In a landmark step to strengthen administrative justice for trade and industry, the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman) of Pakistan has, by notification, designated a senior officer as “Grievance Commissioner for Business Community (GCBC),” with immediate effect, based at the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat in Islamabad. The initiative responds to sustained calls from chambers of commerce, trade bodies and industry associations for a dedicated, accessible forum to resolve their grievances against federal government departments.

Legal Foundation and Mandate

The designation was made in exercise of powers conferred under Article 20 of the President’s Order No. 1 of 1983 and Section 7 of the Federal Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Act, 2013. The Commissioner is empowered, in line with Articles 9, 10, 11, 14, 19 and 33 of the Order and Section 7 of the 2013 Act, to investigate any allegation of maladministration relevant to the business sector, and to perform such other functions as the Wafaqi Mohtasib may specify. The core mandate is to investigate, redress and rectify injustice suffered by businesses at the hands of federal agencies, their officers or employees, restoring an efficient and fair administrative process for the private sector.

Scope of Jurisdiction

The Office covers grievances arising from unjust regulatory delays and procedural violations, maladministration in federal services essential to commerce such as licensing, permits and utilities, and arbitrary or inconsistent application of federal laws and rules affecting trade and industry.

How It Will Work

Complaints from companies, trade associations and individual entrepreneurs will be registered, investigated and diagnosed to their root cause, with the Commissioner favouring informal resolution, conciliation and mediation for prompt outcomes ahead of formal proceedings. Beyond individual cases, the Office will identify systemic bottlenecks within federal agencies and recommend concrete regulatory and administrative reforms. Multiple accessible channels, dedicated email, an online portal, post and fax, together with structured outreach and consultation with chambers of commerce, business councils and industry associations, will underpin accessibility, while modern complaint-management technology will support transparency and timely tracking.

By giving the business community a swift, credible avenue for administrative redress, the GCBC reinforces Pakistan’s ease-of-doing-business agenda and reflects the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s continuing commitment to accountable, citizen and business-centric governance an experience the Wafaqi Mohtasib looks forward to sharing with fellow members of the Asian Ombudsman Association.

The Office of the Ombudsman Punjab has facilitated the payment of more than Rs.88 million pending dues to 135 citizens from across the province after intervening in complaints regarding non-payment by government departments.

According to the spokesperson, the complainants had approached the Ombudsman Punjab after their outstanding dues remained unpaid by the relevant departments. Following the receipt of complaints, the Ombudsman Punjab took prompt notice of the matter and directed the authorities concerned to resolve the cases without delay.

As a result of the intervention, pending payments exceeding Rs88 million were released to 135 complainants, providing them with long-awaited financial relief.

The spokesperson said the Office of the Ombudsman Punjab remained committed to safeguarding citizens’ rights and ensuring the prompt resolution of public grievances. The institution would continue to take effective measures to provide people with swift, inexpensive and hassle-free administrative justice, the spokesperson added.

The citizens thanked the Ombudsman Punjab for her timely intervention and effective redress of their complaints, saying the institution’s efforts had enabled them to receive their long-pending dues.

The Office of the Ombudsman Punjab, in collaboration with the African Ombudsman Research Centre (AORC) and the African Ombudsman and Mediators Association (AOMA), hosted an international webinar titled “Evidence-Based Capacity Building: Strengthening African Ombudsman Practice Through Data, Learning and Institutional Innovation.” The event brought together 165 participants from 35 countries and was conducted with simultaneous interpretation in French, Portuguese, and Arabic.

Ms. Ayesha Hamid, Ombudsman Punjab, inaugurated the webinar, highlighting the role of evidence-based capacity building, continuous institutional improvement, and the Office’s achievement of ISO 9001:2015 QMS Certification for the Ombudsman Punjab Management Information System (OPMIS). Mr. Ahmad Yar Khan, Advisor (Research), presented the Office’s evidence-based complaint management model, showcasing OPMIS, quality assurance mechanisms, the Mobile Outreach Complaint Van Initiative, and key institutional achievements, including a 105% increase in fresh complaints received and a 99.7% increase in complaints processed during 2025.

