Ombudsman Finds Need For Wider Powers

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30736, 28 April 1965, Page 1

Ombudsman Finds Need For Wider Powers

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, April 27. The Ombudsman (Sir Guy Powles) firmly believes there should be a “real overhaul” of administrative justice in New Zealand. Reviewing his activities of the last financial year Sir Guy Powles said today he believed there was scope for consideration of extensions of the Ombudsman’s powers.

“I would be willing for the office to operate more fully if I felt it could do so in a real framework of administrative justice,” he said.

Sir Guy Powles referred particularly to the desirability of giving potentially aggrieved citizens a reasonable chance to state their cases and mentioned 28 complaints made to him involving the armed services, which were outside his jurisdiction.

All 28 cases would have come within his scope had they involved other government departments and Sir Guy Powles felt this was evidence supporting suggestions that consideration should be given to the extension of the Ombudsman's powers.

He believed an extension of his powers into the field of local bodies would be most difficult of all suggested extensions. “1 am an officer of Parliament and we tend to keep our elected local bodies free of direction from Parliament,” Str Guy Powles said. “If this was seriously contemplated it would possibly have to be done by adding a whole new section to the Act •nd having the reports made to local bodies concerned in a complaint. Publicity would b- the deterrent factor if complaints were found to be justified." 724 Complaints Sir Guy Powles received 724 complaints in comparison with 760 the previous year. Investigations were not carried out in 386 of the complaints and of this number 263 were rejected because they did not come within his jurisdiction. In 55 of the remaining cases there was adequate remedy under the law. or available as a regular administrative practice

“In these cases complainants were told how they should proceed." he said. Of these complaints 363 were fully investigated and 55 were found to be justified —“that is to say there had been something amiss that could be corrected by administrative action.

“In 38 of the justified cases the departments or government agencies concerned rectified the matter after investigation was begun, but before it was concluded. “I made . recommendations to departments in connexion with 16 of the cases and all were accepted and put into effect.” Sir Guy Powles said none of the justifiable complaints were found to involve serious malpractice, dishonesty or corruption in a general sense Sir Guy Powles said the I Department of Inland i Revenue was a tempting tar get and it was not surprising it attracted the next largest number of complaints—3o. “Seven of these were justified and all were rectified without the need for any recommendation.” He praised the department for its efforts during the year to modify its procedures and improve its public image. Services Matters Sir Guy Powles said as far as the services were concerned he could deal with administrative matters but not those affecting individual members. None of the 28 complaints made to him involving the services dealt with adminiI strative matters—they were all personal grievances. ' “Questions of discipline can obviously be excluded from the Ombudsman’s powers but all 28 would have been investigated had they involved other departments.” Sir Guy Powles said he thought Government departments were taking more care because of the presence of his office and he had seen in some departmental files reference to the possibility of a complaint to the Ombudsman if something or other is or was not done. Details Given He released a number of details of complaints he had dealt with. One involved the admission of a man to a mental hospital for care and attention although he was opposed to it.

The man had been taken to the hospital by the police who sought his admission under informal procedures provided for in the Mental Health Amendment Act, 1961. After receiving a complaint from the man, Sir Guy Powles communicated with the Health Department and the man was released on the same day. Sir Guy Powles said he was satisfied the police had acted in good faith but he was satisfied they had adopted the wrong procedure.

“1 recommended to the police and Health Department certain steps to be taken to ensure the appropriate procedure was followed in the future and my

I recommendations were adopt-

He also referred to a case involving the Customs Department where an importer ordered a quantity of timber from Canada in the 1963-64 importing year.

Because of shipping delays it was impossible for the timber to be landed before the end of that year and the Comptroller of Customs declined to extend the period of the import licences to cover the late arrival of the timber. After being contacted by the Ombudsman, the Comptroller issued a special licence for the next year to permitthe entry of the timber. “Some arise from departmental muddlement, principally through the main points becoming lost in transfer from department to department or within a single department.” “In Middle” The majority of cases did not necessarily occur among junior departmental officers but rather “in the middle.” The lion's share of the complaints, Sir Guy Powles said, fell to the Social Security Commission and the Social Security Department. “This is only to be expected as social security touches the lives of the majority of citizens and the decisions made sometimes govern, and always affect, people’s standard of life.

“It is, I think, to the credit of the Social Security Administration that of the 82 complaints about it investigated during the year only three were found to be justified. Two were rectified and the third did not warrant any recommendation.”