The Role of Federal Ombudsman in Law and Justice

ABSTRACT Ombudsman is constitutional institution in which investigation about the complaints against the maladministration government institution. Ombudsman performs the duties of inquiry and investigation like Mohtasib in Pakistan because ombudsman is quasi-judicial authority in the criminal justice system. In this research examine the performance and structure of ombudsman. Secondary data is collected for this research like articles, annual reports, journal and research papers etc. This research evaluates the effectiveness and autonomy and role in Pakistan. In which research, study the Role of Federal Ombudsman in Law and Justice from 2000-2014. The role of ombudsman in law and justice is introduced in as contribution to the root out corruption and accountability of the governmental institutions. In this paper introduce the headquarters of ombudsman and nine regional offices in four provinces. The paper suggest that appointment of ombudsman officer through a committee like judiciary committee instead the parliament or President. Give the awareness to people at lower level about the ombudsman.  INTERODUCTION Each state is responsible to maintain the law and justice and control the maladministration. According to the (Asif, 2013)“The word ombudsman is imitative from “Ombuds”. The word “Ombuds” is a Swedish word that means complaint person”. Ombudsman is quasi-judicial expert whose safeguard the people from maladministration of any public sectors. History of ombudsman is very old. According to (Asif, 2013) “introducing of ombudsman instituion in Islam in the era of Hazrat Mohammad (S.A.W) in the 7th century. “Ombudsman” also known as the Qadi Qadat in the office Diwan-e-Mazalim in the era of the office of Ombudsman was first time introduced in the Sweden”. (Hafeez, 1999) says that “Establishment of the Office of Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) Order, 1983. Ombudsman in Pakistan also known as “Mohtasib”. The examine the role of federal ombudsman in law and justice with special reference to the law and justice in Pakistan”. The focus of theoretical framework in law and justice. Federal Ombudsman not only plays their role in law and justice at federal level but also there are nine institutions in four provinces. An ombudsman plays a vital role in handling the complaints and maintains the rules and regulation and protects the people from the maladministration of government institutions, misuse of powers and violation of rights. The main purpose of Ombudsman is to improve the public administration. Federal Ombudsman provides their services to the people from last three decade against the maladministration of government institutions. Five Federal Ombudsman institution perform their duties in Pakistan Five federal ombudsman are includes Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan, Federal Tax Ombudsman, Federal Insurance Ombudsman Banking Mohtasib Pakistan, Federal Ombudsman (Protection of Women against Harassment at Workplace), established under the laws. Legal Frame Work of Federal Ombudsman Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan Establishment the office of Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) order, 1983. Federal Tax Ombudsman Establishment the office of Federal Tax Ombudsman Ordinance, 2000 Banking Mohtasib Pakistan Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962 part IV-A Federal Insurance Ombudsman Insurance Ordinance, 2000 Federal Ombudsman(protection against harassment of women at workplace) Federal Ombudsman(protection against harassment of women at workplace) Act, 2010  The main purpose of Ombudsman is providing the justice to people according to the law. Decentralized the approach from federal level to provincial level and provincial to local level. The study is organized in the following way that the section, (ii) introduction about the Federal Ombudsman, section (iii) methodology of research process, section (IV) contains the literature review on the concerning issue, in the section (V) analyze the data of the role of Federal Ombudsman in law and justice and the last section (VI) is the conclusion of this research paper. Research Methodology The methodology adopt in this research consists of descriptive review of a wide range of a theoretical literature on Wafaqi Mohtasib and relevant to the role of federal ombudsman in law and justice. This review is consists of annual reports of federal ombudsman, foundation of books, articles and reports.  