The Ombudsman's main function is the defence and promotion of the rights,liberties and legitime rights of all citizens, by assuring, through informalmeans, the Justice and the legality in carrying out the public powers.

The Ombudsman's intervenes, within the scope of the activity of Public Administration, and he may interfere in relations between private persons when these implicate a special relation of dominion within the scope of protection of the rights, liberties and guarantees.

The Ombudsman's attention is redoubled as to the defence of children's and juvenile's rights because, besides of these being individuals with fundamental rights, they are also individuals with specific rights. On the other hand, the majority of children and juveniles do not know or ignore these rights, resulting in that they are incapacitated to claim or to assert them.

This is why it is so necessary to promote the Children's Rights as well as to spread the methods and means available in their defense. And it is precisely in the defense and promotion of the Children's rights that the Ombudsman plays a fundamental role, as he is a public, independent authority, with powers to intervene with the entities competent to act, to whom he may address recommendations necessary to prevent and repair injustices, and which are obliged to cooperate with the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman as the Children's and Juveniles' Defender, being aware of thatfor them it is more difficult to become heard in the situations of injustice and illegality, has established a way of easy and free access which allows the children and Juveniles to communicate with the Ombudsman, through the Free Line «Messages from children».

This Line on one hand allows bringing to know to the Ombudsman the situations of violation of the Children's Rights, on the other hand making their Defender known to the children themselves.

In this sense the Free Line «Messages from children» has been the most utilized form of communication for the children and the adults on their behalf to call for the intervention of the Ombudsman.

1.1-Activities

a) Free Line «Messages from children» phone calls In 2000, the Line received 4024 calls from users and carried out itself 2091 phone calls, with a total of 6115 registered calls.

-1255 (31,19 %) refer to matters sorted out via telephone where the caller has been informed of his/her rights and referred, preventively, to the competent services, after being informed that the Ombudsman acts only if the Public Administration fails to fulfill its duties or violates the rights of individuals.

-135 (3,35 %) refer to matters registered (non-formal proceedings) where the caller has been provided with information in relation to the situation presented, which was registered in an autonomous fact sheet, given that the case could not be solved immediately since it implied mediation with the competent services within the public administration and often the referral to the competent entities.

-262 (6,1 %) refer to matters which gave rise to the opening of a formal comlaints procedure within the Office of the Ombudsman, given that they required a number of diligences to be undertaken, namely: gathering of information to consubstantiate the complaint; following-up the action of the competent entity; co-operation with such entity with the view to find a solution which takes into account the best interest of the child. 

-2372 (58,95 %) refer to diverse phone calls namely of children who merely wish to talk either about matters of general interest or of their private lives, adults who wish to make a donation for a children's charity Institution and phone calls with a purely recreational purpose. When attending these calls, we always tried to explain the aims of action of this service, so that the calls turned out to be a form of users' elucidation and an opportunity to make known the Free Line «Messages from children».

-557 (26,64 %) refer to calls addressed to the plaintiffs;

-1534 (73,36 %)refer to calls addressed to the competent entities.

In comparison with last year, there is an increase of 3077 calls registered. This increase of calls was being feeled since the beginning of the year and it became more accentuated after the implementation of a series of measures referred to under point 1.2.

b) Processes investigated by the Office for Assistence to the Free Line «Messages from children»

In 2000 there have been opened 128 new processes besides the calls. On one hand, among these there are 70 processes that implicated formal opening. And on the other hand, there are 58 new processes without formal opening, concerning situations registered in an appropriate sheet, within the terms above described.

131 formal processes have been filed, which means a significant increase in comparison with last year when 101 formal processes have been filed. The increase of filed processes, as well as the significant decrease in number of processes pending at the end of the year, resulted, as well, from the series of measures referred to under point 1.2., namely the ones directly related with the processual activity.

