Companies that took part in the GreenPak authorised waste recovery scheme between 2005 and 2008 are now able to claim back the eco-tax they had paid through a legal notice published on Monday.

Ombudswoman Luisa Cava de Llano received the collegiate of Thai Ombudsmen:

Pramote Chotimongkol, Siracha Charoenpanij and Panit Nitithanprapas, accompanied by a delegation of members of their institution.

A supplementary retirement pension paid to a partner in a civil partnership, which is lower than that granted in a marriage, may constitute discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. This is the case if the partnership is reserved to persons of the same gender and if it is in a legal and factual situation comparable to that of marriage

"In 2010 the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) took care of the requests of more than 15 000 people, and 6 600 investigation procedures were initiated to control administrative decisions. In more than 17 percent of all investigation procedures the AOB confirmed a case of maladministration," AOB Chair Peter Kostelka summarised last year's activities on the occasion of the annual report presentation on 28 April in Vienna. An international version of the annual report in English highlighting human rights related cases will be published in June 2011.

On March 29, the Belgian federal ombudsmen, Catherine De Bruecker and Guido Schuermans, submitted their report for 2010 to the President of the House of Representatives.

The European Ombudsman has told the European Commission to establish that it did not discriminate on the basis of age in the case of a successful candidate in a selection competition for assistants.

The inspecting colleagues of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights experienced verbal aggression against children living in Cseppkő Children's Home; furthermore a suspicion was raised concerning the use of physical abuse against children in the institution.

The Ombudsman expects from the new terminal areas of the Liszt Ferenc airport that it will be suitable to tackle those infringements which were previously found by the ombudsman's inspections. Prof. Mate Szabo has turned to the Government and the management of the Budapest airport to regulate and develop the conditions of the security control of the passengers and the airport workers.