Deputy Ombudsman Joaquim Pedro Cardoso da Costa was in Cairo as a "keynote speaker" to talk about the role played by the Ombudsman of Portugal in the process of compensation for the seriously injured and the relatives of the mortal victims of the great fires of the summer of 2017, where 115 people died. The intervention took place in the…
The Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, received a delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, which is preparing a report on the respect of the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government by the Member States of this organization. The Charter was ratified by Portugal in 1990.
The Ombudsman took part in the international conference on consumer rights awareness organized by the Katawice University of Economics in Poland from June 16 to 18. Topics for discussion included education for sustainable and responsible consumption and protection of consumer rights in an increasingly global and digital marketplace. The adviser Miguel Feldmann represented and shared the experiences of the Ombudsman…
The Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, concluded the proceedings for compensation to the relatives and heirs of the five mortal victims of the collapse of the Municipal Road 255, which took place on November 19, 2018, in the borough of Borba. There were 19 applicants who submitted compensation claims to this state body. They all accepted the proposals put forward by…
The Ombudsman participated in the IV Conference organized by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia on "Longevity and Neurodegenerative Diseases" and the importance of the humanization of the medical act, that took place in Lisbon on June 4. Maria Lúcia Amaral intervened in the panel that addressed "Ethics and Rights" from the perspective of people who are especially vulnerable and /…
The promotion and defense of the rights of the child are fundamental tasks of the State and of the community, being assumed not only as ethical duties, but also as obligations that have already reached the juridical level, based on national and international instruments. Therefore, celebrating the day of the child implies to affirm its singularity as a holder of…
In 2018, the Ombudsman’s Office received a total of 48,129 requests through the various channels available to citizens, including 36,111 entries of complaints and other communications. During the year, 9338 new procedures were instituted, five of them from the Ombudsman’s initiative, which translates into an increase in the handling of complaints of 20% over the previous year. Activity indicators are…
The Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, received a delegation of experts from the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe for the Protection of National Minorities, within the framework of the first follow-up visit of this body to Portugal. The meeting dealt with the situation of human rights and cases of discrimination. In Portugal, the Ombudsman is also a National Human…
The Portuguese Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, closed on 24 May in Ankara the cycle of human rights training actions with a view to strengthening of the Ombudsman of Turkey. In her speech, Maria Lúcia Amaral explained that the creation of the Nordic-inspired “Ombudsman” was one of the first consensuses of the Portuguese democratic era, and that today still remains intact…
As part of the commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Office of the Ombudsman – which in Portugal is the National Human Rights Institution – wrote an annotated version, illustrating each of the rights enshrined in it with cases and problems that The Ombudsman has been called upon to solve the problem over…