The interactive discussion focused on quality assurance and compliance monitoring. The webinar concluded with closing remarks by Mr. Kaiser Saleem, Secretary, Office of the Ombudsman Punjab, and a vote of thanks by Hon. Aimée Laurentine Kanyana, First Vice-President of AOMA, further strengthening international cooperation and the exchange of best practices among Ombudsman institutions.

The Vice President of the General Inspection Organization Dr. Ahmad Rahmanian emphasized that the success of inspectors depends on specialized expertise and a preventive approach, stating that newly recruited personnel must prepare themselves to carry out oversight missions through specialized training and a spirit of dedicated service.

According to the Public Relations Department of the General Inspection Organization, Dr. Ahmad Rahmanian, Vice President of the General Inspection Organization, addressed the opening ceremony of the induction training program for newly recruited personnel, highlighting the significant position of the Organization within the country’s oversight system.
“The General Inspection Organization occupies one of the highest positions within the national oversight framework, and those who join this Organization must possess the qualifications and standards envisaged by the legislature for this institution,” said the Vice President.
Referring to the country’s current circumstances and the resilience of the Iranian people in the face of pressures and threats, Dr. Rahmanian described serving the people as a great honour and said:
“We are blessed with a noble and appreciative nation, and we must value their support and sacrifices. The people’s presence in various national arenas and their steadfast support for the Islamic Republic have demonstrated the strength of the Islamic Republic, the country’s social capital, and the people-centred nature of the system to the world, while disrupting the calculations of both domestic and foreign enemies and adversaries.”

At the initiative of the Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman), an open dialogue was held to discuss the implementation of the “Inclusive Ombudsman” project. The event brought together representatives of the Association of Persons with Disabilities, the Society of Persons with Disabilities, the Society of the Deaf, the Social Protection Agency, Tashkent State University of Law, the National University of Uzbekistan, as well as experts from other state bodies and organizations.

As a subject of parliamentary oversight, the Ombudsman pays particular attention to reviewing appeals submitted by persons with disabilities, assessing the protection of their rights and freedoms, improving legislation in this area, and monitoring the implementation of adopted legal acts.

To date, a number of measures have been taken to ensure the right of persons with disabilities to address state authorities. At the same time, there remains a need to create additional conditions enabling them to submit appeals to the Ombudsman, participate in personal and mobile receptions, access information, and make full and equal use of legal protection mechanisms.

The “Inclusive Ombudsman” project is a comprehensive initiative aimed at transforming the Ombudsman institution into a human rights institution that is physically, digitally and communicatively accessible to persons with disabilities.

The project provides for the development of a dedicated Telegram bot enabling persons with visual, hearing or speech impairments to submit audio and video appeals to the Ombudsman, as well as the adaptation of the official website in accordance with international accessibility standards.

The project also envisages conducting joint on-site assessments with civil society representatives to examine the conditions created for persons with disabilities, as well as organizing mobile receptions and monitoring activities in remote and rural areas.

The Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsman), Mr. Naveed Kamran Baloch while chairing a meeting in Regional Office, Karachi said that the Informal Resolution of Disputes (IRD) Wing would be renamed as the Sardar Iqbal Wing to honour the first Mohtasib in the country Justice (R) Sardar Muhammad Iqbal, who initially proposed the idea in 1983 when the institution of Wafaqi Mohtasib was launched in the country.

Federal Ombudsman, Naveed Kamran Baloch chaired a meeting at the Wafaqi Muhtasib Office, Karachi, to review the different departments’ performance, complaints handling, and implementation of previous decisions. Speaking on institutional improvements, the Federal Ombudsman said the IRD (Informal Resolution of Disputes) Wing would be renamed as the Sardar Iqbal Wing, here it is to note that IRD concept was initially proposed by Sardar Iqbal in 1983, he highlighted.

During the meeting, he received updates from regional offices in Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, and Sukkur. Mr. Baloch expressed satisfaction over the performance and progress made by the regional offices.

Representatives from Mirpurkhas informed the meeting that all measures proposed in the previous meeting had been implemented. They also shared that the office had recorded a 20 percent increase in registered cases.

