The Office of the Catalan Ombudsman published the September edition of its e-Newsletter.

With little money to spend, inmates in residential institutions are compelled to be “creative” – found Ombudsman Máté Szabó in his recent report. The sum of the spending money which inmates receive remained the same, although prices of the most preferred consumer goods, had increased many times. As a consequence, inmates are compelled to barter among themselves.

Successful rehabilitation and vocational training are integral to the success and self-actualization of Veterans and their families. The report of the Veterans Ombudsman therefore examines the delivery and adequacy of the Department’s vocational rehabilitation and assistance services and offers recommendations to ensure that injured veterans are effectively re-establish into civilian life.

For the past three weeks the People’s Advocate Institution of Albania has been dealing with the case of 70 Roma families who have been threatened to be evicted from their homes without due process.

Maintaining the bond of trust with citizens is a major issue for public services and elected officials, Ombudsperson Raymonde Saint-Germain declared at the 65^th National Annual Conference of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC).

Professor Ron Paterson was appointed an Ombudsman on 4 June 2013. He follows Dr. David McGee CNZM, who retired in June 2013.

According to Nils Muižnieks, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, there are strong indications that child labour remains a serious problem in Europe and that it might be growing in the wake of the economic crisis.

The content of the letters written by prisoners to the authorities cannot be checked. However, such a situation occurred in Balassagyarmat Prison. Furthermore, in one case a disciplinary procedure was launched because of the tone of a letter. The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has turned to the Director General of the Hungarian Prison Service to prevent similar incidents in the future.