In the Official Gazette of RS No. 26 of March 29, 2024, the regular annual report of the Ombudsman for 2023 was published, which gave an overview of the activities undertaken in 2023. As a reminder, the Ombudsman is an independent state body introduced into the legal order of RS in 2005 by the Law on Ombudsman.
According to the named report, the number of cases before the Ombudsman increased by 23% compared to the previous year, which also resulted in increased number of recommendations which was higher by 8%, as well as the percentage of action on recommendations, which was higher by 15% compared to 2022.
The largest number of cases considered by the Ombudsman concern the violation of economic-property, civil-political and social-cultural rights (the largest number of complaints are due to abuse at work, illegal termination of employment, overtime work, denial of the right to paid annual leave, non-payment and irregular payment of wages, as well as non-payment of social security contributions). In addition to the above-mentioned violations, there are also violations of the principles of good administration, primarily the right to efficient action by authorities and the right to obtain a decision within the legal term.
A total of 26 opinions were sent to the public authorities, 16 opinions based on the competence of preventive action with the aim of improving the work of administrative bodies and improving the protection of human freedoms and rights, as well as 9 opinions on proposals of regulations governing issues of importance for the protection of citizens’ rights.