In early 1998 the Law Program of the Center for the Study of
Democracy began exploring the possibility of introducing an
Ombudsman-type institution on a national level to act as a
complementary mechanism for monitoring and control over the public
administration and an out-of-court means of respecting and
restoring the rights of citizens violated by the state or by
government officials. As a result an Expert Task Force to the CSD
Law Program was formed, which developed a Concept Paper and a Draft
Law for Bulgaria.
History of the Draft Law Development
Process. Previous Draft Law Versions
The work on introducing Ombudsman Institution in Bulgaria
started in 1998 with a comprehensive research and analysis of the
existing legal framework and the functioning of this institution in
a number of established and new democracies. A number of foreign
laws have been translated and distributed including the ones of Austria, Greece, Macedonia, Litva, Poland, Hungary, Spain, United Kingdom, Romania, Sweden, Argentina, Costa Rica
(available in Bulgarian only).
The concept developed on the basis of this analysis takes into
account the existing needs and public attitudes, and political,
legal and constitutional realities in Bulgaria. It formulates a set
of recommendations for the future introduction of the Ombudsman,
its status and role in the country's political and legal system,
and outlines the basic elements of its future legal regulation. In
April 1999 the CSD Law Program experts completed the first Draft
Law on the People's Defender.
In the beginning of 2000 the work on introducing the Ombudsman
Institution in Bulgaria continued further by including substantial
changes in the developed Draft Law. The most significant of them
were related to the inclusion of provisions about the local civic
mediators. These provisions formed a separate Chapter Ten of the
Draft Law. The inclusion of provisions about the civic mediators
made it necessary other texts of the Draft Law to be amended
including its title, which was changed to Draft Law on the People's
Defender and the Civic Mediators. Other amendments were made in
relation to the powers of the People's Defender and the
confidentiality of his documents. In the course of the work the
comments and recommendations of the institutions concerned and of
foreign experts were discussed and most of them were incorporated
in the April 2000 version of the Draft Law on the People's Defender
and the Civic Mediators (English, Bulgarian)
On November 8, 2000, a group of MP's presented the Draft Law on
Ombudsman together with the explanatory notes to the National
Assembly for the beginning of the legislative procedure for its
adoption. See the version of the Draft Law on Ombudsman (English,
Bulgarian)
and the Explanatory Notes (English, Bulgarian)
presented to the Parliament.
The National Assembly did not manage to adopt the law before the
parliamentary elections in the summer of 2001 the CSD expert group
introduced further changes to the Draft Law and in August 2001
prepared an improved version of the Draft Law on the Civic Defender
and the Local Civic Mediators. The improved version of the Draft
Law together with the revised explanatory notes were presented to
the Chair of the 39th National Assembly and to the Chairs of the
Parliamentary Committees on Human Rights, on Complaints and
Petitions of Citizens, and on Legal Issues.
Public Policy Events
Between March 19 - 25, 2000, Mr. Jeoffry Dubrow, Program Manager
of the Parliamentary Centre of Canada, and Mr. Patrick Robardet,
Legal Affairs and Research Director, Office of the Public
Protector, Quebec, Canada, visited Sofia. They acquainted with the
changes made to the Draft Law and presented their comments. The
Canadian experts expressed their readiness to cooperate further for
introducing the Ombudsman Institution in Bulgaria.
On June 8 - 9, 2000, Mr. Claes Eklundh, Chief Parliamentary
Ombudsman of Sweden, visited Sofia for a second time. During his
stay he had a series of talks with state institutions
representatives concerning the establishment of the institution in
Bulgaria. See
more
On June 12 - 20, 2000, a Bulgarian Parliamentary Delegation
visited Canada on the invitation of the Parliamentary Centre of
Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
The aim of the visit was to study the Canadian experience in
developing the Ombudsman Institution and other accountability
mechanisms. See
more
On November 24, 2000, an International Conference Establishment
of Ombudsman Institution in Bulgaria was held in the National
Assembly in Sofia. It was jointly organized by the Parliamentary
Commission on Human Rights, Religions, Complaints and Petitions of
the Citizens, American Bar Association - Central and East European
Law Initiative, Union of Jurists in Bulgaria and the Center for the
Study of Democracy. See
more
From February 28 till March 3, 2002, a Round Table Discussion on
the establishment of the Ombudsman Institution in Bulgaria was
organized by CSD Law Program with the support of Open Society
Foundation - Sofia. The event was attended by the CSD Law Program
experts who developed the Draft Law on the Civic Defender and the
Local Civic Mediators and by judges, lawyers and representatives of
civil organizations actively involved in the process of
establishing the Ombudsman Institution in Bulgaria. See more
As a follow up of the Round Table Discussion, on March 3, 2002,
CSD hosted a workshop on the establishment of the Ombudsman
Institution in Bulgaria, organized by the CSD Law Program with the
support of Open Society Foundation - Sofia. See more
Publications
In September 2000 the CSD Law Program published the
edition Ombudsman Institution: Concept Paper and Draft Law for
Bulgaria. Foreign Legislation. The collection contains the
concept paper on the legal opportunities for establishing this
institution in Bulgaria together with the Draft Law on the People's
Defender and the Civic Mediators. See more
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