The website symparastatis.gr aims to serve as an observatory for the implementation of the institution of the Citizen & Business Ombudsman in the Municipalities and Regions of Greece, as introduced by Law 3852/2010 (Articles 77 and 179) and reinstated by Article 7 of Law 4623/2019. This institution targets the protection of citizens' rights from cases of maladministration, corruption, abuse of power, or unfair decisions by public administration, aiming to improve the quality of service provided to citizens and businesses, while also upholding principles of legality, good administration, justified trust, and ensuring the impartiality of municipal or regional authorities.
Who it concerns
The existence of an observatory for the implementation of the Ombudsman institution primarily aims to strengthen the same principles that the institution itself defends, namely transparency, accountability, and the effectiveness of good administration. It enhances citizens' right to information and fosters awareness among citizens and local government about both the institution and the principles it aims to defend.
Beyond civil society and local government, who are the direct beneficiaries of this observatory, several other entities can also benefit. These include the "Independent Supervision Services of Local Government" of Decentralized Administrations and the Department of Organization & Operation of Local Government of the Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for guiding local authorities regarding the institution's implementation. However, they currently lack a feedback mechanism for the institution's application in cities and regions. Additionally, the greek network of municipal and regional Ombudsmen can benefit directly from symparastatis.gr, which can serve as a reference point for information and coordination of their actions, thereby facilitating their work in various ways.
How it works
The observatory for the institution of the "Citizen and Business Ombudsman" for Municipalities and the "Regional Ombudsman" for Regions of Greece concerns the institution introduced by Law 3852/2010 and reinstated by Article 7 of Law 4623/2019 (every municipality with over 20,000 inhabitants and island municipalities are required to have an Ombudsman). It enables every citizen or entity to be informed not only about which Municipalities or Regions implement the institution but also about the entire history of its application in each local authority. To achieve this, the observatory initially gathers all municipalities in Greece by Region, ensuring to include those with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants (who are not obliged to implement the institution) based on the latest 2021 Population Census by ELSTAT. Then, it collects and publishes updated contact information for each municipality, such as address, phone number, email, and website, thus adding value to citizen information for each municipality.
The main goal of the observatory is to record the implementation of the institution in each local authority, providing as complete a history as possible of each municipal authority's decisions regarding the Ombudsman from 2011, when the institution was introduced, to the present. These information searches are conducted in the two mandatory publication points, namely the local authority's website and the Diavgeia portal. Where possible, information is cross-referenced between these two sources, and any information gaps or lack of information are also documented for each municipality. In cases where there is an "active" Ombudsman in a local authority, contact details (if available) and the page containing information about them on the local authority's website are recorded.
Each local authority's profile is also accompanied by a map for each municipality, focusing (where possible) on the municipality's headquarters (City Hall), with the municipality's logo (or the Region's logo, respectively) placed next to the contact details. Interactive maps are also available at both country level (Map of Greece with all municipalities) and at Regions level, allowing visitors to navigate and locate the desired municipality. Finally, each municipality has a clear indication in a prominent place for reporting errors, where visitors can fill out a contact form to indicate any errors in the information published for the municipality.
Goals
The role of symparastatis.gr naturally extends beyond the documentation of the aforementioned information. It also encompasses the publication of additional material related to the Ombudsman institution, such as republishing selected articles about the institution's progress and any original publications by the Municipal or Regional Ombudsmen or any other citizen or entity wishing to contribute meaningfully to strengthening the institution. Moreover, considering that this is indeed the vision of symparastatis.gr—namely, the substantial empowerment and strengthening of the institution, contributing to the sustainability of cities and communities (UN Sustainable Development Goal 11), strengthening institutions and justice in general (SDG 16), and fostering cooperation among entities and civil society to achieve these goals (SDG 17)—the future of the observatory may include additional functions to enhance interaction between entities and/or citizens. These functions could include forms for submitting complaints to municipalities that have elected an Ombudsman, communication forums between Ombudsmen for more effective coordination of their actions, and more. It may also develop further collaborations, such as with the International Ombudsman Institute to highlight best practices, and with the European and Greek Parliaments to improve the institutional framework.
Symparastatis.gr envisions becoming a revitalizing force for a European institution that, after 13 years of weak and lackluster implementation in Greece, finally needs the empowerment and support to become a necessary tool in the service of public administration and civil society.
The symparastatis.gr website is based purely on Free Software / Open Source Software (FOSS) under the GNU General Public Lisence v2.