European Ombudsman
Jacob Söderman (1995 - 2003)P. Nikiforos Diamandouros (2003 - today)
Born on 19th March 1938 in HelsinkiMarried, three childrenSTUDIESMaster of Laws (University of Helsinki) 1962Court Training 1965Licenciate of Laws (University of Helsinki) 1967EMPLOYMENTSenior Lecturer in Social Law at the Swedish Institute of Social Work and Local Administration 1966-67Director, Association of Swedish Speaking Municipalities in Finland 1967-71Head of Labour Safety Department, Ministry for Social Affairs and Health 1971-82Governor of the Province of Uusimaa (1.2 million inhabitants) 1982-89Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland 1989-95European Ombudsman 1995-2003POSITIONS OF TRUSTMinister of Justice 1971Finnish Representative in the Governing Body of the ILO 1972-75Member of Parliament 1972-82Member of the Constitutional Committee, Member of the Foreign Affairs CommitteeChairman of three Government Commissions on the Working Environment 1971-74Minister of Social Affairs and Health also responsible for Nordic Cooperation 1982Chairman of the International Chile Commission(Meetings in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Luxembourg, Mexico, Algiers, Athens, Rome and Bologna) 1974-1988Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Police affairs 1984-86Member of the Board of Directors of the International Ombudsman Institute 1991-92HONOURSWhite Rose Decoration of Finland 1988Grand Cross of Bernardo O''Higgins Decoration confered by Chile 1993Grand Cross of the Lions Decoration of Finland 1995European Information Association Award for Achievement in European Information 1996Honorary Degree, Åbo Academy, University of Turku, Finland 1998Honorary Doctorate in Law, University of Lapland 1999Special Award for the European Ombudsman''s Contribution to Dissemination of Information by the Ministry of Education of Finland 2000Alexis de Tocqueville Prize, European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) 2001Knight of the national order of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic 2002J.V. Snellman Prize, Finnish Periodicals Association 2002KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGESSwedish, Finnish, English, Spanish and FrenchHOBBIESJazz, literature, football and cycling.INTERNATIONAL LECTURES AND PAPERS1. Council of Europe, Steering Committee for Human RightsHelsinki, 7.6.1990Presentation of the Ombudsman''s Office2. The first San Juan Ombudsmanship CongressSan Juan, Puerto Rico 8-10.9.1991''The Ombudsman and the judicial system''3. Conference of the Society of Basque StudiesBilbao, 11.7.1991''The Parliamentary Ombudsman: Roots and Future Prospects''4. International Workshop of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human RightsParis, 7-9.10.1991''The Parliamentary Ombudsman and Human Rights in Finland''5. Second National Symposium (Capítulo Chileno del Pueblo)Santiago, Chile 14-15.11.1991''The Ombudsman in Transition: The European Experience''6. III International Colloquium of the Latin American Ombudsman InstituteBuenos Aires, Argentina, 19-21.11.1991''The Ombudsman in transition''7. Symposium on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the National Ombudsman in the NetherlandsThe Hague, 29.1.1992''The Ombudsman and the Judiciary''8. Conference of the Ombudsmen and other similar Institutions in defence of Human Rights in the CSCE CountriesMadrid, 29.5.1992''The non-judicial mechanism for the protection of the fundamental rights of persons in the sphere of the CSCE countries''9. Article for ''La Revue française de l''Administration Publique''24.11.1992''The tasks of the Finnish Ombudsman''10. Human Rights at the Dawn of the 21st CenturyStrasbourg, 28-20.1.1993''Implementation of Human Rights, including the prevention of Human Rights violations''11. International Meeting on the Judicial OmbudsmanMexico City, 23-25.6.1993''The Ombudsman and the Judiciary''12. 4th Round Table with European OmbudsmenLisbon, 16-18.6.1994''Cooperation between the Ombudsman and the Council of Europe''13. Seminar in ManaguaManagua - Nicaragua, 7-8.7.1994Closing speech14. Commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the Catalonican ''Sindic de Greuges''Barcelona, 21.11.1994''The role of the Ombudsman in a changing social environment''15. The Ombudsman and Indigenous PopulationsAntigua - Guatemala, 12.1.1995Opening speech16. International Ombudsman ConventionSan Salvador - El Salvador, 16-18.1.1995''The task of the Ombudsman in a changing world''17. IV International Colloquium of the Latin American Ombudsman InstituteMaracaibo - Venezuela, 31.5.-21.6.1995''Combating corruption''18. First Congress of the "Iberoamerican Federation of the People, Attorneys, Commissioners and Chairmen of the Public Rights Commissions"Queretar - Mexico, 15-19.5.1996''El origen de la Unión Europea y algunos datos fundamentales sobre ella''19. Second Congress of the "Iberoamerican Federation of the People, Attorneys, Commissioners and Chairmen of the Public Rights Commissions"Toledo, Spain 14-16.04.1997"Derechos Ciudadanos y Procesos de Integración Económica : Reflexiones Críticas desde la Perspectiva de la Unión Europea"20. Conference on "Transparency in the EU Administration" organised by Lex MundiOslo, Norway 30.05-01.06.1997''Transparency and Public Access to Documents in the EU''21. Seminar on "Transparency and Openness" organised by the European Institute of Public AdministrationMaastricht, Netherlands 18-19.09.1997''The role and impact of the European Ombudsman in access to documentation and the transparency of decision-making''22. 25th Anniversary of the Médiateur de la RepubliqueUniversité de la Sorbonne, Paris 05.02.1998''La Médiation : Quel avenir ?''1998 FIDE CONGRESSGeneral rapporteur for the theme "the Citizen, the Administration and Community law" at the XVIII FIDE Congress, held in Stockholm, Sweden, 3-6 June 1998. The FIDE Congress was attended by over 500 delegates, from the European Institutions, all Member States of the Union and from Cyprus, Malta, Norway and Switzerland.LECTURES IN UNIVERSITIESUniversity of SalamancaSalamanca, Spain, 7 November 1996''El Defensor del Pueblo Europeo en el sistema de protección jurídica de los derechos de los ciudadanos''University of Göteborg Göteborg, Sweden, 30 January 1997''The role of the European Ombudsman''Hull UniversityHull, England, 14 March 1997''A thousand and one complaints - The European Ombudsman on route''University Carlos IIIMadrid, Spain, 16 April 1997''El papel del Defensor del Pueblo Europeo''Edinburgh University Edinburgh, Scotland, 23 January 1998''The role of the European Ombudsman''University Complutense of MadridMadrid, Spain, 29 April 1998''La figura del Defensor del Pueblo Europeo recogida en el ordenamiento comunitario: Funciones y perspectivas de actuación''Reading UniversityReading, England, 28 May 1998''The role of the European Ombudsman''University of BonnBonn, Germany, 27 June 1998European Studies Panel "Public Opinion Concerning European Institutions and the Integration Process"Albert-Ludwigs-University of FreiburgFreiburg, Germany, 2 December 1998''The role of the European Ombudsman''Panteion University of AthensAthens, Greece 24 May 1999International Colloquium on the prevention of Human Rights violations ''The preventive activities of the European Ombudsman''
