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Poland The Commissioner for Citizens' Rights
The concept of a people's ombudsman to safeguard
individual
civil rights and liberties was first proposed by the
Patriotic
Movement for National Rebirth (Patriotyczny Ruch
Odrodzenia
Narodowego--PRON) in 1983. Four years later, the Sejm
enacted
legislation establishing the Office of the Commissioner
for
Citizens' Rights. Appointed to a four-year term by the
Sejm with
Senate approval, the commissioner is independent of other
state
agencies and answers only to the Sejm. The commissioner's
mandate
is to investigate on behalf of individual citizens or
organizations possible infractions of Polish law or basic
principles of justice by public officials, institutions,
or
organizations. Although the commissioner may review the
administration of the courts, he or she may intercede only
in
matters such as scheduling of cases. In military or
internal
security matters, the commissioner does not investigate
evidence
but channels cases to the appropriate jurisdiction. As a
public
ombudsman, the commissioner confronts the accused party
and
conveys official displeasure at a given action or policy.
The
commissioner also may request the initiation of civil,
criminal,
or administrative proceedings and appeal to the
Constitutional
Tribunal to review a law's constitutionality or
consistency with
a higher statute.
The public greeted the creation of the Office of the
Commissioner for Citizens' Rights with enthusiasm. Lacking
an
established screening mechanism, the new office received
more
than 55,000 complaints in 1988 alone. The commissioner
also
conducts systematic inspections of prisons in response to
inmates' complaints. Following the inspections, the
commissioner
issued a comprehensive report, which has resulted in a
more
humane, less congested prison system. In 1990 a national
opinion
poll revealed that at that point the ombudsman enjoyed the
highest popularity of any Polish politician.
Data as of October 1992
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