| Abstract [eng] |
The Seimas Ombudsmen of the Republic of Lithuania make a part of the international system of ombudsman institutions. The origin of this system, which is a constituent part of parliamentary democracy, was and is related to the need to defend human rights from unlawful or even criminal acts of officers of state government and municipal institutions when they take the form of abuse of office and bureaucracy. The Master’s thesis titled „The Place of the Seimas Ombudsmen in the Legal System of the Republic of Lithuania” aims to analyse the specific features of the activity of the Seimas Ombudsmen and its importance when ensuring the protection of citizens’ constitutional rights and improving state governance, as well as to identify the problems of efficiency of its activity and propose solutions. In my thesis I: 1. Identified the distinguishing features of the activity of the Seimas Ombudsmen of the Republic of Lithuania; 2. Investigated the specific features of relations between the Seimas Ombudsmen institution and the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and the principles of legal regulation; 3. Disclosed the role of the Seimas Ombudsmen when improving public administration; 4. Analysed the main similarities and differences between the powers of the Seimas Ombudsmen and those of administrative courts; 5. Identified the problems of efficiency of activity of the Seimas Ombudsmen‘s Office and proposed solutions how to improve its activities. Aiming to reveal as many aspects of the topic as possible, I thoroughly investigated the Seimas Ombudsmen’s annual reports, information bulletins and materials of European ombudsmen’s conferences and refered to the experience of activity of ombudsman institutions in the member states of the European Union and the European Ombudsman. To substantiate the propositions, a public opinion poll was conducted by the Market and Opinion Research Centre „Vilmorus” on my initiative. Having summarised the gathered material, the hypothesis proved to be correct that the Seimas Ombudsmen of the Republic of Lithuania has taken an exceptional place – between the Parliament and other public authorities – in the legal system of our country as an institution defending human rights and improving public administration by legal and other means in order to increase the efficiency of activity of the Seimas Ombudsmen, which, in its own turn, would boost the public’s confidence in the government and the state itself. |
