NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2017 82 Act relating to the Parliamentary Ombudsman for Public Administration (the Parliamentary Ombudsman Act) (selected sections) Act of 22 June 1962 No. 8 as subsequently amended, most recently by Act of 21 June 2013 No. 89. Section 1. Election of the Ombudsman After each general election, the Storting elects a Parliamentary Ombudsman for Public Administration, the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is elected for a term of four years reckoned from 1 January of the year following the general election. The Ombudsman must satisfy the conditions for appointment as a Supreme Court Judge. He must not be a member of the Storting. If the Ombudsman dies or becomes unable to discharge his duties, the Storting will elect a new Ombudsman for the remainder of the term of office. The same applies if the Ombudsman relinquishes his office, or if the Storting decides by a majority of at least two thirds of the votes cast to deprive him of his office. If the Ombudsman is temporarily unable to discharge his duties because of illness or for other reasons, the Storting may elect a person to act in his place during his absence. In the event of absence for a period of up to three months, the Ombudsman may authorise the Head of Division to act in his place. If the Presidium of the Storting finds that the Ombudsman is disqualified to deal with a particular matter, it will elect a substitute Ombudsman to deal with the matter in question. Section 2. Instructions The Storting will issue general instructions for the activities of the Ombudsman. Apart from this the Ombudsman is to discharge his duties autonomously and independently of the Storting. Section 3. Purpose As the Storting’s representative, the Ombudsman shall, as prescribed in this Act and in his instructions, endeavour to ensure that individual citizens are not unjustly treated by the public administration and help to ensure that the public administration respects and safeguards human rights. Section 3a. National preventive mechanism The Ombudsman is the national preventive mechanism as described in Article 3 of the Optional Protocol of 18 December 2002 to the UN Convention of 10 December 1984 against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Section 4. Sphere of responsibility The Ombudsman’s sphere of responsibility encompasses the public administration and all persons engaged in its service. It also encompasses the conditions of detention for persons deprived of their liberty in private institutions when the deprivation of liberty is based on an order given by a public authority or takes place at the instigation of a public authority or with its consent or acquiescence. The sphere of responsibility of the Ombudsman does not include: a) matters on which the Storting has reached a decision, b) decisions adopted by the King in Council, c) the activities of the courts of law, d) the activities of the Auditor General, e) matters that, as prescribed by the Storting, come under the Ombudsman’s Committee or the Parliamentary Ombudsman for the Norwegian Armed Forces, f) decisions that as provided by statute may only be made by a municipal council, county council or cooperative municipal council itself, unless the decision is made by a municipal executive board, a county executive board, a standing committee, or a city or county government under section 13 of the Act of 25 September 1992 No. 107 concerning municipalities and county authorities. The Ombudsman may nevertheless investigate any such decision on his own initiative if he considers that it is required in the interests of due process of law or for other special reasons. In its instructions for the Ombudsman, the Storting may establish: a) whether specific public institutions or enterprises shall be regarded as belonging to the public administration or a part of the services of the state, the municipalities or the county authorities under this Act, b) that certain parts of the activity of a public agency or a public institution shall fall outside the sphere of the Ombudsman’s responsibility. (Sections 5-6)