Session étude déc 2003 E révisée

« What are the expectations and the needs of justice users: the experience of Polish Ombudsman.» Mr Rafal PELC, Office of the Polish Ombudsman (Poland) Justice and its proper functioning are undoubtedly among the most relevant indicators of the condition of a state. If we look at Polish achievements in this field within the last fourteen years, we may conclude that Poland has made no breakthrough - on the contrary, the situation has deteriorated in terms of the courts' efficiency in considering cases. Thus, taking justice as an indicator of the condition of the state, one may legitimately claim that one of the fundamental civil rights - the right of citizens to a good state - is not observed. There are a number of reasons for that, and the Ombudsman - the institution set up to investigate whether the public authorities do not violate civil rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, international agreements and other acts of generally binding law - is keenly aware of them as they can be inferred form the letters he receives. The institution of the Polish Ombudsman, which was established towards the end of the Communist period, in 1987 (the law of 15 July 1987; launch of Ombudsman’s activity - 1 January 1988), has been equipped with a wide scope of competences - one of the widest in Europe and the world, also in relation to the judiciary. The issue of mutual relations between the Ombudsman institutions and the judiciary was, by the way, the ...