LITERATURE REVIEW There are many studies is analyze the role of ombudsman in law and justice. According to the (Machacek, 2001) “to protect human rights in a peaceful democratic state, it is essential to achieve justice in addition to achieving law In providing accomplishment of justice of crucial importance is the function of the institution of Ombudsman recently widespread all over the West Europe”. (Machacek, 2001) says that “institution, however, is very old and originates from the Arab "Muhtasib" the roots of which go back to the times of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century”. (Asif, 2013) describe that When the second Caliph Hazrat Umar (R.A), who followed the Prophet in 640 as a guardian of public morals. Caliph Omar was ambitious to ensure the observance of religious principles one of them was Justice in routine life, gave the concept of Qadi-al-Qadat (judge of judges), and established an office of Diwan al-Mazalim. (Husain, 2010) argues that “The ombudsman’s role in public service delivery is introduced as a contribution to the long route of accountability, through which citizens’ voice influences policy makers and politicians, who, in turn, shape the compact between service providers and clients”. (Hashmi, 2015) Says that “The institution of Ombudsman has Investigation Wing in the head office as well as in all regional offices, headed by HWM. While the Secretary, WM supervises the Implementation and Systematic Issues, Research and Studies Wing, Administration, International Cooperation, Media Wing and Regional Heads”. (Foundation, 2008)views that “from the outset the Federal Ombudsman has taken a conciliatory approach to dealings with the federal agencies, focusing on securing relief for citizens and making general recommendations to curb maladministration. It has very much been a redressed rather than accountability agency”. (Gottehrer, 1998) “says that Ombudsman is the legislative body’s representative to endeavor to ensure that injustice is not committed by the public administration against the individual that public administration has the highest standards of competence, efficiency and justice in the administration of laws and those human rights are protected and promoted”. (Hashmi, 2015)“All the offices of Ombudsman accept complaints via post fax and email. WM, FTA, BMP, POP, POS, POB also have online complaint facility while AJK Office website has online complaint service is in the future plans. The FTA and POB also have complaint tracking system”. (Ansari, 2012) argues that “a modern practice of hisbah can be seen in the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) system of Pakistan where there is a standard Order (No. 1 of 1983) by the Government of Pakistan on administrative dispute resolution. It is important to also observe that the banking industry in Pakistan has a statutory body for dispute management in the industry known as Banking Mohtasib”. (Machacek, 2001) Argues that “ombudsman is not only a network against injustice; he is also a mirror showing Parliament deficiencies of administration and of legislation. He is a bridge and a chance to combine Law and Justice for the sake of a peaceful democratic society”. (Qadeer, 2011) Says that “the Government of Pakistan established the Office of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) in 2000 as a quasi-judicial forum to address the issues between various tax departments and taxpayers. The core function of Federal Tax Ombudsman revolves around disposal of complaints of tax maladministration with transparent justice and visible independence through prompt investigations within minimum possible timeframe. The Federal Tax Ombudsman has its headquarters at Islamabad with four regional offices at Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar”. (Asif, 2013) Addresses about the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) and its performance. “FTO resolved most of its complaints within 74 days in 2009 and in 2010, complaints are resolved in 67 days; pending complaints are only 5.0% and 11.3% complaints are under proceeding”. (Pirzada, 2013) says that “since its inception to the date, the FTO has disposed of more than18000 complaints. All this especially significant given the heavy workload of complaints filled in the federal ombudsman office. Mr. Saqib informed that 40000 odd complaints are received in 2013 the ombudsman disposed of some 58000 complaints out of 78000”. According to the (Hashmi, 2015) “the FTO can also investigate cases involving willful withholding of refunds, coercive methods of tax recovery, non-responding to taxpayers correspondence and the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) avoidance of disciplinary action against those tax officials who are held by the FTO as willful, vindictive, whimsical, biased or inefficient”. According to the (Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan, 2015) “The Office of Ombudsman is providing free and speedy justice. The average cost of a decision in the Superior Judiciary is Rs.40, 000/- per case whereas at Federal Ombudsman Office the cost of a decision is only Rs.400/-. The system of Speedy Complaint Resolution is prevalent in many countries in various forms and manifestations. This system has been adopted mainly to avoid the complexities, costs and time involved in the formal justice system