Příběh veřejného ochránce práv

Vznikla kolem roku 200 lety ve Švédsku, Veřejný ochránce práv byl státní úředník účtovány sloužit jako obhájce pro občany se stížnostmi nebo problémy s vládou. They are sometimes called “classic” ombudsmen and serve today in various government positions in the United States and around the world.

Soukromý (tj., nevládní) ochránci práv se začaly objevovat ve Spojených státech v roce 1960, především v nemocnicích a na univerzitách v reakci na studentské bouře. Over the next several decades large corporations and other institutions, jako jsou noviny, začal jmenování ombudsmana nebo zřízení kanceláří veřejného ochránce práv. Ty slouží v soukromém sektoru, se nazývají organizační ombudsmani.

Reaction to recent major corporate and financial scandals has accelerated the ombudsman movement. V 2005, some groups merged to form the International Ombudsman Association. IOA has promulgated a Code of Ethics and Standard of Practice for the profession. In year 2010 Charles L. Howard produced “The Organizational Ombudsman” (under the auspices of the American Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section), a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

There are no licensing or other requirements for ombudsmen, nor any uniform definition or description of what they do. Howard says that they operate under the principles of independence, neutrality, confidentiality and informality, and that their work can be distilled into these broad categories: (1) communications and outreach, (2) issue resolution and identification of areas for systemic change and (3) issue prevention. However, “most of the everyday work of an ombuds is involved in issue resolution” and serving as an information resource for the company’s various constituencies, according to Howard.

The current edition of the Corporate Legal Compliance Handbook states: “Whether the search for the ombudsman is internal or external, there are certain characteristics that are important for the candidates…Often, mediation and facilitation skills are valuable traits for the ombudsman. Most important, the ombudsperson must be a skilled listener and…have a reputation of being trustworthy and credible.”

To address the perceived gender issue with the term “ombudsman,” some use the term “ombudsperson.” More are coming to use simply “ombuds.”