The Regulation of the Parliamentary Ombudsman
(10 January 1920/2, with later amendments)

Under Section 49 of the Constitution Act Parliament adopted and confirmed the following Regulation for the Parliamentary Ombudsman on 12 December 1918.

1 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall supervise that the courts and other authorities as well as civil servants in their tasks and the employees of public-law organisations as well as others in exercising a public function comply with the law and fulfil their duties. The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall especially, in accordance with the provisions below, undertake appropriate measures if a judge or other civil servant or employee of a public-law organisation has made himself guilty of deceit, partiality or grave neglect, violated the right of a private citizen or exceeded his authority.

2 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall have the right to be present at the meetings of the Council of State, the courts and other agencies as well as to be informed of the minutes and records of the Council of State and its Ministries, the courts and other authorities.

3 §

(Repealed)

4 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall have the right to make an objection against an unlawful act of the Council of State or its member and he shall have the right to report the matter to Parliament in accordance with Section 49, paragraph 2 of the Constitution Act.

Where Parliament has decided to bring charges against a member of the Council of State or the Chancellor of Justice, the case shall be prosecuted by the Parliamentary Ombudsman. Otherwise the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall refrain from interfering with the official duties of the Chancellor of Justice and no charges shall be brought against the Chancellor unless the President of the Republic has ordered the Parliamentary Ombudsman to bring such charges under Section 47, paragraph 1 of the Constitution Act.

5 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall have the same right as the Chancellor of Justice to prosecute charges against the President of member of the Supreme Court or the Supreme Administrative Court.

6 §

In cases other than those referred to in Sections 4 and 5, the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall have the right to authorize another to prosecute in his stead or to order the public prosecutor to do it. Before the charges are brought, the person against whom they would be brought, shall have the right to give a report in the matter if he sees it fit.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall, in his duties, be entitled to assistance from the authorities in question as well as the necessary information from all persons and organisations under his supervision irrespective of any provisions on secrecy.

7 §

If a written complaint is filed with the Parliamentary Ombudsman on the actions of a person or organisation under his supervision and if there is probable cause to suspect illegal or faulty action, the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall investigate the matter unless it is, under provisions on the division of work between the Chancellor of Justice of the Council of State and the Parliamentary Ombudsman, referred to be handled by the Chancellor of Justice. The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall, however, not investigate a complaint relating to a matter that has occurred more than five years ago unless there are special reasons to investigate the matter.

If the Parliamentary Ombudsman suspects that a person or organisation under his supervision has acted in an unlawful or incorrect manner so that it gives the Parliamentary Ombudsman cause to interfere in the matter, the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall, before the case is decided, reserve the person or organisation concerned the right to be heard in the matter.

If a matter subject to the supervision of the Parliamentary Ombudsman cannot be dealt with by a remark of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall prosecute the person suspected of the unlawful act or have him prosecuted or order disciplinary action to be taken against him.

8§

For his work in supervising compliance with the laws and other provisions in judicial and other administration, the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall each year give Parliament a report. In the report, the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall, where necessary, draw the attention of Parliament to omissions in the Acts or Decrees or ambiguous or contradictory provisions, especially when these have resulted in different interpretations, uncertainty or other harm, as well as make proposals for their amendment.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman may, when he considers it necessary give Parliament a separate report on a matter.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall also otherwise give information on his work.

8a §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman may, where necessary, make comments and proposals referred to in Section 8 also to the Council of State when they concern Acts.

9 §

If the Parliamentary Ombudsman, in a field that is under his supervision. notices a need for new or amended provisions of the kind that may be issued by the President of the Republic or by the Council of State under Section 28 of the Constitution Act, he shall notify the Council of State thereof.

10 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall, where necessary, carry out inspections to familiarize himself with his official duties. He shall especially carry out inspections in prisons and other closed institutions as well as acquire information on the care of people placed therein and on other matters concerning them. He shall also carry out inspections in the different units of the Defence Forces and pay special attention to the treatment of recruits.

11 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall alone make the decisions in matters belonging to his authority.

12 §

The By-Rules of the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall contain further provisions on the division of work between the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman.

The By-Rules shall be confirmed by the Parliamentary Ombudsman after hearing the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman on the matter.

13 §

The Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman shall, with the same authority as the Parliamentary Ombudsman, handle and decide matters entrusted to him in the By-Rules or referred to him by the Parliamentary Ombudsman. Matters referred to in Section 4 or 5 may not be referred to the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman.

When a deputy is attending to the duties of the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman, he shall, where appropriate, be governed by the provisions of this Regulation on the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman.

14 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman may not hold other public office during their term.

If a person elected Parliamentary Ombudsman or Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman holds a public office, he shall be discharged from attending to the duties of that office for the term that he is functioning as the Parliamentary Ombudsman or Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman.

The provisions of paragraph 2 shall also apply to the Deputy while he is attending to the duties of the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman.

15 §

Should the Parliamentary Ombudsman die or resign during his term in office and Parliament fails to appoint another Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman shall attend to the duties of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

The Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman shall likewise attend to the duties of the Parliamentary Ombudsman when the latter is incapacitated. The By-Rules shall contain further provisions on instances when the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman shall replace the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

16 §

Should the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman die or resign during his term in office and Parliament fails to appoint another Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman shall attend to the duties of the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Where necessary the Parliamentary Ombudsman may summon the Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman to attend to the duties of the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman when the latter is incapacitated.

If the office of the Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman becomes open during a term of office, a new Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman shall be elected where necessary.

17 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman shall receive a remuneration for their work. The remuneration of the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall be determined in the same manner as that of the Chancellor of Justice and the remuneration of the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman shall be determined in the same manner as that of the Deputy Chancellor of Justice in accordance with further provisions issued by the Chancery Committee of Parliament. When the Deputy is attending to the duties of the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman, he shall receive the same remuneration for his work as the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman.

If the Parliamentary Ombudsman or Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman holds a State office, he shall waive the salary and other remuneration of that office or a part of the salary and other remuneration corresponding to that payable to him as Parliamentary Ombudsman or Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman. The same shall, where appropriate, apply to the Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman when he is attending to the duties of the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman.

18 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman shall both be entitled to an annual vacation of one and a half months.

19 §

(Repealed)

20 §

The Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman may have offices for an Office Director, referendary counsellor, senior and junior lawyers, public relations officer, inspector, departmental secretary, registrar, archivist, assistant registrar and office secretary. Also other civil servants may be appointed to the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman shall appoint the civil servants of his Office and grant them their resignation. The Parliamentary Ombudsman may conclude a written agreement on the terms and conditions to be complied with the employment relationship.

Leave of absence for the civil servants of the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall be granted by the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Charges against a referendary of the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall be brought before the Helsinki Court of Appeal.

21 §

Paragraph 1 repealed

Provisions on the duties of the office personnel shall be issued in the By-Rules. Further provisions shall, where necessary, be issued by the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

22 §

The office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall maintain a register of all matters notified to the Parliamentary Ombudsman as well as of all documents made and all measures untertaken.

23 §

The Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall be open to the public on weekdays except on Saturdays, at a time stipulated by the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

24 §

The Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Assistant Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Deputy may not disclose matters that have come to their knowledge and which have to be kept secret because of their nature.

The secrecy obligation of the personnel of the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall be governed by the provisions of Section 3 of the Act on the Personnel of Parliament and Section 23 of the State Civil Servants Act.