Special Report
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CHALLENGES OMBUDSMANSHIP Lo! Allah loves those who maintain justice (Surat l-hujurat) Foreword he Forum of Pakistan Ombudsman was created on 15th April 2011 to give various the Ombudsman in Pakistan a common platform to share experiences and chart the road ahead. This Workshop, Tdesigned to examine the Challenges that the Ombudsman office faces today, is one of the most important initiatives of the Forum. All twelve Ombudsman offices in Pakistan (and AJ&K) were represented and the Resource Persons made presentations and answered questions from an audience that included personnel from all Ombudsman offices as well as from the media. The Chairpersons, Dr. Mira Phailbus, Justice (Retd.) Yasmin Abbasey ,Mr. Attaullah Khan Toru, Mr. Asaf Ghafoor and Justice (Retd.) Muhammad Nadir Khan who conducted the Workshop proceedings are all highly experienced professionals and performed their roles with enthusiasm and consummate skill. A consensus seems to have emerged that Ombudsman offices face a number of challenges in the first quarter of the 21st century. These include, maintaining efficiency at a time of fiscal constraints by using legislation to empower the Ombudsman and technology to better deal with an increasing workload. Catering to the needs of vulnerable members of society, like women and children was another challenge. It was also recognized that while efficiency is necessary to offset the effects of fiscal constraints, the critical minimum finances needed to set up office and start work have to be made available and ways and means must be found to meet these vital requirements. Political interference in the working of Ombudsman offices was another area of serious concern that was highlighted. It was also a challenge to better project the Ombudsman institution and improve the peoples’ understanding of this important office and to overcome a deep seated conservative mindset that makes it difficult for many people, especially women and children, to come forth with their problems and grievances. It was observed by the Forum that a record of the Workshop proceedings should be presented to the International Ombudsman Institute and other stakeholders including all participating Ombudsmen offices, the World Bank, Islamabad in a Report that would be issued within a month of the Workshop. It gives me great satisfaction to be able to meet this commitment. I hope this Report will facilitate your understanding of the evolution of the Ombudsman offices in Pakistan. I finally especially like to appreciate the hard work done by Mr. Ahmed Owais Pirzada, Advisor (Projects) and his team, Mr. Muhammad Munir Qureshi, Advisor (Income Tax) Lahore Office for completion of this report in a short period and generous assistance from International Ombudsman Institute for organizing this workshop . Abdur Rauf Chaudhay President, Forum of Pakistan Ombudsman I Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King Jr. II Contents Workshop Programme 1 Chapter I 3 Inaugural Address Keynote Address 7 Chapter II 9 Presentations by Resource Persons Chapter III 31 Analysis Chapter IV 46 Recommendations Annexures (Case Law) 49 59 Ombudsman Offices in Pakistan III Pictorial Glimpses of A Two-day workshop on “Challenges of Ombudsmanship” IV Programme First Day, 25th September, 2013 Time S.No Activities From To 1 Registration of participants 09:00am 09:30am First Session chaired by Hon’ble Mr. Abdur Rauf Chaudhry President, Forum of Pakistan Ombudsman 2 Talawat-e-Kalam-e-Pak 09:30am 09:35am 3 President FPO's Inaugural Address 09:35am 09:45am 4 Keynote Address by Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, 09:45am 10:15am Federal Secretary ® 5 Tea/Coffee 10:15am 10:30am Second Session chaired by Hon’ble Dr. Mira Phalibus, Ombudsman for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace, Punjab 6 Resource Persons' Presentations 1. Mr. Yasin Tahir, Senior Advisor FTO Secretariat 10:30am 11:00am 2. Mr. Saqib Aleem, Additional Secretary, 11:00am 11:30am Federal Ombudsman Secretariat 3. Question/Answer Session 11:30am 12:00am 4. Concluding Remarks by the Chairperson 12:00noon 12:30pm 7 Lunch Break 12:30pm 01:15pm Third Session chaired by Mr. Asaf Ghafoor, Secretary, Federal Tax Ombudsman Secretariat 8 Resource Persons' Presentations 1. Mr. Farhat Saeed, Senior Advisor, Banking Ombudsman 01:15pm 01:45pm 2. Mr. Mubashir Naeem, Director, Insurance Ombudsman 01:45pm 02:15pm 3. Question/Answer Session 02:15pm 02:45pm 4. Concluding Remarks by the Chairperson 02:45pm 03:00pm 9 Tea/Coffee 03:00pm 03:15pm 1 Fourth Session chaired by Mr. Justice (Retd) Muhammad Nadir Khan, Advisor, Federal Tax Ombudsman Secretariat, Regional Office, Quetta 10 Resource Persons' Presentations 1. Mr. Riaz Ahmed, Secretary, Provincial 03:15pm 03:45pm Ombudsman, Balochistan 2. Mr.Atta-ur-Rehman, Advisor-II, Provincial 03:45pm 04:15pm Ombudsman Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3. Question/Answer Session 04:15pm 04:45pm 4. Concluding Remarks by the Chairperson 04:45pm 05:00pm Second Day 26th September, 2013 Fifth Session chaired by Hon’ble