Defender of Rights

Brief history

The Défenseur des droits was enshrined in the Constitution on 23rd July 2008 and established by the Organic and Ordinary Laws of 29th March 2011. Laws of 29th March 2011. The institution has succeed to 4 distinct authorities: the Médiateur de la République (French Mediator/Ombud), the Défenseur des enfants (Children’s Ombudsman), the Haute Autorité de lutte contre les discriminations et pour l’égalité (HALDE, equality and anti-discrimination authority), and the Commission nationale de déontologie de la sécurité (CNDS, national commission on security ethics).

Mandate Type

Predominantly promotion-type and legal support body

Litigation power:

• Intervening before the court
• Formally deciding on complaints (e.g. decision or recommendation addressed to the parties) Not legally binding

Activities

Our institution has a mandate to deal with:

• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
• Hate crime and hate speech : jurisdiction to do preventive and promotion actions only, such as preventive compaigns.
• Violence against women : except for the cases about sexual harassment, the Défenseur des droits redirects victims to the CNIDFF (Centre national d’information sur le droit des femmes et des familles = National information Center of women and families rights), and the AVFT (Association européenne contre les violences faites aux femmes au travail = European organization against violences against women at work).

Other statistics:

Other informations about the statistics

Number of complaints received in the field of the fight against discrimination per year :
2010 : 3 055
2011 : 2 769
2012 : 3 132
2013 : 3 673
2014 : 4 535
2015 : 4 846
2016 : 5 203
2017 : 5 405
2018 : 5 631
2019 : 5 448

Management

• Single headed equality body (led by director or ombudsman/commissioner)
• The Defender of Rights is a single authority in charge of defending the rights. The Defender of Rights chairs over 3 Boards which assist him in the performance of his duties in the defense of the rights of children, the fight against discrimination and promotion of equality, as well as ethics in the field of security. Each Board has a vice-chair in the person of the appropriate deputy. The Defender of rights is appointed by the president of the Republic, but has to be confirmed in his or her functions by the Parliament (Senate and National Assembly). This mandate is non-renewable. His or her functions may only be terminated at his or her request or in the event of an obstacle according to the conditions defined by decree of the Council of State. The Defender of rights, which is an independent constitutional authority, does not receive any instructions in the exercising of his remit. The Defender of rights and his deputies may not be prosecuted, sought after, arrested, detained or tried on the basis of the opinions they issue or the acts that they carry out in fulfilling their functions. The functions of the Defender of rights and of his deputies are not compatible with the functions of a member of the Government, of the Constitutional Council, the Supreme Judicial Council and of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, as well as any other elected office. Furthermore, the functions of the Defender of rights and those of his deputies are incompatible with any other public function or employment and all other professional activities, as well as any other position as chairman and member of the board of directors, or chairman and member of the executive board, chairman and member of the supervisory board, or the managing director of any company, enterprise or institution.

Management details

The Defender of Rights has three deputies to assist him in his assignment:

• Deputy, Children’s Ombudsman (Défenseure des enfants), Vice-chair of the Board in charge of the defense and promotion of children’s rights
• Deputy, Vice-chair of the Board in charge of the fight against discrimination and the promotion of equality
• Deputy, Vice-chair of the Board in charge of security ethics

The deputies cannot occupy positions other than those for which they are appointed.
Each Deputy is Vice-Chair of their respective board and can replace the Defender of Rights as chair of the meetings of that board and represent him in her/his field of competence.

Additional details

The Defender of Rights, while preserving the specific features and visibility of previous missions, has defined a transversal organization making it possible to develop to their fullest potential the powers conferred upon him by law. The services are organized into units grouped together in departments.
The Admissibility/Orientation Department : examines the admissibility and orientation (or re-orientation) of all the requests

• The Department “Protection of Rights –Judicial Affairs (composed by the following units: justice and liberties, Childrens’ rights, public and private security services complaints, health, private employment and goods and services)
• The Department “Protection of Rights –Public Affairs (composed by the following units: public function, social protection and solidarity, public services, fundamental rights of foreigners)
• The Department “Promotion of Equality and Access to rights” lays emphasis on Institutional reform, public action evaluation, partnership strategy, communication training, documentation, studies and research, European and International affairs. It also focuses on the production of norms (drafting legal and regulatory proposals) or on making general recommendations. It is also in charge of writing opinions in response to parliamentary or governmental requests.
• The Regional Network Department manages: relations between the institutions and its 400 delegates distributed around the country

Procedure for nomination and appointment of management and board

Security Ethics Board
The Board in charge of security ethics is composed of:

• Three highly qualified individuals appointed by the President of the Senate
• Three highly qualified individuals appointed by the President of the National Assembly
• One member or former member of the Council of State, appointed by the Vice-chair of the Council of State
• One member or former member of the Court of Cassation appointed jointly by the first President of the Court of Cassation and the Prosecutor General to said Court

Defence and Promotion of Children’s Rights Board
The Board in charge of the defence and promotion of children’s rights is composed of:

• Two highly qualified individuals appointed by the President of the Senate
• Two highly qualified individuals appointed by the President of the National Assembly
• One highly qualified individual appointed by the President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council
• One member or former member of the Court of Cassation appointed jointly by the first President of the Court of Cassation and the Prosecutor at said Court

The Anti-Discrimination and Promotion of Equality Board
The Board in charge of the fight against discrimination and promotion of equality is composed of:

• Three highly qualified individuals appointed by the President of the Senate
• Three highly qualified individuals appointed by the President of the National Assembly
• One highly qualified individual appointed by the Vice-chair of the Council of State
• One highly qualified individual appointed by the First President of the Court of Cassation

Number of staff dealing with equality issues

Grounds and fields of discrimination covered by the equality body

pregnancy, family situation, physical appearance, patronym, place of residence, state of health, genetic characteristics, way of life, sexual identity, political opinions, union activities, loss of autonomy, particular vulnerability resulting from a known or apparent economic situation

Mandate covers:

• Public sector
• Private sector

Operating budget in euros

We are accountable to

• National Parliament
• Head of State
• National audit institution (i.e. for financial reporting)