PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSIONER FOR ADMINISTRATION

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA)

Critical Analysis of Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA)

Administrative authorities need supervision and surveillance to the core. If government departments are left unmonitored, faulty and illegal practices may result. This can have serious implications for the whole nation. For the same purpose of effective control and monitoring, The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) was established under the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967. It came to be popularly known as the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The primary responsibility of the department was to investigate the complaints that are received for the departments of government and general public bodies and organizations. The jurisdiction of PCA is spread in the whole of the United Kingdom which consists of over two hundred public agencies in the country. This calls for strict actions for an effective mechanism of adequate monitoring and control. The Commissioner is independent of any government and it can exercise effective control and can receive any type of compliant against the government. The Commissioner maintains a fair policy against its actions and treats each complaint no matter from what background it may arise. All the complaints are treated anonymously and it is free of cost to exercise the powers of the Commissioner for all the governmental departments.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) has been given sufficient powers and authority by the State to interfere in the unreasonable practices of the different agencies in its jurisdiction without having to give any justifications on the basis of adequate evidence of ill practices. It can provide arrangements to thoroughly investigate the cause of the compliant and offers a wide variety of remedial measures to the sufferers. The reinforcements and remedies adopted by the PCA influence the work environment of governmental bodies and result in a good practice and trend. The agencies lie in coherence with the values and principles of the PCA, fearing they should not deviate from what is prescribed as an acceptable performance level. All the bodies that are complaining against the government must file them first to the Members of Parliament. The commissioner undertakes several months to resolve and come to a conclusion. The recommendations for effective management are not obligatory to follow, but its recommendation seldom is ignored. It is important to remember that the aim of the Parliamentary Ombudsman - like most of the public sector ombudsmen - is to remedy an injustice caused by something going wrong in the administration of their case. The Parliamentary Ombudsman does not have a role in "championing" the rights of complainants where they simply disagree with a decision that has been taken (Haliczer, 1981).

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the prison system was created by Law 17,684, of 29/VIII/2003, with the primary task of advising the legislature in its role of monitoring compliance with supranational law, constitutional, legal and regulatory, referred to situation of persons deprived of their liberty by judicial decision. Parliamentary Commissioner is also responsible for monitoring the activity of the bodies responsible for the administration of prisons and ...