Overview 2.4.3 Ombudsman Peter Fichtenbauer Monitoring remains a cornerstone of our activities It was with great pleasure that I took up my role as a member of the Austrian Ombudsman Board on 1 July 2013. After working as a member of parliament for several years, I was already very familiar with the AOB and its responsibility for the population‘s concerns. The allocation of the new tasks under OPCAT may have attracted much media attention, but it is important to me to stress that monitoring of public administration continues to be a cornerstone of our activities as ombudsmen. Dealing with the complaints presented to the AOB is an important requirement of the Federal Constitution, which the AOB aims to meet to the best of its knowledge and in all conscience. It is not infrequent for complaints to reveal neglect or undesirable trends in legislature when investigated. As such, the AOB‘s work often goes far beyond individual cases. I will not cease looking critically at the legislature and to present improvements to the National Council and the Federal Council. It is not always possible to be aware of all consequences in legislation. Some misjudgements or undesirable trends only show up in practice. However, the AOB is able to investigate just such cases and to offer important advice to the legislator. Improvements to legislation as primary objective It is very encouraging whenever the suggestions for the legislator made by the AOB are actually taken up, such as in the solution for so-called putative Austrians, which had been suggested since 1984. These are individuals who - much like the authorities - had believed all their lives that they were Austrian citizens. Since 1 August 2013, conditions for special acquisition have now been included in the Austrian Citizenship Act. As a result, those affected must now no longer undergo an arduous and expensive award process. It is less encouraging if the AOB‘s suggestions for legislation are ignored even though their implementation is critically urgent. For instance, I could mention those World War II “relics” that remain hidden underground and come to light every now and then. Such discoveries generally attract great media attention because they endanger many people. The basic problem has not changed - even if now, it is no longer the mine clearing services of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, but the Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports, which is responsible for defusing these stray bombs. The landowners on whose properties such war relics are found must still bear the costs and risks of finding and unearthing them. A task which should be performed by the Republic of Austria. Better security for soldiers 28 There are also many whose job it is to secure the safety of the general public, e.g. soldiers. I found out that their job security is not satisfactory. Instead of being offered a different role, soldiers injured in training (e.g. during exercises) are advised to leave voluntarily. This is not a case of maladministration, but rather one of insufficient legal provisions. In the police, precautionary arrangements are available for such cases. The same applies to former regular soldiers, who completed their military service before 1 January 2005. In spite of strenuous work, they are forced to accept reductions in pensions, because only 30 months are counted towards their pension.