The election has been called (or the bell rung as some would say) and the manifestos, plans/vision(s), or whatever you call it, are now available. As usual, we note many promises. We believe promises should be measurable, and achievable.
One of the promises we note in manifesto 2012 (FNM), as well as by the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is if either is elected, they will enact or cause to be enacted an Ombudsman Act. We have not seen the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) plan so we are not aware if this is on its agenda also.
We have heard this promise before dating back to 1992. In the summer of 1992, the FNM in its manifesto promised the Bahamian electorate that "an FNM government will enact legislation to create the Office of Ombudsman, with the following commitments:
1. To safeguard the independence of the ombudsman.
2. To allocate the resources necessary to carry out the mission of the ombudsman.
3. To educate the public so that potential complaints will come forward.
4. To require that a full report with matters dealt with by ombudsman be laid on table of Parliament annually."
Fast forward and today the Office of Ombudsman is still not a reality. We note that the PLP never seemingly, publicly, embraced the concept of an ombudsman. Again, we have not seen the PLP plan so we don't know if it now embraces this office also.
We wrote about this back in July 2003 and believe with the upcoming general election upon us that we should revisit this issue again, and are very happy to see it on two of the political parties platforms seeking office. Today we will look at the role of an ombudsman, examining how it functions.
We must admit that historically we were always intrigued by the concept of an ombudsman, which originated in Sweden and is defined as a government official appointed to receive and investigate complaints made by individuals against abuses or capricious acts of public officials. Many of our Commonwealth sister countries have also seen fit to create an Office of Ombudsman.
In 1967, the United Kingdom through the Parliamentary Commissioner Act, created a Parliamentary Ombudsman (PO) - also called the parliamentary commissioner for administration. The PO deals with complaints from members of the public that they have suffered injustice because of maladministration by government departments or certain other public bodies.
Additionally, this office also deals with complaints about problems in obtaining access to official information. The U.K. went one step further in 1994 when it implemented the code of practice on access to government information.

Structure
In the U.K., the ombudsman is independent of government and is not a civil servant. The PO is an officer of the House of Commons, appointed by the Queen, who reports to Parliament. Complaints to PO are confidential; and investigations are private. There is no charge for the services performed by the Office of Ombudsman.
The ombudsman can only consider complaints against central government departments and those other public bodies (or organizations acting on their behalf) that the law allows the office to investigate. The most recent road works complaints by the affected business owners would have been an example of where the Office of Ombudsman would have addressed their complaint. This again would have left the already strained court system to focus on other matters.
Examples of bodies where the PO has no authority to investigate include the police, judges and local authorities.

What can the
ombudsman investigate?
The office can consider any complaint of maladministration by those bodies which has caused injustice. Generally, "maladministration" means poor administration or the wrong application of rules.
Some examples include:
o Avoidable delays.
o Faulty procedures or failing to follow correct procedures.
o Not telling you about any rights of appeal you have.
o Unfairness, bias or prejudice.
o Giving advice which is misleading or inadequate.
o Refusing to answer reasonable questions.
o Discourtesy, and failure to apologize properly for errors.
o Mistakes in handling your claims.
o Not offering an adequate remedy where one is due.

What can't the ombudsman investigate?
The ombudsman cannot investigate:
o Complaints which are about government policy or the content of legislation. Policy is for the government to determine; and legislation is for Parliament.
o The investigation of crime; judges' decisions, or actions taken under their direction; or matters relating to national security.
o Decisions about whether to begin court proceedings, or how they are conducted.
o Contractual or commercial transactions, except where they involve land subject to compulsory purchase.
o Complaints about public service personnel matters.
o Normally, complaints put to a MP 12 months or more after you became aware of the matters you are complaining about.
o The ombudsman cannot usually investigate any matter for which you can obtain a remedy by appeal to an independent tribunal (for example the valuation tribunal), or by proceedings in a court of law.
Following an investigation, the ombudsman may conclude that the complaint was wholly or partly justified, or that it was not justified. If the ombudsman finds that your complaint is justified, he can recommend that the organization complained about should provide a remedy.
The ombudsman has no power to enforce his recommendations; but the government almost always accepts them. Sometimes investigations reveal faults in procedures or systems; and the ombudsman's report can lead a department or body to revise their procedures so others do not suffer the same difficulties.
We are not suggesting that The Bahamas should create such an institution just because others have done so. To date one has not been established. We believe that efforts should be made to explore and ascertain whether such an institution could be used, if properly structured and respected, to enhance our democracy and a greater level of accountability in our public system. We hope whomever wins the government seeks to explore the benefits of such an office and, if deemed in the best interest of good governance, an Office of Ombudsman be established.

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