Ombudswoman Tena \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter participated in an International Forum of Ombudsman Institutions of Central and South-Eastern Europe, dedicated to their role in the protection of human rights and the strengthening of good governance, held in Istanbul on 3 and 4 September 2026.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the challenges faced by ombudsman and other independent institutions in their work, Ombudswoman \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter highlighted several key challenges they have in common, despite the different legal systems and traditions of the countries they represent.<\/p>\n
The key question is not whether ombudsman institutions have strong mandates on paper, but whether they bring about tangible positive change for citizens facing concrete problems. Such change can be achieved through the implementation of these institutions\u2019 recommendations by the competent authorities, while the failure to implement recommendations remains one of the common challenges faced by many ombudsman institutions.<\/p>\n
The Ombudswoman also emphasised that many institutions face challenges related to their independence in practice, including the need to ensure sufficient financial resources and other conditions necessary for their effective work. In this context, she particularly referred to the fact that these are often multi-mandate institutions which, in addition to the ombudsman mandate, perform other roles, such as that of a National Human Rights Institution, a National Equality Body, a National Preventive Mechanism for the prevention of torture, and a whistleblower protection body, as is the case with the institution of the Ombudswoman of Croatia. While the expansion of mandates formally strengthens their role and importance, it must be accompanied by a corresponding strengthening of their capacities to effectively perform all of their responsibilities.<\/p>\n
In their work, the Ombudswoman stressed, cooperation between ombudsman institutions and other state and public authorities and institutions is also essential. In many countries, such cooperation is often not at the necessary level and is not viewed as a means of achieving a shared objective \u2013 strengthening the protection of citizens\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
This is particularly important in the context of maintaining political impartiality. Although ombudsman institutions frequently deal with politically and socially sensitive issues and are sometimes perceived as political actors, which they are not, they operate within the national legal framework and in accordance with the principle of the rule of law.<\/p>\n
The Ombudswoman also highlighted the important role these institutions play in the legislative process, precisely because of their unique position as a bridge between citizens and the system and their insight into the real-life problems citizens face. This puts them in a particularly strong position to assess the potential impact of legislative solutions on citizens\u2019 lives. Unfortunately, however, their recommendations are often not sufficiently considered before legislation enters into force, but only after its implementation has already resulted in violations of citizens\u2019 rights in practice.<\/p>\n
Speaking about emerging challenges faced by ombudsman institutions, the Ombudswoman highlighted digitalisation and the impact of the use of artificial intelligence systems on citizens\u2019 rights, particularly in the field of public administration.<\/p>\n
Concluding her address, Ombudswoman \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter presented five interconnected recommendations aimed at strengthening the position of ombudsman and other independent institutions. These concern safeguarding their genuine institutional independence; improving the implementation of their recommendations by the competent authorities; ensuring the resources necessary for effective work when their mandates and responsibilities are expanded; strengthening meaningful and effective cooperation with other national authorities; and maintaining public trust in and the legitimacy of their work in an increasingly polarised social environment.<\/p>\n
In addition to Ombudswoman \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter, the event brought together representatives of ombudsman institutions from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ombudswoman Tena \u0160imonovi\u0107 Einwalter participated in an International Forum of Ombudsman Institutions of Central and South-Eastern Europe, dedicated to their role in the protection of human rights and the strengthening of good governance, held in Istanbul on 3 and 4 September 2026. Speaking about the challenges faced by ombudsman and other independent institutions in their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":24427,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3_.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24435,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24434\/revisions\/24435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ombudsman.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}