The Role of Ombudsperson Institution in Eastern and Central European Countries

Abstract

This thesis examines the effectiveness of the ombudsperson institution as a mechanism of human rights protection in Europe. Through a comparative-legal analysis of Nordic, Iberian, and Central and Eastern European models - assessed against the Venice Commission's Principles on the Protection and Promotion of the Ombudsman Institution (2019) and UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/79/177 (2024) - and through case studies. The research demonstrates that the non-binding character of ombudsperson recommendations constitutes a functional advantage in conditions of rule-of-law erosion, that constitutional-review standing is the single most consequential institutional design variable for effective rights protection, and that the contemporary expansion of the ombudsperson's mandate marks a qualitative transformation of the institution from a complaint-handling body into a multi-functional National Human Rights Institution. The findings are directly relevant to Ukraine's ongoing institutional reform process in the context of post-war reconstruction and European Union accession.