in delivery of justice”. (Machacek, 2001) Says that “that Justice is of decisive importance led in Arab countries to the creation of a special organ, the Muhtasib, who was entrusted by the Sultan with a non-legal review of official actions and behavior of officials after individual complaints”. (Husain, 2010) Argues that “the Wafaqi Mohtasib is working with Federal Ministries and Provincial Departments with the objective of getting complaints resolved, in the first instance, at the agency level, as promptly as possible. More specifically, with assistance from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) an in-depth study of the grievance redress systems of five Federal Agencies was completed in 2009. These agencies account for the highest number of complaints received by the Wafaqi Mohtasib. The agencies (in order of the number of complaints received by the Mohtasib) are: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd. (SNGPL); Pakistan Telecommunications Ltd. (PTCL); National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA); Pakistan Post; and, State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC)”. (Yaseen, 2013) said that “the legal and regulatory environment be strengthened for f (Gottehrer, 1998) Freedom and pluralism in access to information. Further, there should be constitutional protection for the whistle blowers unmasking the corruption and abuse of power and values. The awareness regarding the importance of social accountability has started emerging in Pakistan.” According to the (Moriani, 2008) “The Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) participated in the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) held from 7th to 9th November, 2007, at Sydney, Australia. The Board discussed several important issues, including the proliferation of Ombudsmen and their likely impact on the IOI; relocation of the IOI Secretariat; enhancing the role of the regions; and the opportunity to work with Committee on Rights of the Child”. According to the (Report, 2014) “The success of this institution in addressing ills of maladministration is reflected in the fact that not only have Ombudsman’s Offices been established in the provincial governments but also a range of such offices has been created in different specific sectors of federal governance like tax, banking and insurance etc. The Federal Advisory Committee on Reforms and Speedy Complaint Resolution will regularly monitor the process and advise Provincial Mohtasibs about measures needed from time to time to ensure smooth functioning of the process”. (Husain, 2010) says that “ombudsmen have been invited through their respective statutes to study the root causes of corruption and injustice, and propose how to eradicate them, even though they are not explicitly allowed to go beyond studies, research and recommendations in this direction. Ombudsmen have been invited through their respective statutes to study the root causes of corruption and injustice, and propose how to eradicate them, even though they are not explicitly allowed to go beyond studies, research and recommendations in this direction”. (Asif, 2013) Argues that “the political accountability and legal accountability is the focus of judiciary. For this purpose, different courts and tribunals are formed but the Ombudsman office, as compared to other courts and tribunals, is more accessible”. “The Ombudsman should receive and review each complaint in an objective and fair manner, free from bias, and treat all parties without favor or prejudice”. (Fowlie, 2008) Views that “The Ombudsman, as a designated neutral, remains unaligned and impartial. The Ombudsman does not engage in any situation which could create a conflict of interest.”165F165F (Gottehrer, 1998) argues that the “Ombudsman’s independence is strengthened by being an officer of the legislative body. Ombudsmen generally do not investigate those who appoint them because of the conflict inherent in such an arrangement”. (Fowlie, 2008) View that “a governmental ombudsman may have a relationship with an ombudsman committee of the legislative body and an organizational ombudsman may have its own stakeholder and management advisory body. These groups may act as bodies to review the role, mandate, independent review capacity, function, and budget of the ombudsman”. (Husain, 2010) Argues that “Wafaqi Mohtasib is working with Federal Ministries and Provincial Departments with the objective of getting complaints resolved. The ombudsman enters the picture as an actor in the long route of accountability, and in two important ways. First: by attending to complaints, the ombudsman gives voice to individual clients. This voice is aimed, in the first instance, at service providers, rather than policy makers and politicians”. (Foundation, 2008) Address “it provides an independent forum for handling of grievances against bureaucratic departments and agencies which otherwise would not be