Capacity building seminar "The Ombudsman’s Intervention between the Principles of Legality and Good Governance", Sofia – Bulgaria
Capacity building seminar "The Ombudsman’s Intervention between the Principles of Legality and Good Governance", Sofia – Bulgaria
On the 17th and 18th of September an international capacity building seminar, entitled “The Ombudsman’s Intervention Between the Principles of Legality and Good Governance”, was held in Sofia, Bulgaria. The seminar was organized by the Eunomia programme of the Greek Ombudsman, which operates under the auspices of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, and was hosted by the Bulgarian Ombudsman.
Approximately thirty representatives from Ombudsman institutions from Southeastern and other European countries participated in the seminar. The European Ombudsman, Mr. Diamandouros and a further seventeen ombudsmen attended the seminar themselves -among whom the ombudsmen of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia and Sweden. Representatives of the Bulgarian Parliament, the European Court of Human Rights and the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe also participated.
The seminar aimed to:
- broaden participants' awareness and knowledge of good governance issues and policies
- provide participants with examples of good practices adopted by Ombudsmen offices throughout Europe, their implementation and outcomes
- develop participants' competence in promoting and pursuing good governance strategies in a coordinated and unified way.
The international comparative debate which took place within the framework of the seminar has proven to be of great interest to all participants, as it witnessed their active participation in discussions which explored innovative approaches and perceptions.
The Greek Ombudsman acknowledges the absolutely professional work of its Bulgarian counterpart in co-organizing and hosting the event, in a way that left all participants intellectually stimulated yet comfortably at ease.
The Greek and Bulgarian Ombudsmen, Messrs Y. Kaminis and G. Ganev agreed to proceed with the publication of the seminar’s proceedings in 2008, in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe.
