A distorted constitutional and statutory proposal: the ombudsman and the autonomous communities’ commissioners

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the distortions and alterations that the institution of the Scandinavian Ombudsman has undergone following its incorporation and connection within the national regulatory framework, whether in the figure of the State Ombudsman established in article 54 of the Spanish Constitution or in the corresponding institutions that represent it within the different Autonomous Communities existing in Spain. The distortion of this institution appears ad initio in Article 162 of the Spanish Constitution, to continue appearing in the EU regulations as a whole within the framework of its Statutes and Laws of development. In short, we can establish that the desire of the Spanish Constituent Assembly of 1978, which was focused in principle on importing this significant institution with its specific characteristics as it developed and functioned in those Nordic latitudes, has finally, due to certain circumstances (above all due to the powers and functions assigned), turned into something different from the original intention. This distortion has affected both the central Ombudsman’s office and the autonomous Commissioners who, in the end, have become original references in our legal system.