viable for the common man to approach the ordinary courts of law with. It provides speedy and efficient redress at a low cost. The Ombudsman’s Office within the limited scope of its objectives has more or less achieved its objective. There is room for improvement in terms of systems of handling evidence and investigation however; keeping in mind that the Ombudsman is also seeking to provide speedy justice there is a limitation on the extent of investigation which would be carried out”. According to the (Rana, 2010) “In 2011, WM office was able to receive applications successfully but redress of major grievances was pending due to absence of the ombudsman in office. Workload of investigators was increased from 40 cases per month in 2008 to 43 cases per month in 2009 and 45 cases per month in 2010”. (Gottehrer, 1998) said that” most investigations are conducted without public notice that an investigation is under way. Some Ombudsmen have found that public hearings may be useful in investigating systemic issues. The Ombudsman may need to make disclosures to further investigations, prosecute offenses and create the basis for findings and recommendations”. (Ansari, 2012) Says that “The underlying philosophy of the office of Muhtasib is enjoining people to do good and forbidding them from wrongdoing. A modern practice of hisbah can be seen in the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) system of Pakistan where there is a standard Order (No. 1 of 1983) by the Government of Pakistan on administrative dispute resolution. It is the duty of a Muhtasib to ensure prudent practices within the governance structure of an IFI, and he must ensure that due process and relevant standards of practice are followed to the letter. Hence, the office of Muhtasib must ensure strict complaint with the rules, regulations, standards and the local laws in all financial transactions and policies of the company”. (Hashmi, 2015) Argues that “In April 2009, the WM in collaboration with UNICEF initiated the Responsive Enabling Accountable Systems for Children’s Rights (REACH) project. Under this project a Children’s Complaint Office (CCO) was established within the WM Secretariat”. Ombudsman offices are not a generic entity. (Fowlie, 2008) Says that “They may be governmental or classical, executive, or organizational in nature. Their establishment may reflect differing legal, social, corporate, economic, political, or governmental regimes. Understanding the differences between the complexities of Ombudsman operations in the development of an evaluation”. According to the (Husain, 2010) “the Wafaqi Mohtasib maintains that an ombudsman in Pakistan is not equipped to handle corruption cases47. He points out that it takes a lot of time and special expertise to investigate corruption charges, and dig out credible evidence that proves the charges. Perhaps that is why the classical model of ombudsman does not extend to matters of corruption (the Republic of Korea and the Philippines being the exceptions in the region)”.  Organization of the study The Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan was established in 1983. Ombudsman also known as the first charter of administrative accountability. Investigation wing of Federal Ombudsman has not only in head office as well as regional offices. A number of complaints filled in first due the measure of the people confidence on Federal Ombudsman (Wafaqi Mohtasib). In the first year of 1983, 7812 cases received to the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman). Wafaqi Mohtasib disposed the 587 cases and 5871 rejected due to not hearing. In the second year, cases were above exceeded. In 1984, 38030 cases receive to the Wafaqi Mohtasib and in which 3990 cases solved and others rejected. Similarly, every year thousands of complaints received by Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman) and somewhere disposed and other rejected. From 1983 to 2000, received a total number of 702406 complaints to Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman). 55% complaints rejected and 45% were disposed by the Mohtasib (Ombudsman). From 2001 to 214, 321697 complaints disposed by Wafaqi Mohtasib. After analyzing the performance of Federal Ombudsman from 1983 to 2000 and 2001 to 2014, the ratio of the disposed complaints from 1983 to 2000 more than 2001 to 2014. The main reason is that government agencies know that if we involve in maladministration office of Wafaqi Mohtasib will be our censorship.  