The Ombudsman and Related Institutions in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

An Ombudsman has been advocated for Australia, but none has been established there, mainly because of opposition from politicians who fear the loss of electoral advantages to be gained from case-work. In New Zealand, the office was instituted in 1962, and has become firmly established. The main features of the New Zealand Act are considered under the headings "Area of Activity," "Discretionary Exclusions," "Basis for Intervention," and "Remedies," "Sanctions," and "Procedure." Under the heading "The Ombudsman and His Work," attention is drawn to the personal qualities which have made the first New Zealand Ombudsman, Sir Guy Powles, a success, and the form of his annual reports is described. These reports present a classification which is mainly departmental, and which emphasizes the proportion of complaints found justified and unjustified. But the reports also give summary accounts of about eighty cases in each year, in a manner facilitating juristic analysis of the way in which the Ombudsman discharges his functions. Under the heading "The Jurisprudence of the Ombudsman," attention is drawn to legal classifications under which the cases may be arranged, corresponding to general principles of estoppel, promissory estoppel, quasi-estoppel, equity, tort, quasi-tort and quasi-contract.