The situations more frequently denounced to the Free Line «Messages from children» were: 

-Neglect about the safety, health, alimony and education of children, on the part of those who hold their custody (30), Physical and mental abuse (25) Regulation of parental custody (22), School problems (14), Implementation of measures of protection and tutorship (12), Economic deprivation and consequent of support on the part of social services (9), Sexual abuse (5), Adoption (3), Child labour (2), Investigation of paternity (2), Behavourial problems of the child (2), Grandparents' visits, Mendacity, Review of foreign judgement on adoption, Piercing of children, Delay of judicial proceedings, Run away children, Provision of pension due to death of one parent, Protection of motherhood and fatherhood.

c) Divulgence of Children's Rights and of Existence of the Free Line «Messages from children»

In 2000, besides the distribution of rulers and stickers that inform the children about the existence of the Line and its working, several interviews were carried out within the means of communication, as a form of direct spreading, which allowed to inform about the Line's aims and ways of acting, by means of radio, newspapers and magazines. It is important as well to refer that the Internet site was updated which for the purpose of spreading permits a better elucidation of the user as to the Line's aims and working.

A proposal for a TV program was made, about the children's rights within the scope of the celebration of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights, with the aim to spread the rights that are most directly related with minors. The intention was to demonstrate, in a way accessible for children, the meaning of these rights, the situations of threat or violation of these rights, as well as elucidate them about the measures and means available for defence.

Another aspect that contributed to making the Line known was the participation in several debates, seminars and conferences subordinated to the theme of children and their families, since it afforded an exchange of information, experience and strategies in relation to the problems of children in danger, and turning out to be of major interest, permitting to bring up-to-date the perspectives of intervention, at National and International level. We point out the participation in the following activities:

-National Commission for Protection of Children and Juveniles in Risk, which the Ombudsman makes part of since its constitution in 1998, making himself represented in the monthly meetings by the responsible for the Free Line Messages from Children.

-Seminar about the Legislative Reform of the Minors' Right, at the Centre of Judiciary Studies, taken place in February 2000. 

-Formative Action subordinated to the Subject of Adoption, organised by the Section for Family and Minors of the Centre of Judiciary Studies, realised in July 2000.

-Work meeting on Tutelary Right of Minors, at the Centre of Judiciary Studies, realised in July 2000.

-Work in Social Network, organised by the Institute of Social Development in November 2000.

-Seminar subordinated to the subject «Child and Juvenile in peril and Juvenile committing offence, from the Prevention and Initial Intervention to the Familiar and Social Integration», realised in December 2000.

1.2-Some structural development

In 2000, the year after the Ombudsman's term of office, a proposal was adopted to reorganise the hotline services, which resulted into:

- An extension of the opening hours, which doubled (was from 15:00 to 18:00 on working days and is now from 9:30 to 17:30 also on working days);

- Extension of the staff working time, given the growing number of phone calls and files (began with one person working half term and is now 2 persons working full time);

- Improvement of the organization and follow-up of each file, with the view to engage the entities to act in an efficient and timely manner, taking into account the need to protect the child in question;

- Rationalisation of the available time with the view to be able to give an answer to the calls received and processes open, but also to study general issues, either following a complaint or at the initiative of the Ombudsman.

1.3- How the office relates to Government, Parliament, ONGs and Children themselves

For each situation, the hotline services endeavour to find the best possible solution with the competent services and institutions, in order to ensure that the fundamental rights of children are effectively guaranteed. In this sense the co-operation with the Organisms, the Entities and the Institutions we approach has been fundamental. 

We point out the cooperation of the Commissions for the Protection of Minors (CPM), Regional Centres of Social Security (CRSS), Institute for Child Support (IAC), Project for the Support of the Family and the Child (PAFAC), because of their quick response to our request of intervention and because of their way of acting before the situations communicated to them. 

Other entities' cooperation has to be referred as well, namely the Institute of Social Reinsertion (IRS), Municipalities, Santa Casa de Misericórdia (SCM), Ministry of Education and General Inspection of Education, Schools and School Delegations, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Justice, General Inspection of Labour, Plan for the Elimination of child labour exploration, Institute for Social Development (IDS), Courts, Office of Family Mediation, Public Safety Police (P.S.P.), Guarda Nacional Republica (G.N.R.), Adoption services, Hospitals, Civil Registries, Foreigners and Borders Service. As to the children, their most frequent way of communicating is the free phone Line. But they may also communicate by writing or personally. Besides these means of communication the Free Line messages from Children has an Internet site as well where it is possible to file a complaint or to ask for information.

2- AN UPDATE LIST OF POSITIVE CHANGES FOR CHILDREN IN WHICH THE OFFICE WAS ACTIVELY INVOLVED AND WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN WITHOUT THE OFFICE.

