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Download in Word format The Ombudsman for Children Act No 83/1994 Entered into force on January 1, 1995 Article 1 An office of Ombudsman for Children shall be created with the role of improving the children´s lot, as well as safeguarding their interests, needs and rights in a manner further detailed in this Act. Article 2 [The Prime Minister shall appoint the Ombudsman for Children for a period of five years.]¹ The Ombudsman may, without the post being advertized, be reappointed for another five years, yet once only save in exceptional circumstances. Article 3 The Ombudsman for Children shall strive to ensure that the rights, needs and interests of children are given full consideration by public authorities, individuals, societies and other associations of individuals and representatives of legal persons. In the course of his work, the Ombudsman for Children shall give instructions and make proposals for the furtherance of children´s interests in all walks of life. Article 4 Anyone may apply to the Ombudsman for Children. Article 5 The pledge of secrecy notwithstanding, public authorities shall be obliged to give the Ombudsman for Children all the information which he deems necessary to carry out his task. Individuals, societies and associations shall, likewise, be obliged to provide the Ombudsman for Children with all the information which, in his opinion, is needed for him to perform his task pursuant to Article 3, subparagraph d). The Ombudsman cannot demand to have information with a bearing on state security, internal or external, or on such foreign affairs as are to be kept secret, except with the permission of the relevant cabinet minister. Article 6 The Ombudsman for Children shall observe a duty of silence as to events that come to his knowledge in the course of his work and are to be kept secret because of legitimate interests, public or private. The same applies to the staff of the Ombudsman for Children. The duty of silence shall remain even after termination of employment. Otherwise, general rules pertaining to civil servants pledge of secrecy shall apply. Article 7 The Ombudsman for Children shall engage his own staff. He may also engage specialists to work on specific assignments. Article 8 The Prime Ministry shall supervise the financial affairs of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children. The Ombudsman for Children shall report annually to the Prime Minister on his work during the preceding calendar year. The printed report shall be published before 1 September each year. In other respects, the Ombudsman for Children shall be independent and unaffected by orders of the executive. Article 9
In this Act the term ´children´ shall be taken to denote persons up to the age of 18 years.
The Ombudsman for Children shall have a university degree. If the Ombudsman for Children does not hold a degree in law his staff shall include a lawyer.
The salary and related conditions of the Ombudsman for Children shall be decided by the Salaries and Emoluments Tribunal. The Ombudsman for Children shall not be at liberty to hold other paid assignments or undertake tasks which are incompatible with his Office.
¹) Act 83/1997, article 11
In particular, the Ombudsman shall:
a) take the lead in promoting policymaking discussion on children´s matters among the public,
b) put forward proposals for the improvement of legal procedures and administrative instructions directly relevant to children,
c) seek to further observance of international agreements, ratified by Iceland, relative to children´s rights and wellbeing, as well as to advocate the ratification of other agreements on this subject
d) take action with such means as are at his disposal when he considers that the rights, needs and interests of children in society have been infringed through acts or omissions of those listed in paragraph 1 above,
e) be instrumental in fostering public awareness of legislation and other rules regarding children and youngsters and seek to encourage research in this area.
Where the Ombudsman for Children considers that the provisions of subparagraph d) of paragraph 2 above may have been broken he shall direct a reasoned opinion to the party involved together with his proposals for remedy, if applicable.
The Ombudsman for Children shall take up cases either on his own initiative or following a reasoned indication from others. He shall himself decide whether an indication warrants the opening of a case.
The Ombudsman for Children does not deal with disputes between individuals, but has the obligation to provide those who turn to him for such matters with guidance as to courses open to them either in administration or the courts of law.
The Ombudsman for Children shall also, where he deems necessary, have free access to all institutions which house children or whose work program includes children´s matters in one way or another, whether publicly run or by individuals, societies or other associations of individuals.
In the event of a dispute in relation to the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 above the Ombudsman for Children may take the matter to court. Proceedings shall be pursuant to the civil law.
The Prime Minister shall, upon receiving the proposals of the Ombudsman, issue a regulation containing further rules as to the work of the Ombudsman for Children.
This Act shall enter into force on 1st January 1995