{"id":4380,"date":"2019-04-23T00:13:07","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T00:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site2.ombudsman.hr\/en\/?page_id=4380"},"modified":"2026-04-29T14:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:38:10","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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About us<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia is a commissioner of the Croatian Parliament responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights and freedoms, the performance of the mandates of the National Equality Body, as well the National Preventive Mechanism for the protection of the persons deprived of their liberty, and is also entrusted with external reporting of irregularities within the Whistleblowers\u2019 Protection Act. She is independent and autonomous in her work.<\/p>

Ombudswoman\/Ombudsman and her\/his deputies are appointed by the Croatian Parliament for a term of 8 years. In 2021 Tena \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter was appointed as the Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia. Before present Ombudswoman, this duty was performed by Branko Babac (1993 \u2013 1996), Ante Klari\u0107 (1996 \u2013 2004), Jurica Mal\u010di\u0107 (2004 \u2013 2013) and Lora Vidovi\u0107 (2013 \u2013 2021).<\/p>

VISION<\/strong> \u2013 A society in which human rights are respected, promoted and protected, in which the state administration is just, efficient and accessible and in which each individual enjoys the equality of opportunity.<\/p>

MISSION<\/strong> \u2013 Independent work directed at the protection and promotion human rights and fundamental freedoms, combating discrimination and preventing torture via the National Preventive Mechanism. An institution fulfilling its goals by building authority and trust.<\/p>

You can find more information on the mandates and competences of the Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>

Our work is regulated by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia<\/a>, the Ombudsman Act<\/a>, the Act on the National Preventive Mechanism<\/a>, the Anti-discrimination Act<\/a>, the Act on the Protection of Persons Who Report Irregularities, the Act on Amendments to the Act on the Protection of Persons Who Report Irregularities, the Rules of Procedure of the Ombudsman.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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THE OMBUDSWOMAN<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tena<\/strong> \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter <\/b>graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Faculty of Law at the University of Zagreb, completed postgraduate studies in European and comparative law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford and postgraduate scientific studies in International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Zagreb. She passed the bar exam. She is the recipient of a diploma awarded by the International Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg.<\/p>

The Croatian Parliament elected her as the Ombudswoman on March 19, 2021.<\/p>

Mrs. \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter is a member and 1st Vice-Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe. She led the ECRI working group that drafted General Policy Recommendation 2 on equality bodies. Before ECRI, she participated in the Ad-hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI) of the Council of Europe, and in the work of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAI) of the Council of Europe.<\/p>

For three terms, she chaired the Executive Committee of the European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet), which brings together 48 anti-discrimination institutions from across Europe (2017-2019, 2019-2021, 2022-2023). Since 2019, he has been leading Equinet\u2019s Project on Standards for Equality Bodies, with the aim of advocating for the strengthening of the roles and independence of these independent institutions across Europe, including the adoption of legally binding standards at the EU level, in respect of which the European Commission has proposed two directives in 2022.<\/p>

She participated in the work of the Management Board of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 2017-2019.<\/p>

She was a member of working groups for drafting regulations, coordinated the implementation of European projects and participated in the work of numerous international and domestic conferences, round tables, seminars and forums, where she gave presentations and lectures.<\/p>

As an author and co-author, she has published several works related to human rights and combating discrimination, with a focus on legislation, judicial practice and protection mechanisms, at the level of the Republic of Croatia, the European Union and the Council of Europe.<\/p>

She has been working at the institution of the Ombudsman since 2008, where she was the first an adviser, and then from 2013, the deputy Ombudsman.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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DEPUTIES<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dijana Kesonja <\/strong>was born on 1 November 1975 in Rijeka. In 1999 she graduated with an MA in Law from the University of Rijeka\u2019s Faculty of Law and in 2015 obtained a postgraduate specialist degree in European Integrations Law.<\/p>

Mrs. Kesonja passed her bar exam in 2001, after which she served as a legal trainee and, since 2003, an attorney at law. From 2014 until her appointment as Deputy Ombudswoman on 15 July 2021 she was employed in the Office of the Ombudswoman\u2019s Anti-discrimination Department at the Rijeka Regional Office serving as the Ombudswoman\u2019s advisor for legal affairs and strategic litigation.<\/p>

