The Ombudsman’s Role in Protecting the Rights of Refugees and Irregular Migrants – Poland’s Experience in Comparison to Sweden and Greece Law and Practice
Abstrakt
The article analyzes actions taken by the Polish, Swedish and Greek Ombudsmen to protect fundamental rights of persons seeking international protection and irregular migrants, which is of particular importance in the context of the ongoing migration crisis and the war in Ukraine. Research theses presented here state that the Ombudsman is an institution that fills the lacunae in legal protection exercised by courts and administrative bodies of the Member States and that the existing procedural standards of protection of migrants’ rights are not effective in practice and require strengthening. The article proposes a 4-pillar model of the Ombudsman’s conduct, which involves dealing with individual complaints (1st), systemic actions to combat maladministration (2nd), activities for the “domestication” of international law (3rd), as well as advocacy and soft competences supporting the civil society (4th). The methodology used includes investigation of the law in force, legal comparison and, to some extent, the statistical method and the analysis of non-legal sources.
Słowa kluczowe:
Ombudsman, migration, refugees, irregular migrants, fundamental rightsInstytucje wspierające:
This article is an effect of the implementation of a research project “The Ombudsman as a Guarantor of Protection of Fundamental Rights of Migrants” no. 2020/39/B/HS5/01424 financed from the funds of the National Science Centre.Bibliografia
Abraham, Ann. “The Future in International Perspective: The Ombudsman as Agent of Rights, Justice and Democracy.” Parliamentary Affairs 61, no. 4 (2008): 681–93. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsn031. (Crossref)
Beckman, Ludvig, and Fredrik Uggla. “An Ombudsman for Future Generations: Legitimate and Effective.” In Institutions for Future Generations, edited by Inigo Gonzalez-Ricoy and Axel Gosseries, 117–34. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. (Crossref)
Bexelius, Alfred. “The Ombudsman’s Office and Other Means for Protecting Citizens’ Rights in Sweden.” International Social Science Journal 18, no. 2 (1966): 247–51.
Carver, Richard. “National Human Rights Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe. The Ombudsman as Agent of International Law.” In Human Rights, State Compliance, and Social Change. Assessing National Human Rights Institutions, edited by Ryan Goodman and Thomas Pegram, 181–209. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. (Crossref)
Fouskas, Theodoros. “Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Greece in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Comparative Cultural Studies: European and Latin American Perspectives 5, no. 10 (2020): 39–58. https://doi.org/10.13128/ccselap-12297.
Gajda, Agnieszka. “Ewolucja modelu ombudsmana w ujęciu teoretycznoprawnym.” In Instytucje ombudsmana w państwach anglosaskich. Studium porownawcze, edited by Piotr Mikuli, 11–27. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe. Kancelaria Sejmu, 2017. (Crossref)
Gregory, Roy. “An Office for all Seasons? The Origins and Development of the Ombudsman Institution in the United Kingdom.” In Law and the Spirit of Inquiry. Essays in Honour of Sir Louis Blom-Cooper, edited by Charles Blake and Gavin Drewry, 79–107. The Hague: Brill, 1999. (Crossref)
Kalin, Walter, and Jorg Kunzli. The Law of International Human Rights Protection. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
Kofler, Brigitte. “The Different Jurisdictions. Greece.” In European Ombudsman-Institutions. A Comparative Legal Analysis Regarding the Multifaceted Realisation of an Idea, edited by Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, 215–20. Vienna: Springer, 2008.
Kucsko-Stadlmayer, Gabriele. “Classification by ‘Models’.” In European Ombudsman-Institutions. A Comparative Legal Analysis Regarding the Multifactored Realisation of an Idea, edited by Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, 59–65. Vienna: Springer, 2008.
