Mario Hook, Gibraltar Ombudsman presents the third issue of the new electronic newsletter, reporting on the preparations for the forthcoming additional Health Services jurisdiction. The Ombudsman Office  also forecasts the release of quarterly reports to parliament in the near future.

The Commissioner has established that it is more and more urgent to amend the Act on Legal Aid since several provisions of the Act may infringe the right of clients to due process. Máté Szabó has requested the Minister for Public Administration and Justice to initiate as soon as possible an amendment to the Act on Legal Aid.

After three years during which she has contributed significantly to the successful development of the IOI, Ms Christine Stockhammer has resigned from her position as Head of the IOI General Secretariat to take up an appointment as a spokesperson for the City of Vienna. She is followed by Ms Ulrike Grieshofer.

The IOI General Secretariat traditionally organizes ombudsman training courses in Vienna. Following two IOI editions of the “Sharpening Your Teeth” training programme that were attended by 80 participants from all world regions, an IOI Ombudsman Practice Training  was held this week in cooperation with the Scottish Queen Margaret University (QMU).

At the 10^th IOI World Conference in Wellington, institutional members in good standing will be requested to vote on the revised IOI by-laws. The IOI General Secretariat would therefore like to remind you to send final comments on the draft by-laws by Tuesday, 25 September 2012.

There is worse than prison: Temporary hostel of restricted access, Nyírbátor – on-the-spot inspections of the ombudsman. Buildings in terrible conditions, plastic bottles used instead of toilets, abused persons in detention, continuous violations of human dignity. Prof. Máté Szabó ombudsman asked the General Prosecutor, the Chief of Police of Hungary and the Minister of Internal Affairs for intervention after inspections made on the spot at Nyírbátor temporary hostel of restricted access.

This morning IOI Secretary General, Dr Peter Kostelka officially opened this year's IOI Ombudsman Practice Training which is held in cooperation with Queen Margaret University.

On 10 September 2012 the Chairwoman of the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB), Terezija Stoisits, and Ombudsman Peter Kostelka met with the Director of Operations of the Association for the Prevention of Torture, Barbara Bernath.