If the Ombudsman’s recommendations are not binding and he has no power to enforce them, what are the advantages of submitting a complaint to the institution?

Resort to the Ombudsman institution, however, offers various advantages arising from the fact that the Ombudsman:

• is fully independent of government and of the public authorities which he investigates;
• conducts his investigations in a confidential manner and does not reveal the names of complainants in his published final opinion;
• has access to all public files and documents and can summon any person including public officials to give evidence on the complaint;
• is impartial and listens to the views and considers the submissions of both the complainant and the respondent in a manner that is fair and equitable to all the parties concerned;
• makes no charge to complainants;
• adopts a non-adversarial approach;
• keeps complainants regularly informed of the progress of their complaints; and
• provides the complainant with full information on the handling of their case by the authorities.

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