Jacob Söderman

Born on 19th March 1938 in Helsinki
Married, three children

STUDIES
Master of Laws (University of Helsinki) 1962
Court Training 1965
Licenciate of Laws (University of Helsinki) 1967

EMPLOYMENT
Senior Lecturer in Social Law at the Swedish Institute of Social Work and Local Administration 1966-67
Director, Association of Swedish Speaking Municipalities in Finland 1967-71
Head of Labour Safety Department, Ministry for Social Affairs and Health 1971-82
Governor of the Province of Uusimaa (1.2 million inhabitants) 1982-89
Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland 1989-95
European Ombudsman 1995-2003

POSITIONS OF TRUST
Minister of Justice 1971
Finnish Representative in the Governing Body of the ILO 1972-75
Member of Parliament 1972-82
Member of the Constitutional Committee, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman of three Government Commissions on the Working Environment 1971-74
Minister of Social Affairs and Health also responsible for Nordic Cooperation 1982
Chairman of the International Chile Commission
(Meetings in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Luxembourg, Mexico, Algiers, Athens, Rome and Bologna) 1974-1988
Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Police affairs 1984-86
Member of the Board of Directors of the International Ombudsman Institute 1991-92

HONOURS
White Rose Decoration of Finland 1988
Grand Cross of Bernardo O''Higgins Decoration confered by Chile 1993
Grand Cross of the Lions Decoration of Finland 1995
European Information Association Award for Achievement in European Information 1996
Honorary Degree, Åbo Academy, University of Turku, Finland 1998
Honorary Doctorate in Law, University of Lapland 1999
Special Award for the European Ombudsman''s Contribution to Dissemination of Information by the Ministry of Education of Finland 2000
Alexis de Tocqueville Prize, European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) 2001
Knight of the national order of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic 2002
J.V. Snellman Prize, Finnish Periodicals Association 2002

INTERNATIONAL PAPERS
1. Council of Europe, Steering Committee for Human Rights
Helsinki, 7.6.1990
Presentation of the Ombudsman''s Office
2. The first San Juan Ombudsmanship Congress
San Juan, Puerto Rico 8-10.9.1991
''The Ombudsman and the judicial system''
3. Conference of the Society of Basque Studies
Bilbao, 11.7.1991
''The Parliamentary Ombudsman: Roots and Future Prospects''
4. International Workshop of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Paris, 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 Institute
Buenos 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 Netherlands
The 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 Countries
Madrid, 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 Century
Strasbourg, 28-20.1.1993
''Implementation of Human Rights, including the prevention of Human Rights violations''
11. International Meeting on the Judicial Ombudsman
Mexico City, 23-25.6.1993
''The Ombudsman and the Judiciary''
12. 4th Round Table with European Ombudsmen
Lisbon, 16-18.6.1994
''Cooperation between the Ombudsman and the Council of Europe''
13. Seminar in Managua
Managua - Nicaragua, 7-8.7.1994
Closing speech
14. 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 Populations
Antigua - Guatemala, 12.1.1995
Opening speech
16. International Ombudsman Convention
San 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 Institute
Maracaibo - 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 Mundi
Oslo, 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 Administration
Maastricht, 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 République
Université de la Sorbonne, Paris 05.02.1998
''La Médiation : Quel avenir ?''