Data Analysis of The Role of Ombudsman in law and Justice In this research I have analyze the performance of federal ombudsman. It is contains on the past 32 years data that the performance of the federal ombudsman in solving the complaints against the maladministration of government agencies. Complaints Years 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 Received 7812 38030 34937 42744 44323 30007 26634 31489 Rejected 5871 31299 27294 33723 39396 20406 14897 18505 Admitted 1941 6398 7419 9021 4927 9884 9601 12984 Brought Forward 1354 3761 4976 5302 5291 6253 5666 Total 1941 7752 11180 13997 10229 15175 15854 18650 Disposed 587 3990 6404 8371 4938 10104 10188 11710 Complaints Years 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Received 49044 52299 44578 44244 39921 42178 44921 44332 Rejected 28343 28744 23644 23547 21477 21985 18435 15560 Admitted 20701 23555 20934 20697 18444 20193 26486 28772 Brought 6990 12644 15632 15867 14843 14403 12437 14985 Total 27691 36199 36566 36564 33287 34596 38923 43757 Disposed 11660 20567 20699 21721 18884 22159 24407 36896 Complaints Years 1999 2000 Received 43833 41080 Rejected 15180 14188 Admitted 28653 26942 Brought 6861 11793 Total 35514 38735 Disposed 23721 22743 Now I have analyzed the performance of Federal Ombudsman in the starting of 21st century to continue. Complaints Years 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Received 33385 31613 25761 25327 15136 11887 23290 Rejected 10534 10636 10346 13597 1779 227 1731 Admitted 22851 20977 15415 14746 6269 3456 17818 Brought 15992 19286 22219 18443 8934 1507 11657 Total 38843 40263 37634 30363 14602 7345 29342 Disposed 19557 18044 22017 10581 8867 8431 5472 Received 33385 31613 25761 25327 15136 11887 23290 Rejected 10534 10636 10346 13597 1779 227 1731 Admitted 22851 20977 15415 14746 6269 3456 17818 Brought 15992 19286 22219 18443 8934 1507 11657 Total 38843 40263 37634 30363 14602 7345 29342 Disposed 19557 18044 22017 10581 8867 8431 5472 Received 33385 31613 25761 25327 15136 11887 23290 Rejected 10534 10636 10346 13597 1779 227 1731 Admitted 22851 20977 15415 14746 6269 3456 17818 Brought 15992 19286 22219 18443 8934 1507 11657 Total 38843 40263 37634 30363 14602 7345 29342 Disposed 19557 18044 22017 10581 8867 8431 5472 21368 Complaints 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Disposal 21,368 20809 24465 xxxx xxxx 74775 77311 Source: annual reports of the Federal reports 1983-2014 Show the complaint history of federal ombudsman in previous years from 1983-2014. Federal ombudsmen are increasingly more effectiveness and play a vital role to dispose the public complaints and eliminate the maladministration of government agencies. After analysis this study I have found that now a lot of complaints disposed and people satisfied from the office of Federal Ombudsman. Wafaqi Mohtasib handles the institutions and addresses the cause of maladministration of governmental institutions. All the resources are used in this paper analyze the overall complaints information relevant to the Federal Ombudsman. Administrative maladministration is rectifying because the institution of the Wafaqi Mohtasib effectively manage their functions in a society. Institution of Wafaqi Mohtasib gets the trust of the people on the behalf of their effective performance. Office of Wafaqi Mohtasib inform about their institution and give the knowledge on the website and Annual reports are helpful and communicate the people about the government agencies maladministration and their performance. Conclusion Ombudsman is the superior authority whose play important role in the Pakistan control the maladministration of government agencies.in developed countries Ombudsman has its more autonomy and powers. In Pakistan, Ombudsman is in developing position. Federal Ombudsman plays efficient role important law and justice in Pakistan because their performance increase day by day and disposed the complaints cases. Ombudsman not only works in federal level but also work in provincials and even in district level. Annual performance of increase due to effective decision of Wafaqi Mohtasib but still people not knows about the Ombudsman institution functions. In this research discuss the federal Ombudsman performance and analyze the annual disposed complaints. Before the 21st century the performance was low in resolving the complaints cases but now performance is better. Federal Ombudsman provides the cheap justice to people.  Bibliography Ansari, M. F. (2012). Corporate Governance and Effective Dispute Management in Islamic Institutions. pp. 1-9. Asif, D. S. (2013, June). Institutional Analysis of Ombudsman. 5,no.2, pp. 710-726. Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan. (2015, March). Annual Report of Federl Ombudsman 2014. pp. 1-59. Foundation, A. H. (2008, December). PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILTY INSTITUTIONS and THEIR MACRO ECONOMIC IMPACT. pp. 1-790. Fowlie, F. (2008, November). A Blueprint for the Evaluation of an Ombudsman’s Office:. pp. 1-453. Gottehrer, D. M. (1998, March). OMBUDSMAN LEGISLATIVE RESOURCE DOCUMENT. pp. 1-48. Hashmi, S. V.-u.-n. (2015, Novembre 4). EXTEDNING OUTREACH OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR) MECHANISM FOR OMBUDSMAN. pp. 1-57. Husain, T. (2010, augest 24-25). The Role of Ombudsman in Improving Public. pp. 1-78. 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