About The Institution

The Ombudsman Institution of the Republic of Türkiye was established in 2012 with theLaw on the Ombudsman Institution No.6328 as a constitutional public entity affiliated with the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. It has its own private budget and headquarters in Ankara and one office in Istanbul.

According to the Ombudsman Law, the Institution shall be responsible for examining, investigating, and submitting recommendations to the Administration with regard to all sorts of acts and actions as well as attitudes and behaviors of the Administration upon complaint on the functioning of the Administration within the framework of an understanding of human rights-based justice and in the aspect of legality and conformity with principles of fairness.

The Ombudsman Institution aims to contribute to;

• increasing the service quality of the administration,
• internalizing principles of good administration,
• improving human rights standards,
• strengthening the culture of seeking legal remedies,
• forming a transparent and accountable administration.

The Institution started to receive complaints in March 2013. The main duty of the Institution is to advocate for individuals against the administration, as well as protecting and promoting human rights, and it is considered the “conscience” and “lawyer” of the people in the system that is based on individuals and rights.

The Institution has been carrying out its activities based on rule of law, development of respect for human rights and accountability towards people.

Following the transition from the Parliamentary System to the Presidential System of governance in Türkiye, the Law on Ombudsman Institution (Law No. 6328) has been amended and the competence of the institution has been broadened so as to involve also the acts of the President (Amendment of Article 5 Law No. 6328 ruled by 2/7/2018-Decree Law/703/Art. 110). However, the acts concerning the execution of the legislative power, the acts concerning the execution of the judicial power, the acts of the Turkish Armed Forces, which are purely of military nature, are outside the competence of the Institution.

The Ombudsman Institution was established in compliance with the Paris Principles, and carries out its works within the framework of these principles considering the followings:

- the Ombudsman Institution is a constitutional entity whose powers and duties are regulated by the Constitution,

- the Chief Ombudsman and Ombudsmen are elected by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (GNAT),

- its revenues comprise the treasury funds to be allocated from the budget of the GNAT,

- the Chief Ombudsman and the Ombudsmen are elected for a given period and may be re-elected,

-the Ombudsman Institution is authorized to conduct independent research in the fields within its mandate, and is not open to suggestions while conducting examinations and research,

- the Ombudsman Institution is vested with the competence to ask for all the information and documents,

- the Ombudsman Institution can publicly announce its recommendations,

- the Ombudsman Institution can work in cooperation with the civil society organizations, etc.

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