The Ombuds Blog: Congressional Effort to Create FOIA Ombuds at Impasse

November 08, 2007

Congressional Effort to Create FOIA Ombuds at Impasse

Negotiations between House and Senate on an overhaul of the Freedom of Information Act have stalled and it appears likely the legislation will not be passed this year. The conference committee has been unable to resolve legislative differences involving the recovery of attorney fees if requesters succeed in suing to force release of information. There appears to be little disagreement over the the House and Senate provisions that would create an ombudsman to mediate FOIA disputes. (GovernmentExecutive.com.)

Prior posts: Senate Approves FOIA Bill, Including Ombuds; Coalition Advocates Federal FOIA Ombuds; Are Ombuds the Solution to FOIA Disputes?

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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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