Ombudsman

	Ombudsman Board ; Austrian Authority
State level	Federation
Position of the authority	Independent body of external control of the administration
founding	1977
Headquarters	Vienna
Authority management	Chairman of the Ombudsman Board
Budget volume	EUR 12 million (2020)
Website	volksanwaltschaft.gv.at

Seat of the Ombudsman Board in the Rottal Palace

The ombudsman 's office in Austria , which consists of three members, is set up as a parliamentary ombudsman to monitor public administration. It is available free of charge to all people who have problems with authorities who feel that they have been treated unfairly by organs of the administration and have already exhausted all legal remedies. In addition, since 2012, the Ombudsman's Office, as a national preventive mechanism, has also been responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights in Austria. The Ombudsman 's Office is also the General Secretariat of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), to which numerous institutions worldwide that are comparable to the Ombudsman 's Office belong.

The Federal Ombudsman's Office was introduced on a trial basis in 1977 and anchored in the federal constitution in 1981 .

Duties and powers

The task of the members of the Ombudsman Board is to point out maladministration. The Ombudsman's Office can examine all authorities and organs of the federal administration as well as the authorities and organs of the state and municipal administration in all federal states with the exception of Tyrol and Vorarlberg . In Tyrol and Vorarlberg there are separate state public prosecutors with similar powers. Self-governing bodies, such as the social security agencies , also fall within the remit of the Ombudsman Board. In addition to the sovereign administration, the files of the private sector administration, such as the allocation of communal apartments, federal forests, cemetery administration, etc. can also be checked. However, unlike the Court of Auditors , the Ombudsman's Office cannot audit state-owned companies such as the federal railways . In this regard, criticism has also come from the Ombudsman Board itself that, due to the outsourcing of public administration institutions that could previously be controlled by the Ombudsman Board, they are now no longer subject to control by the Ombudsman Board.

The jurisdiction of the courts and administrative courts does not fall within the remit of the Ombudsman Board. There is one exception here, however: according to Art. 148a, Paragraph 4 of the Federal Constitution , the Ombudsman's Office is responsible for dealing with cases of default or delays in proceedings by the courts.

The control of the administration by the Ombudsman Board is initiated on the basis of complaints or at its own discretion (official review procedure). Complaints can be filed by anyone regardless of age, nationality or place of residence according to Art. 148a Para. 1 B-VG due to alleged deficiencies in the Austrian administration if there is no longer any legal remedy or remedy available, i.e. when the procedure has been concluded. The behavior of the administrative bodies can therefore also be examined by the Ombudsman Board (inaction, rudeness).

The authorities are obliged to provide administrative assistance to the Ombudsman Board in their investigations . If the ombudsmen have discovered deficiencies, they cannot issue binding instructions to the authorities after the examination process has been completed, but only make recommendations. However, if these recommendations are not followed, the authorities are obliged to justify this in writing.

Human rights

On July 1, 2012, the Ombudsman Board received a new legal basis and thus new tasks: It is now also responsible for the preventive control of human rights in state and private institutions in which there are or could be restrictions on freedom. It also reviews facilities and programs to improve protection against violence for people with disabilities. In order to be able to implement the tasks of the human rights house of the republic, the Ombudsman Board set up six regional commissions. The expert commissions have unrestricted access to all facilities and receive all information and documents required to carry out their mandate.

Around 4,000 public and private institutions are controlled by the Ombudsman Board. These include u. a. Prisons, barracks, psychiatric facilities, old people's and nursing homes, residential communities for young people and facilities for people with disabilities. The Ombudsman Board and its committees also monitor and review the exercise of direct command and coercive power by the executive. This also includes deportations. This implements the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) as well as the provisions of the UN Disability Rights Convention. The Ombudsman Board takes on the tasks of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) and controls the protection and promotion of human rights in Austria.

Broadcasts on ORF

The ORF reported on cases that were of particular interest to the public in various programs, in which both the title and the moderators were changed over time.

