Recommendation 1

Ombuds play an important role in upholding human rights and identifying where there may be systemic issues affecting individuals’ rights. We were pleased to hear that the PHSO and LGSCO take seriously their role in relation to human rights. We encourage the PHSO and LGSCO to continue to embed human rights in their work. To this end, it would be helpful for them to refer to human rights standards and principles in their decisions whenever possible. The PHSO and LGSCO should continue to monitor and collect data on the number of decisions they make that engage human rights issues and make that data publicly available online. (Paragraph 33) A new Human Rights Ombudsperson?