Government & open data
Nationale ombudsman
The Dutch National Ombudsman is a High Council of State and therefore falls outside the political responsibility of any minister. It handles complaints about almost all government organisations, from ministries, provinces, water authorities and municipalities to the employee insurance agency, the tax administration, the benefits service, the immigration service and the police, and also investigates structural problems on its own initiative. It receives more than twenty-four thousand complaints, signals and questions a year, including from Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The Children's Ombudsman and the Veterans Ombudsman are part of the same organisation.
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What this source does not give you
The ombudsman is not a court and its finding is not a binding decision: it does not quash a decision, award damages or impose a sanction. It is also not competent in respect of generally binding regulations, general government or agency policy, or conduct against which objection or appeal is open or pending, or on which an administrative court has already ruled.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a finding of the National Ombudsman binding?
- No. After closing an investigation the ombudsman draws up a report setting out its findings and its assessment, and it may make recommendations to the public body. The body must state within a reasonable period how it will act on a recommendation, but the report does not affect the decision itself. Anyone seeking to have a decision reversed or damages awarded must turn to objection, appeal or the civil courts.
- When may the ombudsman not handle a complaint?
- The law excludes a number of cases. The ombudsman may not open or continue an investigation where the request concerns general government policy or the general policy of the body, a generally binding regulation, conduct against which complaint or appeal is open or on which a procedure is already pending, conduct on which an administrative court has already ruled, conduct subject to proceedings before another judicial body or still open to appeal, or conduct supervised by the judiciary. Failure to take a decision in time is expressly allowed as a subject.
- Against what exactly does the ombudsman test?
- Against propriety, not lawfulness alone. It assesses whether the public body behaved properly in the matter investigated, and if it finds otherwise, the report states which requirement of propriety was breached. Those requirements are set out for professionals in the propriety guide, organised around a number of core values. Where a court has ruled on the same conduct, the ombudsman takes into account the legal grounds on which that ruling rests.
- Must someone first complain to the organisation itself?
- Yes, that is the starting point. The ombudsman expects the complaint to be submitted to the government organisation first. If no response follows, one may approach the ombudsman after six weeks; for the police that period is ten weeks. The ombudsman may also choose intervention, contacting the organisation directly, or mediation, instead of a full investigation.
- What are the reports useful for in legal work?
- As a picture of the norm and as factual material. The reports are published anonymised and show how a propriety standard works out in a concrete situation, what implementation practice exists at an organisation and what structural problems the ombudsman identifies. That is useful in building a file and in substantiating a complaint or an objection. It is not case law, so it binds no court and sets no precedent.