Human Rights Ombudsperson - Joint Committee on Human Rights

We welcome the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ examination into how the protection of people’s rights in the UK could be improved.

However, the creation of a separate human rights ombudsperson, that cuts across the remits of existing ombudsman schemes, would not be an effective way to do so.

Ombudsman schemes in the UK can, and do, already consider human rights issues in their casework. More can be done to enhance and strengthen that work, including reform to the roles and powers that existing ombudsman schemes have.