The Office of the Ombudsman, Thailand, is very pleased to inform the ombudsman community that former Chief Ombudsman of Thailand, General Teeradej Meepien, has recently been elected as the new President of the Senate of Thailand.

In the course of presenting his Annual Report 2010-2011 Ontario Ombudsman André Marin called on the government of Ontario to embrace the worldwide trend toward open government, noting that many of his investigations of government organizations revealed a lack of transparency and accountability to Ontarians.

On 9 June 2011 the Members of the National Assembly unanimously re-appointed Raymonde Saint-Germain Québec Ombudsperson for a second five-year term of office.

For years, the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) has been internationally active fostering the rule of law and supporting the ombudsman family. Among other projects it currently participates in the EU twinning project "Support to the Strengthening of the Serbian Ombudsman".

Polish Human Rights Defender, European I.O.I. Board Member and former Polish Ambassador to Austria Irena Lipowicz paid the I.O.I. General Secretariat an informal visit on 16 June 2011.

The majority of the Austrian population lacks knowledge and has prejudices when it comes to the issue of asylum. This is the main result of an UNHCR study that was presented in the premises of the Austrian Ombudsman Board on 14 June 2011.

Today, Morten Kjaerum, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) presented his Annual Report to the Committee of the European Parliament for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). It provides in-depth evidence and analysis of fundamental rights across a range of policy areas.

Fresh from the press, the second annual “Rule of Law Index” was released on 13 June 2011 in Washington DC by the World Justice Project. The Index provides detailed information, which enables stakeholders to assess a nation's adherence to the rule of law in practice, identify strengths and weaknesses, and track changes over time.