| 释义 |
Ombudsman|ˈɒmbʊdzmən|
Also with lower-case initial.
[Sw. (see below), f. ombud commissioner, agent, repr. ON. umboð charge, commission, umboðsmaðr commissary, manager.]
An official appointed to investigate complaints by individuals against maladministration by public authorities; spec. in U.K., the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. (Corresp. to Sw. justitieombudsmannen.) Also attrib. and in extended and fig. uses.
In Sweden, an ombudsman is a deputy of a group, particularly a trade union or a business concern, appointed to handle the legal affairs of the group and protect its interests generally. With the definite suffix -en it normally denotes a particular office. The office of justitieombudsmannen (abbrev. JO), which was instituted in Sweden in 1809, is the one which is referred to in the following quotations, and it is this office which was established in New Zealand in 1962. In Sweden the office of militieombudsmannen (abbrev. MO) was also introduced in 1809 as a parliamentary commissioner appointed to supervise and enforce the observance of laws and statutes concerned with national defence. In 1968 the offices of justitieombudsmannen and militieombudsmannen were replaced by four independent officers under the joint name of justitieombudsmännen. The word pressombudsman connotes a public relations officer, and in its definite form pressombudsmannen an office instituted in 1969 to supervise and enforce ethical standards of the press.
The office of ombudsman was introduced in Finland in 1919, in Denmark in 1954, and in Norway in 1962.
[1911Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 195/2 By revisers elected annually the Riksdag controls the finances of the kingdom, and by an official (justitieombudsman) elected in the same way the administration of justice is controlled; he can indict any functionary of the state who has abused his power. 1914J. Guinchard Sweden iii. 200 The Riksdag has yet another form of control over the High Court of Justice and the Supreme Administrative Court in that the ‘Justitieombudsman’ may in certain cases arraign a member of the Court before the Court of Impeachment. 1958S. Hurwitz in Public Law Autumn 236 A precedent existed in Sweden, where a ‘Justitieombudsman’ and a ‘Militieombudsman’, appointed by Parliament, were introduced in 1809 and in 1915 respectively.] 1959Listener 16 July 89/1 Sweden has been running the Ombudsman system for 150 years, and Denmark has a very active Ombudsman. 1963Times 23 Apr. 13/6 The perfunctoriness with which the Government recently rejected the conclusions of the unofficial inquiry conducted by Justice into the Scandinavian ombudsman procedure was disappointing. 1966N.Z. News 28 Sept. 3/2 Britain's Ombudsman, Sir Edmund Compton, is now in New Zealand consulting New Zealand's Ombudsman, Sir Guy Powles, about the workings of his office and the way in which he deals with complaints. 1966S. Oakley Story of Sweden xiv. 164 The private citizen was protected from the bureaucracy by a so-called ombudsman, elected by the Estates to hear and investigate complaints against abuses of power by public servants. 1969Daily Tel. 13 Dec. 1/5 Complaints from hospital patients and staff may shortly be dealt with by a special type of Ombudsman. 1970Morris & Hawkins Honest Politician's Guide to Crime Control 100 We do not doubt that the ombudsman system would work well here. 1970Harper's Mag. Dec. 59/1 He had come to protest to the newspaper, his only ombudsman that day. 1971N.Y. Post 15 Nov. 46 She was everywhere, doing everything—columnist, lecturer,..ombudsman for every injustice. 1972Daily Tel. 23 Feb. 2 The Health Service is to have its own Ombudsman or Health Service Commissioner, who will be responsible for carrying out independent investigations into patients' complaints. 1973Daily Californian 1 Feb. 2/1 A state ombudsman's office, sort of an official wailing wall. 1974M. Gilbert Flash Point i. 12 He had approached..his own member of parliament..the Ombudsman and..the press. 1975Local Council Rev. Autumn 95 A layman's guide to the complaints machinery set up under the 1974 Local Government Act. Explains what the ombudsmen can and cannot do, how complaints should be put to them. 1976Daily Tel. 2 Dec. 2/5 He complained to the Department of Education and eventually to Baroness Serota, the Ombudsman for the area, who found Surrey education committee guilty of maladministration. 1978Times 7 Mar. 4/8 The appointment of local ombudsmen has had a considerable impact on local authority procedures, in the view of the authors of the first critical appraisal of their work.
Hence ombuds-committee; ˈombudsmanry, the profession or practice of being an ombudsman; ˈombudsmanship, the office or function of an ombudsman; ˈombudswoman, a female ombudsman.
1961Observer 12 Nov. 40/8, I suppose I have become a sort of ombudswoman on turnstiles. 1964Economist 7 Mar. 875/2 A sort of Ombudscommittee for people who feel cheated. 1970Daily Tel. 6 Aug. 2/4 A resolution calling for an inquiry into promotion procedures and for the setting up of an arbitration ‘ombuds-committee’ has been tabled. 1971New Society 25 Mar. 489/3 It is obvious that local ombudsmanry on a national scale would mean setting up a new light industry.
1966Times 5 July 13 The whole field of ombudsmanship and the scrutiny of administrative practice and legislative principle..at present goes largely unmarked. 1971New Scientist 3 June 597/2 The loquacious ombudsmanship of Bernard Braden.
1965Manch. Guardian Weekly 21 Oct. 6 The only answer is for more councillors to see themselves as Ombudsmen and Ombudswomen. 1972New Yorker 30 Sept. 6/3 Mabel Mercer, ombudswoman to all who have ever played at love. 1973Maclean's Mag. June 45/1 She had previously been ombudswoman for the Status of Women Council [etc.]. |