Armouti: JOB an effective oversight and accountability tool

Jordanian Ombudsman Bureau (JOB) Acting President, Ala'eddin Armouti, said on Saturday that the "grey area" in the executive authority's administrative exercise made it imperative to put in place an apparatus independent of the administration and the judiciary to efficiently address the imbalances and complexities in the functions of the government that do not respond to traditional oversight methods.
Delivering a lecture at the Royal Jordanian National Defence College on the JOB's role to promote comprehensive security, he said that advanced nations had been aware of the need to plug that vacuum and create the ombudsman bureau as a body accessible to those who feel their rights had been encroached upon but do not know which doors to knock at.
This apparatus, he said, had evolved from being just a reference to receive complaints into a body to monitor the types of flaws in administrative practices and put forth general guidelines for best administrative practices in order to ensure fairness and equality. Armouti said developed nations began embracing a broader concept of security than the traditional notion of protecting the country from only external threats and maintaining internal security, as they became fully convinced that security of the State also encompasses its economy, health, human rights, the environment and a sound relationship between the citizens and the government.
Hence, the ombudsman bureau had emerged as a national institution whose role is to enhance comprehensive security as a solid tool of accountability and an effective oversight arm over the government, he said.
Ever since it began functioning, he said, the JOB had solved 78 percent of complaints where administrative flaws had been proven, adding that some cases were still under consideration.