Kucsko-Stadlmayer, Gabriele. “Powers.” In European Ombudsman-Institutions. A Comparative Legal Analysis Regarding the Multifaceted Realisation of an Idea, edited by Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, 39–59. Vienna, 2008. (Crossref)
Ladi, Stella. “Policy Change and Soft Europeanization: The Transfer of the Ombudsman Institution to Greece, Cyprus And Malta.” Public Administration 89, no. 4 (2011): 1643–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.01929.x. (Crossref)
Mikuli, Piotr. “Ombudsman Institutions and the Judiciary in Sweden and Finland.” Przegląd Prawa Konstytucyjnego, no. 6 (2017): 37–48. https://doi.org/10.15804/ppk.2017.06.02. (Crossref)
Moschopoulos, Manos. “A ‘Surrogate State’ for Refugees in Greece.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 42, no. 2 (2023): 123–57. https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdad002. (Crossref)
Okolski, Marek. “Transition from Emigration to Immigration. Is It the Destiny of Modern European Countries?.” In European Immigration. Trends, Structures and Policy Implications, edited by Marek Okolski, 23–44. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2012. (Crossref)
Sitaropoulos, Nikolaos. “Migrant Ill-Treatment in Greek Law Enforcement – Are the Strasbourg Court Judgments the Tip of the Iceberg?.” European Journal of Migration and Law 19, no. 1 (2017): 136–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2921109. (Crossref)
Stern, Joachim. “Sweden.” In European Ombudsman-Institutions. A Comparative Legal Analysis Regarding the Multifaceted Realisation of an Idea, edited by Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, 409–16. Vienna: Springer, 2008.
Trociuk, Stanisław. Ustawa o Rzeczniku Praw Obywatelskich. Komentarz. 2nd ed. LEX/el. 2020.
Tsitselikis, Konstantinos. “Refugees in Greece: Facing a Multifaceted Labyrinth.” International Migration 57, no. 2 (2019): 158–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12473. (Crossref)
Equinet. Accessed March 1, 2025. https://equineteurope.org/.
European Commission. “EMN Country Factsheet: Poland.” Accessed March 3, 2025. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/networks/european-migration-networkemn/emn-publications/country-factsheets_en.
European Court of Human Rights. “Rules of the Court, 28.03.2024 edition.” Accessed March 1, 2025. www.echr.coe.int.
Europejski Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich. “O Europejskiej Sieci Rzecznikow.” Accessed March 1, 2025. https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/pl/european-network-of-ombudsmen/about/pl.
The Greek Ombudsman. “Legislation.” Accessed March 1, 2025. https://old.synigoros.gr.
The Greek Ombudsman. “Ενημερωτικό Σημείωμα Ετήσια Έκθεση του Συνηγόρου του Πολίτη για το 2023.” Accessed March 1, 2025. www.synigoros.gr.
The Greek Ombudsman. “ΕΤΗΣΙΑ ΕΚΘΕΣΗ 2022 (Annual Report 2022).” Accessed March 1, 2025. www.synigoros.gr.
The Greek Ombudsman. “ΕΤΗΣΙΑ ΕΚΘΕΣΗ 2023 (Annual Report 2023).” Accessed March 1, 2025. www.synigoros.gr.
The Greek Ombudsman. “Συνήγορος του Πολίτη.” Accessed March 1, 2025. https://www.synigoros.gr/el/category/allodapoi-ithageneia-astiki-katastasi/post/ek8esh-or.
Riksdagens ombudsman. “2023 National Preventive Mechanism Report on the Activities.” Accessed March 1, 2025. www.jo.se.
Riksdagens ombudsman. “Annual Report 2021/2022.” Accessed February 1, 2025. https://www.jo.se/.
Riksdagens ombudsman. “Annual Report 2023.” Accessed February 1, 2025. https://www.jo.se/.
Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich. “Interwencja RPO w sprawie deportacji cudzoziemca.” Accessed March 1, 2025. https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/rpo-interwencja-deportacja.
Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich. “Interwencja ZRPO Wojciecha Brzozowskiego w sprawie trzech Afgańczykow zatrzymanych przy granicy przez SG.” Accessed March 1, 2025. https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/zrpo-straz-graniczna-uchodzcy-granica-interwencja.
Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich. “Interwencja ZRPO Wojciecha Brzozowskiego w sprawie deportacji tadżyckiego opozycjonisty.” Accessed March 1, 2025. https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/interwencja-zrpo-deportacja-tadzyckiego-opozycjonisty.
Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich. “Skarga migrantow zawroconych do linii granicy.
Opinia Rzecznika dla ETPC. Sprawę zbada Wielka Izba Trybunału.” Accessed March 1, 2025. https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/rpo-opinia-migranci-pushbacki-etpc-wielka-izba.
Uniwersytet Szczeciński https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0915-874X