Mrs. Kesonja\u2019s specializations include combating discrimination (with an emphasis on the areas of labor and employment), whistleblower protection and combating hate speech.<\/p>

In the course of her career, Mrs. Kesonja served as member of numerous expert working groups, participated in various human rights seminars, conferences and public forums at the international level and delivered training sessions on the topic of combating discrimination for civil servants, university students, trade union representatives, as well as members of other ombudsman institutions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sedina Dubrav\u010di\u0107\u00a0<\/strong>was born on 10 May 1982 in Rijeka and graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Rijeka in 2006. She started her career in the Ministry of Finance \u2013 Tax Administration, continuing in the Ministry of Justice, where she worked as Head of the Succession Division, Secretary of Cabinet of the Minister and Head of the Service for International Cooperation and Development and Improvement of the Normative Framework in the Sector for the Prevention of Corruption.<\/p>

As a member of the legal team of the Republic of Croatia, in March 2014 she participated in the hearing in Croatia\u2019s action against the Republic of Serbia for violating the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide before the International Court of Justice in the Hague.<\/p>

Since 2021 she has been working as an advisor to the Ombudswoman for legal affairs in the Service for the Protection of the Persons Reporting Irregularities.<\/p>

She was a member of several expert working groups and participated in the work and organisation of numerous international seminars, high level conferences in the field of the prevention of corruption and events within the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2020. She also conducted trainings for confidential persons related to the protection of the persons reporting irregularities.<\/p>

Mrs. Dubrav\u010di\u0107 was elected deputy Ombudswoman in the Croatian Parliament on 15 July 2024.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sa\u0161a Raji\u0107\u00a0<\/strong>was born on 7 July 1964 in Zagreb. He holds a degree in social pedagogy from the University of Zagreb\u2019s Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, as well as a PhD in the area of violence prevention in the prison system.<\/p>

Prior to his appointment as Deputy Ombudsman, Mr. Raji\u0107 served as head of the Zagreb Prison Hospital. His previous positions include various senior posts in the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, the prison system, as well as the probation and victims and witnesses support systems.<\/p>

In the course of his career Mr. Raji\u0107 participated in various national and international projects, conferences, and expert meetings and authored numerous publications with a focus on the functioning of the prison system and the probation service, as well as served as a lecturer at the Prison System and Probation Directorate\u2019s Training Center and a guest lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tatjana Vla\u0161i\u0107\u00a0<\/strong>was born on 12 January 1978 in Zagreb. She holds an MA from the University of Zagreb\u2019s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and a joint MA degree in Democracy and Human Rights from the Universities of Sarajevo and Bologna. As a Fulbright Scholarship recipient, she attended a specialization at the University of California, Berkley with a focus on anti-discrimination policies.<\/p>

From 2008 to 2015 she served as advisor and, subsequently, assistant to the director of the Government Office for Human Rights and the Rights of National Minorities. From 2015 until her appointment as Deputy Ombudswoman she was employed as advisor to the Ombudswoman, performing duties such as managing national and international projects, undertaking research, delivering training sessions for various stakeholders, engaging in co-operation at both the national and the international levels, as well as organizing public campaigns and conferences in the areas of human rights protection and combating discrimination.<\/p>

An important part of Mrs. Vla\u0161i\u0107\u2019s work includes co-operation with the key stakeholders at the international level, such as the United Nations, UNHCR, the Council of Europe and OSCE\/ODIHR, performing the role of the Croatian national liaison officer for the co-operation with the European Union\u2019s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), teaching anti-discrimination and Constitutional human rights protection courses at the State School for Public Administration, as well as participating in the process of the 2019 and 2025 re-accreditation of the Office of the Ombudswoman as a Status A national human rights institution in line with the UN\u2019s Paris Principles.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About us The Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia is a commissioner of the Croatian Parliament responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights and freedoms, the performance of the mandates of the National Equality Body, as well the National Preventive Mechanism for the protection of the persons deprived of their liberty, and is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4380","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4380"}],"version-history":[{"count":99,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23637,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4380\/revisions\/23637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}