A three-day study visit by the Albanian National Preventive Mechanism took place on 21-23 May at the Office of the Polish Human Rights Defender.

An evaluation of the activity of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights in 2012 has been prepared by an expert group for monitoring. Among the main achievements of the institution was the implementation of a policy of transparency and the open dialogue between the Commissioner and NGOs.

The IOI has recently been informed by the Malawi ombudsman office that the Malawi Ombudsman Ms Tujilane Chizumila was attacked and robbed at her Lilongwe home last month.

The Portuguese Ombudsman has been reaccredited as A status National Human Rights Institutions, in full compliance with the Paris Principles, for the period of 2012-2017.

On 22 May 2013, FRA’s Management Board formally decided to extend the contract of Morten Kjaerum as Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights for another three years, with effect from 1 June 2013.

As of 1 July 2013, pensioners working in the public sector will stop receiving their pension as long as they remain employed. According to the Hungarian Ombudsman, this alteration of pension regulations infringes the right to property, therefore he requested the Constitutional Court to annul this amendment.

On 20 May 2013, Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, announced the six eligible candidates for the post of European Ombudsman.

The Report reveals that in 2012 the Portuguese Ombudsman opened 7027 cases, of which 7015 stemmed from a complaint and 12 from his own initiative. This represented an increase of 1215 cases, i.e. 21%, in relation to 2011. In total, 27218 complainants addressed the Ombudsman.