Highlighting the department’s overall progress, the Federal Ombudsman said the institution is moving in the right direction and stressed the importance of strengthening systems that uphold merit and the rule of law.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), Chairperson Jung Il Yeon announced on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment for public institutions his participation in the “2026 Korean Association for Public Administration (KAPA) Summer Joint International Conference” for sharing the achievements of the assessment system and discussed its future development direction.

Co-hosted by KAPA, the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences (NRC), the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Busan Tourism Organization, the conference runs for three days from to the 22nd to the 24th at the Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Center (BPEX) under the theme, “Public Administration for the People, Public Administration Looking to the Future: Technology, Growth, Balance, and Government.”

The event brought together around 2,000 public administration scholars and policy experts from 20 countries to review the academic achievements of Korean public administration and design future national governance paradigms through various discussions.

Today (the 22nd), the ACRC hosted two special sessions in collaboration with the Korean Association for Corruption Studies and the Korea Institute of Integrity. These sessions aimed to share the primary achievements and policy significance of the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment system while gathering diverse feedback from academia and field practitioners regarding its future development.

In the first session, participants focused on “An AI-Driven Integrity Assessment System and the Establishment of Dedicated Assessment Governance.” The discussion covered innovative approaches to the Comprehensive Integrity Assessment using new technologies, alongside the necessity of establishing a specialized institution dedicated to the assessment.

In the following second session, participants took stock of the achievements made over the 25-year history of the public institution integrity assessment system.

The Public Defender of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, during a working visit to Brussels on July 6-7, 2026, held meetings with representatives of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighborhood (DG ENEST), the European External Action Service (EEAS), including the Office of the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia.

As part of the meetings, the Public Defender briefed European partners on the human rights situation in the country and the assessments of the Public Defender’s Office. The Public Defender’s cooperation with international organizations and the importance of their support in the process of implementing international human rights standards were also discussed at the meetings.

The Public Defender once again confirmed the readiness of the Office to continue independent, objective and effective activities in the field of human rights protection and active cooperation with international partners.

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman) jointly held a conference entitled “Strengthening Cooperation between the Ombudsman and the Constitutional Court in Reviewing Citizens’ Appeals.” to discuss ways to better protect citizens’ constitutional rights and freedoms, improve mechanisms for reviewing appeals, strengthen practical cooperation between the Constitutional Court and the Ombudsman institution, and exchange best practices in the field of human rights protection.

The event brought together judges of the Constitutional Court, the Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman), representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions, the Chamber of Advocates, the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Academy of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Commission on Ensuring Compliance with Constitutional Human Rights and Freedoms, members of scientific advisory councils, and representatives of the media.

In her opening remarks, Commissioner Feruza Eshmatova noted that citizens’ appeals constitute an important legal source for improving the performance of public authorities, emphasizing that their thorough analysis contributes to further development of legislation and law enforcement practice.

Chairman of the Constitutional Court Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov stressed the importance of cooperation between the Constitutional Court and the Ombudsman in upholding the supremacy of the Constitution, ensuring effective protection of human rights, and addressing systemic legal issues identified through citizens’ appeals.

The Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, Virgílio da Silva Guterres “Lamukan”, accompanied by the Deputy Ombudsman for Good Governance, Rigoberto Monteiro, the Deputy Ombudsman for Human Rights, Maria Marília da Costa, members of the Executive Management and Directors, today formally presented the 2025 Annual Report of the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice (PDHJ) to the National Parliament.

The 2025 Annual Report provides a comprehensive overview of PDHJ’s work in implementing its constitutional mandate throughout the year. The report highlights the institution’s achievements in protecting and promoting human rights, strengthening good governance, handling public complaints, conducting investigations, monitoring detention facilities, prisons, hospitals and social institutions, promoting civic education, and reviewing public policies to ensure compliance with the Constitution and human rights standards.

Among the key achievements in 2025, PDHJ registered 179 complaints, processed 217 investigation cases, completed 194 investigations, monitored 34 health facilities across all municipalities including RAEOA, and carried out regular inspections of detention centres, prisons, and social welfare institutions. The institution also continued nationwide human rights education and awareness programmes, reaching thousands of citizens through training, community outreach, and public information campaigns.