Download This PaperThe Global Ombudsman
Presented at the 12th Winelands Conference on Public Leadership for Added Citizen Value, 15-19 March 2010, Stellenbosch, South Africa
19 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2017
Date Written: February 2010
Abstract
This paper discusses how a Global Ombudsman institution could play a role in promoting the Legal Empowerment of the Poor, in the areas of property, labour and business rights.
The paper starts with a discussion of the work of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor and its policy agenda. It explains some key concepts relating to Legal Empowerment of the Poor. The paper briefly describes the historic development of ombudsman institutions, different types of ombudsman and the different functions of an Ombudsman in various countries, as well as five different ways to conceptualise the central purpose of an ombudsman institution.
The final section brings the two previous ones together and develops the idea of an Global Ombudsman for Legal Empowerment of the Poor.
The establishment of such an institution, provisionally named global defender of the poor, was suggested by the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, in its final report Making the Law work for Everyone.
Keywords: Legal empowerment of the Poor, Global Ombudsman, Access to Justice, Property Rights, Business Rights, Labor Rights, Global Governance, Informal Economy
JEL Classification: K00, K11, D73, H83, D63
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation