Ombudsman Issues
Progress Report January - June 2004

Regional Conference on Ombudsman issues

The Stability Pact together with the Serbian Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self Government and the Eunomia Project of the Greek Ombudsman and in cooperation with other international organisations will organise a Regional Conference of Ombudsmen of South-Eastern Europe, in Belgrade in Autumn 2004.

Given the strong interest of both the Stability Pact and the ombudsmen of the SEE region for enhanced cooperation amongst each other, the success of the Eunomia project that was launched under the umbrella of the Stability Pact in 2000, the support of international organisations, and mostly the clear political commitment of the Serbian government to proceed within 2004 with legislation establishing an Ombudsman institution in Serbia, the Stability Pact envisages organising and coordinating a regional conference that will bring together the ombudsmen of the SEE region to share experiences and exchange views on common challenges facing their work. It is hoped that the conference will be able to establish more permanent links of cooperation between the ombudsmen, and ultimately contributing to strengthened citizens’ rights in South-Eastern Europe.

The conference will focus on the current challenges and future perspective of Ombudsman institutions in S/E Europe, Ombudsman’s mandate regarding rule of law and human rights, the compliance of the administration with the Ombudsman recommendations, relations of the Ombudsman with the judiciary and its role in the legislative procedure, as well as on the thematic issues of corruption and organised crime, and trafficking.