Memorandum by The British And Irish Ombudsman
Association
The membership of the British and Irish Ombudsman
Association includes all the established ombudsmen in the United
Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland and we would like to offer
our comments on the proposal in the Constitutional Reform Bill
for a Judicial Ombudsman.
There has already been an exchange of correspondence
with the Department for Constitutional Affairs, following a meeting
with their officials at which the Association was represented
by Walter Merricks, Chief Financial Ombudsman and Chairman of
the Association, and Ann Abraham, Parliamentary and Health Service
Ombudsman. The key points which the Association wishes to make
about the proposal for a Judicial Ombudsman are:
Appointments
In relation to dealing with complaints about
the appointments process, we consider that this would be compatible
with and appropriately handled by the Office of the Commissioner
for Public Appointments. We understand that Dame Rennie Fritchie,
the Commissioner, would have no objection to this.
Conduct
In relation to the proposed role in connection
with judicial conduct, we have grave doubts as to whether the
limited functions envisaged in the proposal add up to anything
that is really an ombudsman role. The proposal says more about
what the Ombudsman will not be able to do rather than what he
or she will be empowered to do.
In para 21 it is proposed that the Ombudsman
would "review the handling of the complaint and may make
recommendations to the Lord Chief Justice and Secretary of State".
In para 23 it is proposed that the Ombudsman's report will say
whether a complaint about the handling of the process was found
to be justified. If the Ombudsman's role is to be confined to
examining whether procedures have been properly followed without
commenting on the merits of the complaint, it is unlikely that
the Ombudsman will be able to satisfy anyone, or add much by way
of underpinning confidence in the system as a whole.
Given that the lessons of enquiries into judicial
(mis)conduct ought sensibly to feed into the process of making
new appointments, there may be a case for embedding the proposed
task within the Judicial Appointments Commission, and assigning
this as a particular function to one of the Commissioners.
Workload
We doubt whether the size of the workload envisaged
merits setting up a new separate office.
22 April 2004
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