Table of Contents Introduction 9 The Portuguese Ombudsman and his staff 13 1. The Ombudsman’s activity in the complaints procedures 15 1.1. Statistics: brief notes 16 1.2. Promotion and protection of fundamental Rights 32 1.2.1. Environmental, urban planning and cultural rights 32 1.2.2. T  axpayers’, consumers’ and economic operators’ rights 36 1.2.3. Social rights 45 1.2.4. Workers’ rights 49 1.2.5. Right to justice and security 51 1.2.6. R  ights, freedoms and guarantees; health, education and constitutionality valuations 59 1.2.7. Autonomous Regions 67 1.2.7.1. Office of the Autonomous Region of the Azores 67 1.2.7.2. Office of the Autonomous Region of Madeira 69 2. Children, Senior Citizens and Disable Persons Unit (N-CID) 71 3. The Ombudsman as a National Human Rights Institution 3.1. Background 77 78 3.2. Project «Ombudsman, prisons and the 21st century: reports on some of the visits» 79 3.3. Activities with the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights 80 |5