The Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia is a Commissioner of the Croatian Parliament, responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights and freedoms.

One of the main activities of the Office is looking into citizen’s complaints in relation to maladministration, human rights violations and discrimination. Based on the findings, the Office issues opinions, suggestions, recommendations or warnings to the relevant bodies and, if necessary, can report on the issues at hand to the Croatian Parliament.

As a Central Equality Body

The Office has the responsibility to collect and analyse statistical data on discrimination as well as to inform the Croatian Parliament on the occurrences of discrimination, to conduct surveys concerning discrimination, to give opinions and recommendations, and to suggest appropriate legal and strategic solutions to the Government of the Republic of Croatia. Based on the Anti-discrimination Act, the office has the power to intervene in the court proceedings on behalf of the party that has been discriminated against and, under specific circumstances, to bring proceedings in his/her own name when the right to equal treatment of a larger group of persons has been violated and to start misdemeanour proceedings .

As a National Preventive Mechanism

We regularly visit places where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty such as prisons, psychiatric hospitals, reception and detention centres, or institutions specialised for long term care for elderly.

Policy making

The Office is very active in policy-making process – it advises the Government, the Parliament and any other competent body on issues related to international human rights instruments – thus, it often takes part in Working Groups set up for the development of national policies or specific legislative acts, in public discussions or discussions within Parliamentary committees.

Trainings

We provide trainings to various groups, ranging from public servants, attorneys, judges, police officers, NGOs to general public (particularly regarding non-discrimination).
In doing so, we closely collaborate with key stakeholders at the international, regional and national level.