The State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel State of Israel Office of the Ombudsman Another Action-Packed Year 2 0 Summary of Activity in 2019 1 9 A message from the Ombudsman and the Head of the Office of the Ombudsman The State Comptroller also acts as Ombudsman, and he fulfills this function by means of the Office of the Ombudsman. The Office is an objective, professional and accessible body that investigates complaints received from any person in order to protect his/her rights and to promote effective and just public service at all levels of society. Complaints are handled by the office in various ways and a result of their exposing acts of corruption. In 2019, 57 every complaint is investigated in the manner best suited complaints were filed by employees about such violations of to it. Among others, the investigation of complaints makes their rights. The investigation of 64 complaints of this kind use of the "undercover client" and the on-site inspection. was completed by the end of the year (including complaints filed in previous years). The Office carries out many important We wish to thank all the staff of the Office, who work activities in order to increase its accessibility diligently and professionally to assist complainants in the exhaustion of their rights and in their relations with and expose its activities to the public in general government authorities. and to populations deserving special attention in particular. On a final note, we are looking ahead and doing everything in our power to diversify the ways of complaint investigation, Among other things, the Office operates regional reception to make it easier to contact the Office and to increase its bureaus in Nazareth, Lod and Be'er Sheva, in addition to accessibility to populations worthy of special attention. the reception bureaus located in the offices of the State We invite the general public to continue to contact the Comptroller and Ombudsman in the three major cities - Office. Keep on seeking help from us whenever you encounter Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. The Office's bureaus comprise difficulty in exercising your rights and in receiving services staff members who speak Hebrew, Arabic, English, Russian, from public bodies. Amharic, French and Spanish. As a rule, persons requiring the services of the Office are received in the bureaus by staff members who speak their language and with whom they can consult and file their complaint verbally. Matanyahu Englman Esther Ben-Haim The legislator also granted the Ombudsman authority to State Comptroller Head of the Office of issue a protection order - provisional or final - to employees and Ombudsman the Ombudsman whose rights have been infringed by their superiors as Jerusalem, June 2020 In the State of Israel, the State Comptroller also serves as Ombudsman. This integration of functions is unique in the world, and is of great benefit. The Making the Ombudsman performs his function by means of the Office of the Ombudsman (the Office). The goal of the Ombudsman is to act as a mouthpiece Office of the for every person, and in particular for populations that deserve special attention; to assist persons, whose rights have been infringed, in their relations with government authorities. The actions of the Ombudsman Ombudsman help the public and contribute to the improvement of public administration and the strengthening of the democratic regime in Israel. accessible to The Head of the Office of the Ombudsman was appointed in 2017 by the State Audit Affairs Committee of the Knesset (Parliament), upon the proposal the public of the Ombudsman. At the end of 2019, the Office comprised 103 employees - 81 lawyers, 3 social workers and 19 administrative staff members who assisted in the handling of complaints. The Office of the Ombudsman acts in multifarious ways to raise public awareness of its existence Every year the Ombudsman presents a report on and of the possibility of the individual to receive his activities in the preceding year, including a assistance from it in order to ensure the exhaustion general review of the activities of the Office and a description of the handling of selected complaints. The report is tabled in the Knesset1. [1] The full report (in Hebrew) can be found on the website 04 of the Office of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman. of his or her rights. The following are examples of the ways in which this is done: Operation of reception bureaus The Office operates regional reception bureaus in the social and geographical periphery of Israel. The activity of the Haifa Nazareth reception bureaus enables those who have difficulty in contacting the Office by digital means to file complaints in order to ensure the exhaustion of their rights. Making the Office accessible to people speaking different languages The staff of the bureaus of the Office TEL AVIV-JAFFA speak Hebrew, Arabic, English, Russian, Amharic, French and Spanish, thereby Lod assisting complainants who speak these languages. Jerusalem Informational activities The Office conducts continual informational activities throughout the year, in order to raise the awareness of different populations as to the Be'er Sheva possibility of receiving assistance from the Ombudsman. In 2019, the staff of the Office conducted informational activities 05 THE NEW INFORMATION PAMPHLETS 06 01-02 for different bodies, such as associations Publication of information their rights, including filing a complaint. for rights exhaustion, schools and pamphlets The teams of the Office will also instruct social services departments in the local The Office has issued two newly designed the volunteers of these bodies and authorities, as well as informational information pamphlets for the general explain to them when they can receive activities in Arabic and Russian in the media public in different languages: the "Office assistance from the Office, or transfer and social networks. Furthermore, the of the Ombudsman" pamphlet and the to it complaints that it is authorized to Office held meetings with representatives "Mediation in the Office of the Ombudsman" investigate. of social organizations and with activists pamphlet. representing different population groups, Adapting accessibility for a disabled in order to receive from them ideas and Cooperation with rights-exhaustion person wishing to file a complaint insights as to how to make the services bodies The Office of the Ombudsman adapts of the Office accessible to particular In 2019, the Office launched the programme accessibility to the needs of every disabled populations. The Office has already begun "The Office of the Ombudsman in the person wishing to receive its services, to implement some of the ideas and insights Community". In the framework of the including the filing of a complaint, in gathered from the meetings. programme, a call went out to bodies accordance with the provisions of the law. dealing with the exhaustion of rights, Presentation of a catchy and concise which have reception branches in the Running a website explanatory video periphery - inviting them to offer The website of the Office of the State The video "Simply file a complaint" in suggestions for cooperation with the Comptroller and Ombudsman acts as an Hebrew, Arabic and English, details the Office on this subject. According to the important media channel for conveying authority of the Office and ways of call, teams of the Office will go to the information to the public and receiving contacting it. The video can be viewed on reception branches of the said bodies in information from the public. The website the website and Facebook page of the Office the periphery, will meet with the residents contains accessible online forms for the of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman. of the area and encourage them to exercise filing of complaints. 07 In 2019, the Head of the Office of the Ombudsman met with the senior management of central public Contact with the bodies in order to clarify prominent issues arising from the complaints about them and to examine ways of cooperating. The Head of the Office also 2 heard the opinions of these bodies as to how to public bodies present in the Office's annual report the data In 2019, the Office of the Ombudsman organized a special conference, the first of its kind, on the theme "Multi-Dimensional Protection of Social Rights in Israel". The conference, which took place in the Shalva National Center3 in Jerusalem, was attended by some 300 guests who deal with the important task of handling public complaints in the public sector of Israel. The participants included people in charge of public complaints and internal auditors in government ministries, local authorities and other public bodies, as well as representatives of social organizations. Those attending the conference, which discussed different dilemmas arising from State Comptroller and Ombudsman, Matanyahu Englman, Head of the the investigation procedure, received progressive Office of the Ombudsman, DR. Esther Ben-Haim and former Austrian : 08 tools for the handling of complaints. Ombudsman and IOI Secretary General, Dr. Günther KrAuter. Panel Discussion at the conference "Multi-Dimensional Protection of Human Rights", Jerusalem, October 2019 emanating from the complaints, so as to It should be pointed out that the staff convert the report into a useful working of the Office give lectures to public tool for them. servants in charge of public enquiries and complaints in the different bodies, and The heads of department of the Office meet with them on a regular basis. At these [2] Bodies in the public sector that the Office of also met with central figures in the meetings and lectures, the cooperation the Ombudsman is authorized to investigate bodies concerning which they investigate ties are strengthened, and the staff of the complaints about. complaints, in order to clarify the issues Office share with the bodies professional [3] The Shalva National Center is an institute that provides unique services to children that had arisen in the course of the knowledge accumulated by the Office with special needs and their families, in a investigation of the complaints.