Until 1991, the program A case for the Ombudsman was broadcast.

After that, only a few cases of the Ombudsman were dealt with in the program Conflicts moderated by Walter Schiejok .

In 2001, with the broadcast Volksanwalt - equal rights for all, the cooperation with the ORF under Peter Resetarits as moderator and editor was intensified again. Since 2007, ORF has been dealing with selected cases of the Ombudsman Board every Saturday afternoon in the program Bürgeranwalt .

Composition of the Ombudsman Board

The Ombudsman Board has three members, each of six years ordered to be and at this time also can not be sold. Bernhard Achitz , Werner Amon and Walter Rosenkranz are currently the members of the Ombudsman Board . They were elected by the National Council for the term of office from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2025. Ombudsmen can only be re-elected once. They are elected by the National Council according to Art. 148g B-VG , the chairmanship of the Ombudsman Board changes annually between the members. The members of the Ombudsman Board work together as colleagues and are independent in their work. The candidates for the Ombudsman Board are nominated by the three parties with the highest mandate in the National Council, then proposed by the main committee and finally elected by the plenary . In the event of a tie, the number of votes in the last National Council election decides. The addition, according to which the number of votes is decisive, was added in 2012 because the election in 2007 resulted in a tie in mandates.

Since ombudsmen are proposed by the parties, people are usually elected who have previously worked in federal politics. Critics therefore see supply posts in the Ombudsman's Office . Proponents see political experience as an asset.

Members of the Ombudsman Board

On June 6, 2019, the ombudsmen were proposed by the National Council's main committee for the term of office starting on July 1, 2019 and lasting until June 30, 2025 ; they were elected by the National Council on June 13, 2019 and by Federal President Alexander Van on July 1, 2019 der Bellen sworn in .

The current and all former members are shown in the table below.

Term of office	Members
1977-1983	Robert Weisz ( SPÖ )	Franz Bauer ( ÖVP ), until 1988	Gustav Zeillinger ( FPÖ )
1983-1989	Franziska Fast (SPÖ)	Franz Bauer ( ÖVP ), until 1988	Helmuth Josseck (FPÖ)
1983-1989	Franziska Fast (SPÖ)	Herbert Kohlmaier (ÖVP), from 1988	Helmuth Josseck (FPÖ)
1989-1995	Evelyn Messner (SPÖ), until 1998	Herbert Kohlmaier (ÖVP), from 1988	Horst Schender (FPÖ)
1995-2001	Evelyn Messner (SPÖ), until 1998	Ingrid Korosec (ÖVP)
1995-2001	Christa Krammer (SPÖ), from 1999	Ingrid Korosec (ÖVP)
2001-2007	Peter Kostelka (SPÖ)	Rosemarie Bauer (ÖVP)	Ewald Stadler (FPÖ), until 2006
2001-2007		Rosemarie Bauer (ÖVP)	Hilmar Kabas (FPÖ), from 2006
2007-2013		Maria Fekter (ÖVP), until 2008	Terezija Stoisits ( The Greens )
2007-2013		Gertrude Brinek (ÖVP), from July 14, 2008	Terezija Stoisits ( The Greens )
2013-2019	Günther Herbs (SPÖ)	Gertrude Brinek (ÖVP), from July 14, 2008	Peter Fichtenbauer (FPÖ)
2019-2025	Bernhard Achitz (SPÖ)	Werner Amon (ÖVP)	Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ)

State Public Prosecutors

Most federal states have commissioned the ombudsman's office in their state constitutions to also review their state administration; only Tyrol and Vorarlberg have their own state public prosecutor for these tasks .

State public prosecutors are currently:

in Tyrol: Josef Hauser , from 2004. Maria Luise Berger has been appointed since April 2016 .
in Vorarlberg: Florian Bachmayr-Heyda , since 2015

In the Viennese care sector, the care ombudsman Werner Vogt, appointed by the former city councilor Elisabeth Pittermann , performed similar tasks from 2003 to 2008.