Polish Ombudsman

Poland

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Poland
Constitution Human rights
Legislative Parliament Senate Sejm
Executive President (list) Andrzej Duda Prime Minister (list) Beata Szydło Cabinet Ministries
Judiciary Courts and tribunals Constitutional Tribunal Supreme Court Supreme Administrative Court State Tribunal Offices Supreme Audit Office Officeholders Public Prosecutor General Ombudsman
Recent elections Presidential 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Parliamentary 1989 1991 1993 1997 2001 2005 2007 2011 2015 European 2004 2009 Local 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 Referendums 1996 1997 2003 2015
Political parties Civic Platform Law and Justice Democratic Left Alliance Polish People's Party Poland Comes First Politicians
Administrative divisions Voivodeships Counties (powiat) Communes (gmina) Cities and towns
Foreign relations Ambassadors
Related topics Economy History (political) Armed forces
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

Polish Ombudsman's Office at 77 „Solidarnośc” Avenue in Warsaw

The Polish Ombudsman (Polish: Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich, literally Advocate for Citizens' Rights, now referring to itself in English as the "Human Rights Defender," often abbreviated RPO) is an independent central office of the Republic of Poland. The office was first established on January 1, 1988. Its functioning is regulated by the Constitution and an act of Polish parliament (Sejm) from July 15, 1987. The office is accredited as Poland's national human rights institution.

Responsibilities and powers of the Polish Ombudsman

Polish law entrusts the ombudsman with four responsibilities with respect to citizen rights:

prevention
diagnosis
monitoring
creativity

The ombudsman, deputies and the office protect freedom and rights of the people. They monitor current events. In case they find that due to intentional actions (or lack thereof) by agencies, organizations or institutions which are duty bound to respect freedoms and rights of the people, these freedoms and rights were violated, they undertake action. In such cases, they can act on behalf of the people in courts. The office can undertake such actions only if a thorough analysis of the situation shows that the rights or the freedoms of the people were infringed, and only if such analysis recognizes the need for the ombudsman to be involved in a case. The people have right to ask the ombudsman for intervention.

Election, recall and term of office

The ombudsman is elected by an act of Sejm and has to be accepted by the Senate.
The term of office is five years long and the same person cannot hold the office more than twice.
Sejm has the right to recall the ombudsman with 3/5 majority before the end of term.

List of Polish Ombudsmen:

Ewa Łętowska (November 19, 1987 - February 12, 1992)
Tadeusz Zieliński (February 13, 1992 - May 7, 1996)
Adam Zieliński (May 8, 1996 - June 29, 2000)
Andrzej Zoll (June 30, 2000 - January 27, 2006)
Janusz Kochanowski (January 27, 2006 - April 10, 2010)
Irena Lipowicz (July 21, 2010 - July, 2015)
Adam Bodnar (since September 9, 2015)

Dr Kochanowski died in office, as a result of the Smolensk air disaster.

External links

Official site (in English)

Ombudsmen for Citizen Rights of Poland

Ewa Łętowska Tadeusz Zieliński Adam Zieliński Andrzej Zoll Janusz Kochanowski Irena Lipowicz

Authority control	WorldCat LCCN: n90656014 GND: 5029720-X

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, September 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.