Justice (Retd) Yasmin Abbasey, Federal Ombudsman for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace 11 Resource Persons' Presentations 1. Dr. Mira Phalibus, Ombudsman, Protection against 09:30am 10:00am Harassment of Women at Workplace, Punjab 2. Mr. Aziz Iqbal, Registrar, Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for 10:00am 10:30am Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace 3. Question/Answer Session 10:30am 11:00am 4. Concluding Remarks by the Chairperson 11:00am 11:15am 12 Tea/Coffee 11:15am 11:30am Sixth Session chaired by Mr. Attaullah Khan Toru, Secretary, Federal Ombudsman Secretariat, Islamabad 13 Resource Persons' Presentations 1. Mr. Najam Saeed, Advisor/Member Incharge, Provincial 11:30am 12:00noon Ombudsman , Punjab 2. Syed Muhammad Shujaat Ali, Consultant, Provincial 12:00noon 12:30pm Ombudsman, Sindh 3. Mr. Absar Hussain, Director, Ombudsman AJ&K 12:30am 01:00pm 4. Mr Sada Hussain Larik, Consultant, Provincial Ombudsman for the 01:00pm 01:30pm Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace, Sindh 5. Question/Answer Session 01:30pm 01:45pm 6. Concluding remarks by the chairperson 01:45pm 02:00pm 7. Distribution of Certificates on behalf of President, Forum of Pakistan Ombudsman 14 Lunch on behalf of Hon’ble Mr. Abdur Rauf Chaudhry, President, FPO 02:00pm 2 Chapter I Inaugural & Keynote Address 3 Inaugural Address of Hon’ble Mr. Abdur Rauf Chaudhry President, Forum of Pakistan Ombudsman ustice (Retd) Yasmin Abbasey, Dr. Mira workplace, especially as regards women who are Phailbus, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, fast becoming important members of the Jdistinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I workforce. welcome you all on the inaugural ceremony of a The Ombudsman we see today is Two-Day Workshop on "Challenges of qualitatively different from the classical Ombudsmanship" organized by the Forum of Ombudsman that emerged from Sweden in the Pakistan Ombudsman in collaboration with the early 19th century. For one thing, the Ombudsman International Ombudsman Institute. may not be a man at all and Ombudspersons who The Forum of Pakistan Ombudsman was are really Ombudswomen are making their established on the 15th of April 2011 'to take up presence felt in many jurisdictions. While the title, several new initiatives to make the Ombudsman 'Ombudsman' has endured, it has become gender services more transparent and effective, and to neutral. transform the Forum into a vibrant and credible The 21st century Ombudsman has evolved justice sector public service organization.' The from his rather staid and conservative need to set up this common platform for action is predecessor and has morphed into a far more guided by the conviction that in order to remain versatile, proactive aggressive and daring entity relevant, the Ombudsman must deliver. Not long and one increasingly confronted with matters after the Forum was set up, on the 13th Nov 2012, a other than purely governance issues involving the broadly similar perception emerged in the historic State Functionaries. Adaptation or hybridization 'Wellington Declaration' of the International is, therefore, the next step in the evolution of the Ombudsman Institute conference at Wellington, Ombudsman office. There is a shift of emphasis New Zealand. from a primary concern for the quality of public Today, there appears to be consensus that administration to the provision of redress in the Ombudsman must be shown to be an effective individual cases of injustice in different areas such entity, able to provide meaningful relief as workplace injustice for the worker especially expeditiously to a harassed citizenry, not only from the female worker, injustice for the consumer by the maladministration of the State Functionaries Banking and Insurance Companies and other but also from an increasingly assertive private financial institutions etc. sector that is making aggressive inroads into many The test facing the Ombudsman today is areas previously seen as an exclusive domain of the how well the office is able to overcome a plethora State. And Human Rights issues are now seen as a of problems and challenges being faced by it. significant area of concern for the Ombudsman Doubtlessly, these challenges emanate largely including the violation of Human Rights at from the increasing complexity of the world we 4 live in and the proliferation of new entities that In the context of Human Rights issues, the have emerged as a consequence and whose promulgation, of the Protection against interaction with the public at large has thrown up Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act Of new problems that the Ombudsman is being called 2010, on 11th March 2010, followed by upon to address. His difficulties are compounded appointment of a Federal Ombudsman to by the fact that worldwide fiscal constraints mean implement the statute on 13th January 2011 was a that he is being called upon to achieve more, much crucial first step in ensuring that workplace more, without being able to mobilize matching injustice faced by women in Pakistan is addressed resources.