Public Protector and UK counterpart
conclude two-day interaction, sign MOU
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Public Protector Adv Thuli Madonsela and her United Kingdom
counterpart, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman,
Ann Abraham, concluded their two-day engagement yesterday
with a round table.
The roundtable was held under the theme: “Ombudsman, making
a difference in providing remedial action when the state
fails its people: the United Kingdom Parliamentary and
Health Services Ombudsman experience.”
Attended by, among others, representatives of the judiciary,
the legal sector, academics and ombudsman institutions in
the private sector, the roundtable sought to draw valuable
lessons from Ms Abraham’s office, which has been in
existence for more than 40 years.
Ms Abraham, who is known for taking firm remedial action to
rectify administrative wrongs by the UK government, said
citizens failed by states deserved not only to get urgent
assistance but also to be compensated for the prejudice
suffered as a result of the governments’ wrongs.
The Public Protector concurred, adding that governments had
a constitutional obligation to implement concrete remedial
actions of the ombudsman institutions such as her office
unless there were cogent reasons for rejecting the findings.
“It is not enough to just help the complainant get what they
have been denied due to the state’s administrative wrongs,
you also need to bring the complainants as close as possible
to where they would have been had the state done its job
correctly,” she said.
The two parties also signed a three year Memorandum of
Understanding aimed at fostering cooperation between the two
institutions through the sharing of information, expertise
and good practices.
The agreement covers, among other things, pairing of
investigators for information sharing and exchange visits
for persons at leadership levels and operational competence.
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