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De Nationale Ombudsman

NETHERLAND

A NEW POLICY

The National Ombudsman of the Netherlands has a new policy concerning the handling of complaints since January this year. In general the National Ombudsman will not deal with complaints that have not first been submitted to and handled by the relevant administrative authority. However if the complaint was not recognised as such or if the complaint was not handled within the proper time, the National Ombudsman would handle the complaint. From now on the Ombudsman will apply this rule more strictly. In doing so he hopes that more complaints will be dealt with in accordance with chapter 9 of the General Administrative Act.
The ninth chapter of the General Administrative Act came into force in 1999 and contains regulations for complaint procedures for all administrative authorities in the Netherlands. From these rules it follows that every administrative authority must have a complaint procedure. Furthermore the law is very specific about the time period within which a complaint has to be dealt with. The administrative authority is also obliged to hear the complainant in person. This so called internal complaint procedure precedes the external complaint procedure which is most often dealt with by the National Ombudsman.

However, an administrative authority sometimes finds it difficult to recognise a complaint as such. If someone complains but doesn't explicitly state in his letter that he is complaining, it is not unusual for the letter to end up in a file without anyone ever doing anything with it. In the past if the complainant did not get any response from the administration he would go to the National Ombudsman who would intervene in the matter or start an investigation. In future the National Ombudsman will first try to find out if the complaint has been submitted to the relevant administrative authority. If that is not the case he will refer the complainant to the authority and point out to it that chapter 9 of the General Administrative Act has not been properly applied. The authority is then asked to deal with the letter in accordance with the law.

The National Ombudsman informed all relevant administrative authorities in a letter of this new policy in December last year. The response was very positive as most administrative authorities want to deal with their own (internal) problems first, before the National Ombudsman does. In that way they can get a chance to solve the matter themselves and learn from it, and not be subjected to an investigation and a public report.

Up until now a large number of complaints have been sent back to the relevant administrative authorities. If the new policy will result in better complaint handling, is a question that can only be answered in the future. Meanwhile we hope that this new policy will help the responsible administrative authorities improve their contacts with citizens, and at the same time improve their organisation.

INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

On 23 October the National Ombudsman dr. Roel Fernhout participated in a seminar on the Ombudsman: de kernwaarden van de functie, in Brussels, Belgium. The seminar was organised by the parliamentary Ombudsmen of Belgium and the Koning Boudewijnstichting. Dr. Roel Fernhout spoke on the task and function of the Ombudsman.

From 21-23 November dr. Roel Fernhout participated in the 7th Round Table with European Ombudsmen, in Zurich, Switzerland.
The National Ombudsman spoke at the meeting organised by the Commissioner for Human Rights on migration in Europe and the role of the Ombudsman.

On 26 November prof. dr. C.F.G. Suinaryati Hartono, vice chairman of the National Ombudsman Commission of Indonesia, visited the office of the National Ombudsman.

On 7 December three French laureates visited the National Ombudsman. They make a study on the subject "relationships with customers and the public".

On 14 December the National Ombudsman participated in a Round Table on the Serbian draft law on Ombudsman, in Belgrade, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Round Table was organised by the Serbian Ministry of Justice, The council of Europe, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, OSCE/ODHIR and the OSCE Mission to the FRY.

De Nationale Ombudsman

NETHERLAND

A NEW POLICY

The National Ombudsman of the Netherlands has a new policy concerning the handling of complaints since January this year. In general the National Ombudsman will not deal with complaints that have not first been submitted to and handled by the relevant administrative authority. However if the complaint was not recognised as such or if the complaint was not handled within the proper time, the National Ombudsman would handle the complaint. From now on the Ombudsman will apply this rule more strictly. In doing so he hopes that more complaints will be dealt with in accordance with chapter 9 of the General Administrative Act.
The ninth chapter of the General Administrative Act came into force in 1999 and contains regulations for complaint procedures for all administrative authorities in the Netherlands. From these rules it follows that every administrative authority must have a complaint procedure. Furthermore the law is very specific about the time period within which a complaint has to be dealt with. The administrative authority is also obliged to hear the complainant in person. This so called internal complaint procedure precedes the external complaint procedure which is most often dealt with by the National Ombudsman.

However, an administrative authority sometimes finds it difficult to recognise a complaint as such. If someone complains but doesn't explicitly state in his letter that he is complaining, it is not unusual for the letter to end up in a file without anyone ever doing anything with it. In the past if the complainant did not get any response from the administration he would go to the National Ombudsman who would intervene in the matter or start an investigation. In future the National Ombudsman will first try to find out if the complaint has been submitted to the relevant administrative authority. If that is not the case he will refer the complainant to the authority and point out to it that chapter 9 of the General Administrative Act has not been properly applied. The authority is then asked to deal with the letter in accordance with the law.

The National Ombudsman informed all relevant administrative authorities in a letter of this new policy in December last year. The response was very positive as most administrative authorities want to deal with their own (internal) problems first, before the National Ombudsman does. In that way they can get a chance to solve the matter themselves and learn from it, and not be subjected to an investigation and a public report.

Up until now a large number of complaints have been sent back to the relevant administrative authorities. If the new policy will result in better complaint handling, is a question that can only be answered in the future. Meanwhile we hope that this new policy will help the responsible administrative authorities improve their contacts with citizens, and at the same time improve their organisation.

INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

On 23 October the National Ombudsman dr. Roel Fernhout participated in a seminar on the Ombudsman: de kernwaarden van de functie, in Brussels, Belgium. The seminar was organised by the parliamentary Ombudsmen of Belgium and the Koning Boudewijnstichting. Dr. Roel Fernhout spoke on the task and function of the Ombudsman.

From 21-23 November dr. Roel Fernhout participated in the 7th Round Table with European Ombudsmen, in Zurich, Switzerland.
The National Ombudsman spoke at the meeting organised by the Commissioner for Human Rights on migration in Europe and the role of the Ombudsman.

On 26 November prof. dr. C.F.G. Suinaryati Hartono, vice chairman of the National Ombudsman Commission of Indonesia, visited the office of the National Ombudsman.

On 7 December three French laureates visited the National Ombudsman. They make a study on the subject "relationships with customers and the public".

On 14 December the National Ombudsman participated in a Round Table on the Serbian draft law on Ombudsman, in Belgrade, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Round Table was organised by the Serbian Ministry of Justice, The council of Europe, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, OSCE/ODHIR and the OSCE Mission to the FRY.