The Ombudsman Throughout the History, World and Indonesia
The Ombudsman as an institution or value can be drawn historically, raising awareness that good and fraud-free public administration is the dream of any power that strives to provide the best service for its people.
The Ombudsman is an institution formed to deal with abuse of power by government officials and to assist the apparatus to carry out governance efficiently and fairly, as well as to encourage power holders to carry out accountability and good service. The Ombudsman is not only a system for resolving public complaints, but also takes systemic improvement initiatives to improve the quality of public services. Maladministration is a corrupt act which, although it does not cause losses to the state, does result in losses for the community because they do not get good public services (easy, cheap, fast, precise and good quality).
The Ombudsman as an institution or value can be drawn historically, raising awareness that good and fraud-free public administration is the dream of any power that strives to provide the best service for its people. The emergence of Ombudsman is an indication that the government and society need a bridge to be able to solve public service problems both horizontally and vertically, rather than solving them through a legal process that consumes a much larger budget and energy and a system that is very complicated.
Ombudsman Throughout History
Ombudsman was only known when the Swedish government introduced a kind of government supervisory agency with the name “Ombudsmannen” which means representative in 1809. An institution that bridges the interests of society and the government. Therefore, Sweden is known as the originator of the modern Ombudsman, despite the fact that there were several institutions in the past that were considered to have approached the function and authority of the Ombudsman from various countries in the world.
During the ancient Roman empire, the existence of the Plebis Tribunal (Tribun Plebeian or People’s Tribune) was known to protect the rights of the people from abuse of power by the aristocrats (rulers). This office was formed as a result of the Plebeians who were constantly suffering from the arbitrariness of the consul. This tribune has the power to convene and lead the Concilium Plebis (people’s assembly); to summon the senate; to propose laws; and to intervene on behalf of the Plebeians in legal matters; but the most significant force was to veto the actions of consuls and other judges, thereby protecting the interests of the plebeians.
The Ombudsman supervisory model has also been encountered in China since 225 AD during the reign of the Qin Dynasty, where the Chinese Emperor Cencorate was in charge of overseeing the behavior of imperial officials and also performed the function of intermediary for aspirations and complaints to the Qin Emperor. The Cencorate is the centralized branch of the bureaucracy, parallel to the Six Ministries and five Heads of the Military Commission, and is directly responsible to the emperor. The Censorate was the “eyes and ears” of the emperor and administrator who were vetted at every level to prevent corruption and perversion. In general, they are feared and disliked, and must keep moving to carry out their duties.
Umar bin Khattab (634–644 AD) positioned himself as Muhtasib, namely the mediator in resolving disputes between citizens and government officials. Caliph Umar bin Khatab then formed the Qadhi al Qudhaat institution with a special task of protecting citizens from arbitrary acts and abuse of power by government officials. The Qodhi al Qudhaat institution was later developed by the Ottoman dynasty in Turkey.
In 1709 the Swedish King Charles XII fled to Turkey because he lost to Russia in The Great Northern War (1700–1721). He formed an institution to minimize the chaos occurred, named Office of The King’s Highest Ombudsman. An institution that is responsible to the king but does not have political power, functions only to ensure that the law is obeyed and state officials carry out their duties properly. After the death of Charles XII in 1719, the institution changed its name to Chancellor of Justice and became part of the parliament. Its authority to take action against government officials is limited and vulnerable to termination. In 1809 the Riskdag proposed the creation of a Parliamentary Ombudsman that is independent from state institutions and included in the state constitution.
The formation of an Ombudsman in each country refers to the interests and policies of each, there are always differences in each country in its application. The Ombudsman Institution began to spread to other countries in the twentieth century. In 1998, more than 100 countries around the world have formed ombudsman institutions. In 1994, the European Union created an Ombudsman whose function is to accommodate all EU citizens who have complaints or feel aggrieved by the performance of the European Union.
The emergence of the Ombudsman was also motivated by the influence of the imperialist countries. So that formed the difference between the Anglophone Ombudsman and the Francophone Ombudsman. The British model is appointed by the head of state, and serves until a certain age. This model limits the authority to public services, and prevents maladministration in the sector and makes it accountable to parliament. While the French model is not accountable to parliament, it limits its authority to state administration only and can resolve disputes through mediation. This system has developed in many African countries.
Ombudsman in Indonesia
The Ombudsman discourse has been raised by national press officials such as Rosihan Anwar and P.K. Ojong. In 1981, Muchsan in his book entitled Administrative Courts, has also stated the need for the establishment of an Ombudsman institution. The Ombudsman Institute will function to research actions, as well as accommodate public complaints and provide information on state administrative law.
This discourse was delayed until 1999, after the New Order regime was fallen. President B.J. Habibie sent C.F.G. Sunaryati Hartono to conduct a comparative study of the Ombudsman to various countries, President Abdurrahman Wahid later ratified Presidential Decree №155 of 1999 concerning the Assessment Team for the Establishment of the Ombudsman Institution on December 8, 1999. However, he later replaced this presidential decree with Presidential Decree №44 of 2000 on the National Ombudsman Commission. The formation of a new Ombudsman after reform was one of the strong grips of the New Order regime which emphasized all supervision both vertically and horizontally directly by the state, either through or without legal process. The rest of the deep-rooted KKN practice has caused the government’s reluctance to create institutions capable of investigating and taking action against any arbitrariness in public administration.
The National Ombudsman Commission was formed as a commission that emphasizes community empowerment in supervising and compiling reports against certain parties in government who violate existing laws and regulations in an administrative form. KON is responsible to the president because it was formed through a presidential decree. After Law Number 37 of 2008 concerning the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia or the ORI Law was passed, the Ombudsman is in the position of an independent institution, responsible to the state, and can provide reports deemed necessary to the President and Parliament. The Indonesian Ombudsman has also succeeded in forming representatives or Regional Ombudsmen in 34 Provinces to be able to reach every public report in each province that cannot be reached or reach ORI.
Historically, the emergence of the Ombudsman in various countries was motivated by the intention to eradicate injustices that were accepted by society as recipients of policies. In fact that citizen has greatest interest in policies issued by the government. The Ombudsman Institution, whether first established by Sweden, or a similar institution previously formed by the Roman, Qin Dynasty, or the Arab Caliphate, has historically had considerable power and significant support from the government or society so that its existence can carry out effective and without a hitch. Meanwhile the Indonesian Ombudsman needs to continue to strengthen in terms of the constitution, recognition from the public, and continuous support from the government. Ombudsman needs great support materially or morally like the Corruption Eradication Commission. So that the Ombudsman is able to become an institution of much greater significance for reforming the Indonesian bureaucracy.
