The Ombudsman Enterprise and Administrative Justice

The statutory duty of public service ombudsmen (PSO) is to investigate claims of injustice caused by maladministration in the provision of public services. This book examines the modern role of the ombudsman within the overall emerging system of administrative justice and makes recommendations as to how PSO should optimize their potential within the wider administrative justice context. Recent developments are discussed and long standing questions that have yet to be adequately resolved in the ombudsman community are re-evaluated given broader changes in the administrative justice sector. The work balances theory and empirical research conducted in a number of common law countries. Although there has been much debate within the ombudsman community in recent years aimed at developing and improving the practice of ombudsmanry, this work represents a significant advance on current academic understanding of the discipline.

Contents: Foreword; Preface; Part I Theory and Context: The ombudsman enterprise: an introduction; The constitutional role of the ombudsman; Concepts, theories and policies of administrative justice. Part II The Ombudsman Technique: Putting it right: resolving complaints and assisting citizens; Promoting good administration and helping to get it right. Part III Setting It Right: Independence and accountability: legitimising the ombudsman; Relationships, networks and the administrative justice system; Part IV Conclusion: The 21st century ombudsman enterprise; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.