Ombudsman for Minorities

Date established

2001

Mode of establishment

The Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities is an independent authority established by the Ombudsman for Minorities Act [660/2001], which entered into force on September 1st, 2001.

Status

Independent governmental agency / specialised body. The Council of State appoints the Ombudsman for a maximum period of five years [Section 2 of the Decree on the Ombudsman for Minorities, 687/2001]. The Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities is connected to the Ministry of the Interior of Finland as stated in Section 1 of the Ombudsman for Minorities Act [660/2001]. The amendment to the Ombudsman for Minorities Act of 2007 defines the status of the Ombudsman as an independent authority.

Mandate/objectives

The Ombudsman for Minorities is an authority with the basic task of advancing the status and legal protection of ethnic minorities and foreigners as well as equality and non-discrimination and good ethnic relations in Finland [Section 2 of the Ombudsman for Minorities Act, 660/2001, as amended by Act 22/2004]. The Ombudsman for Minorities acts as National Rapporteur on trafficking in human beings [Section 1 of the Act on the Ombudsman for Minorities and the National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland, 1109/2008].

Grounds of discrimination covered

The jurisdiction of the Ombudsman covers the supervision of ethnic discrimination: it does not cover discrimination based on language, sexual orientation, ideology, disability or any other ground. Countering discrimination on these grounds alone still belongs to other authorities, mainly the Finnish Police, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Chancellor of Justice and, in working life, to the occupational safety and health authorities

Competences and responsibilities

The Office of the Ombudsman gives information and advice to the general public and authorities on any matter falling within its mandate. Questions from the public cover a wide range of issues such as possible discrimination in the availability of social services to the application of the Alien’s Act.

The Ombudsman provides independent counselling and advice to victims of discrimination. The form of counselling varies from case to case, e.g. providing the Ombudsman’s opinion on a case of possible discrimination or assisting the victim in reporting the incident to the appropriate authorities. The Ombudsman can also take action on specific cases, requesting the authority or entrepreneur suspected of discrimination to provide clarification on the matter and making recommendations or devising initiatives to ensure discrimination is not continued or repeated. If the Ombudsman considers a complaint as being of major importance for the prevention of discrimination on the ground of ethnic origin, he/she can help the victim by providing legal assistance, representing the victim in court or referring the victim to a lawyer. The Ombudsman for Minorities can submit the matter to the National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland.

Main activities

The grounds of discrimination covered by the Ombudsman for Minorities are racial and ethnic origin, which includes both traditional and new ethnic minorities in Finland. The duties of the Ombudsman are set out in the Ombudsman for Minorities Act, Section 2 [660/2001, as amended by Act 22/2004] as follows:

•    promoting good ethnic relations;
•    monitoring and improving the status and rights of ethnic minorities, foreigners and immigrants in society;
•    monitoring the implementation of the Equality Act [21/2004] and its prohibition of discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin;
•    taking initiatives, drawing up reports, proposals and recommendations, issuing public statements on discrimination based on ethnicity.

The duties of the Ombudsman for Minorities as National Rapporteur on trafficking in human beings are set out in the section 1 of the Act on the Ombudsman for Minorities and the National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland [1109/2008] as follows:

•    monitoring the implementation of international obligations and functionality of the Finnish legislation on human trafficking;
•    taking initiatives, drawing up reports, making proposals, recommendations and issuing public statements on measures to prevent human trafficking as well as improving the status and rights of victims of human trafficking;
•    cooperating with international organisations dedicated to the prevention of trafficking in human beings;
•    producing an annual report on trafficking in human beings.

Promotion of equality

The Ombudsman for Minorities has the task of promoting good ethnic relations in society and improving the rights of foreigners and ethnic minorities [Section 2 of the Ombudsman for Minorities Act, 660/2001]. Furthermore, the Ombudsman supervises that authorities fulfil their obligation of fostering ethnic equality in all their activities, as stated in section 4 of the Equality Act [21/2004].

Publications

•    Annual report of the Office of the Ombudsman
•    Annual report on trafficking in human beings
•    Other reports and research papers

All publications are available online at www.ofm.fi 

Management

Ombudsman for Minorities

Nomination of senior staff

Appointed by the Ombudsman for Minorities

Number of staff

The staff consists of the Ombudsman, the Head of Office, five Senior Officers, a Planning Officer and a Departmental Secretary.

Budget

All members of staff are civil servants and their salaries are paid by the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, an operating budget of somewhat more than 100 000 €/year is provided by the Ministry of the Interior. 

Accountability

The Ombudsman for Minorities reports yearly to the Ministry of the Interior by producing an annual report. 

Address

Office of the Ombudsman for Minorities
PO Box 26
FIN-00023 GOVERNMENT

Visiting address: Mikonkatu 25, Helsinki
E-mail: ofm@ofm.fi
Website: www.ofm.fi

Contact details

Eva Biaudet
Ombudsman for Minorities
Tel.: +358 (0)71 878 8660
E-mail: eva.biaudet@ofm.fi
 
Rainer Hiltunen
Head of Office
Tel.: +358 (0)71 878 8661
E-mail: rainer.hiltunen@ofm.fi

Customer Service
Tel.: +358 (0)71 878 8666
Fax: +358 (0)71 878 8672
E-mail: ofm@ofm.fi

Further information

Finnish Ombudsman for Minorities website