2.1-Examples of cases solved with the intervention of Free Line «Messages from children»

There was denounced to the Line the situation of a minor whose family was subject to bad economical shortages, being the child's meals assured by the school. When the school year came to an end, the school approached the Line in order to find an alternative support to assure the minor's meals. At the beginning the Line searched a solution for the minor's situation, having therefor contacted with the Registry Office and taken steps with a local Institution and the CRSS. The Welfare Worker tried to hold the parents responsible for the minor's food, as the mother was able to prepare the meals for the child. On the other hand, one tried to find a leisure occupation for the child, with activities adequate to its age and spare time necessities, so that it may be more accompanied and have a support during the Summer. The Line interfered, guaranteeing the connective contact between the CRSS, the School and the Psychologist, through home visits, school-support and attending the child and its parents, assuring a coordinated accompanying of the family so that the child could become able to manage its problems itself

(R-2731/99).

The school contacted the Line to denounce a situation of school absenteeism. The Line suggested to contact the parents in order to evaluate their possibility to pay more attention. The school, after having them called to come, found out that the mother was drug addicted and that the father was frequently away because of his profession.
Therefor, the Line asked for the intervention of the Social Worker of the minor's living area, who enrolled the girl for a local project for juveniles of the same age. Thus the girl became part of a youth group and participated in various activities and began to be followed by a psychologist. This intervention permitted the child to define its vital aims and become motivated for completing the compulsory education with a view to attend a profissional Course, revealing special interest in Graphic Arts (R-2513/99).

The girl ran away from home because of having been threatened of physical agressions by her father. Such threat was for her a factor for real panic because she had already been attacked before, when the father had broken her coccyx. After having run away, the girl contacted the Line and asked for help. The Line passed this situation on to the Council's Commission for Minors' Protection, where the girl was when she entered into contact with us, and assured that she would be listened to and protected, so that her personnal and familiar situation could be appreciated, aiming at a coordinated intervention with this family member (F-12.2.01).

The children's father died and they remained under a great-aunt's care as their mother was drug-addicted, working in bars, without anybody knowing about her residence. Due to the father's death, the minors have a right to legally established payments. These, however, could be made to the children's legal representative, their mother, who could receive the total amount in case she requested them within the legally established term. But due to her drug addiction and her refusal of treatment, it urged to take the necessary measures to defend, to the children's benefit, their part of the payments because of death, i.e. the subsidy because of death and the pension of survival, impeding the mother being their legal representative for the referred effects. The Line informed the Court about the situation, sending it all disposable facts and adding a social information, in order to promote a measure to impede the mother being the children' legal representative for the referred effects. Finally a judicial sentence was pronounced which decided that the subsidy because of the father's death as well as the related pension of survival should be placed in account with the Caixa Geral de Depósitos, for the benefit of each of the children (R-3403/99).

a) Field of subjects related with Health Draw a Hospital's attention to the need for buying material adequate to children's security, because of a baby having fallen out a bed due to the deficient fastening of the grading system. Within the scope of this process an objection was made, as the child had been waiting for a long time for the medical examinations, precribed after the accident, to be carried out, and the services were alerted in order not to happen such situation again(R-1379/99).

b) Field of subjects related with Social Security Recommendation addressed to the competent entity, in the sense of attributing the family subsidy to children and juveniles, taking into account the beneficiaries' right for increase from the third child on, and having to pay the retroactives not yet payed because of system failure. It was proposed as well to alter the request form for the subsidy in question, with a view to a clearer information as to the number of descendents of the family (R-2258/01).

c) Field of subjects related with the territorial Administration Recommendation addressed to a Townhall after an accident where two children drowned in abandoned and badly fenced construction works, having this entitiy to take the responsibility for the ocurred accident, because of omission of the works inspection (P-16/96).

3- Any specific difficulties or obstacles the office encountered in carrying out its mandate

The main difficulties relate to the working of the Public administration services, for example the Delay of judicial proceedings, the desorganization of the social assistence services and the irregularities in the functioning of some social responses. For example, the Provedoria de Justiça has received several complaints, from private persons, relating to the situation of children who were placed in Shelter Families, and there have been detected some irregularities in the action of the Public Administration services as to the application of the legal regimen that regulates this social response. We sent our conclusions to the National Commission of Children and Juveniles in Peril, with the request to take them into account for the effect of a new regulation to which this measure will be subject, above all concerning the time limits for the children's stay with the shelter Families.

Last edited by Barneombudet March 22, 2004
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