The Ombudsman shall establish an act on the internal organisation and systematisation of the Administrative and Technical Services of the Provincial Protector of Citizens – Ombudsman.
The act on the internal organisation and systematisation of the Administrative and Technical Services shall be enacted upon the prior provision of the opinion of the Assembly’s Committee.
Article 49
The funds for the Ombudsman's work shall be allocated from the Provincial budget.
The Ombudsman shall propose the amount and structure of the funds.
VI INTERIM AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 50
Upon the enactment of this Decision the Ombudsman and the deputies shall continue with their activities until their terms of office for which they were elected expires.
The proceedings that have not been completed before the date of the enactment of this Decision shall be completed in accordance with the provisions of this Decision.
The Ombudsman shall be obligated to harmonise the Rules of Procedure and the act on the internal organisation and systematisation within from 30 days from the date of the enactment of this Decision.
Article 51
The Provincial Assembly Decision on the Provincial Ombudsman (The Official Journal of APV number 23/02, 5/04, 16/05, 18/09 – change in the title of the act) shall cease to be in force with the entering into force of this Decision.
Article 52
This Decision shall come into force on the eighth day of the date it has been published in "Official Gazette of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina".
THE ASSEMBLY OF THE AUTONOMOUS PROVINCE OF VOJVODINA
Novi Sad, 23 September 2014
PRESIDENT
OF THE ASSEMBLY OF AP VOJVODINA
Pásztor István, signed
(Pásztor István, s.k.)