On Saturday 10th April the Polish presidential plane crashed over Russia killing all on board. This left 'a huge gap in public life in Poland... the most important people are dead' (CNN news report). One factor caught my attention.

All news reports I went through made reference to the fact that the plane was carrying, apart from the President and his wife, the Governor of the Central Bank, 'leading historians', the Army Chief, the Deputy Foreign Minister, religious leaders, 'other officials and crew members'. Then I noticed from the EU Ombudsman's 'Daily News' of 12th April, that the Polish Ombudsman had died in the same accident.

 I was surprised by the fact that none of the other news reports mentioned that the Ombudsman was on board the plane too. This seems to be confirmed by the fact that whereas usually the Ombudsman Daily News consists of links from other online newspapers, anouncing the death of the Polish Ombudsman required a statement to be drawn up by the EU Ombudsman's team itself.

What does this absence of mention indicate?, I asked myself and reflected briefly on. The answer, I think, is obvious. It is not just the incumbent who went unnoticed. The bare reality is that the Ombudsman is very low in status, so low in fact that he is listed under 'other officials'. 

I am the first to admit that the significance of the Ombudsman fades when compared with the President and the Army's Chief. But I also believe that Ombudsman institutions, when properly run, do a lot of good, both to the general public ('hajt ta kenn' one person told me just days ago; translation: 'a wall to shelter from the elements') and to the administration. Apart from redress, the Ombudsman provides guidance both to the public (advising of their rights, course of action to take, providing explanations etc) and to the public administration which actually benefits from well-meaning criticism, and depending on need even seeks advice from the Ombudsman on different issues. The Ombudsman even has the status: in Maltese law for example his status is equivalent to that of a Judge of the Superior Courts; it is not for nothing either, that his institution is entrenched in the Constitutions of many countries.

Yet it seems that the institution is held in low esteem. And its not just with the International Press. Ever since the StateCareAndMore.eu started out, I noticed with interest that articles concerning ombudsman matters receive less hits than, say, reports on court judgements. For some reason, the EU Ombudsman attracts even less interest. This must say something. Is it because the Ombudsman 'only' makes recommendations and that the influence that his word carries is not appreciated enough by professionals and the general public at large? is it that the court culture is so strong that quasi judicial alternatives pale into insignificance? Apart from the political class, of course. 

I have not found the answer yet. I don't believe that Ombudsmen should go thumping their chests and making noise, just to get attention and to get mention. But I do sometimes think that professionals, people in administration and the public at large do not realise that 'soft' law is not always as soft in reality, and merits more recognition than it actually receives.