The incumbent ombudsman, Jurica Malcic, told the conference that the valid law was outdated, which was why it should be amended.
He expressed hopes that the institution of ombudsman would next year receive more budgetary funds and that the public would hold discussions on amendments to the said law so that the ombudsman would be given more powers and be able to supervise the work of courts and state institutions.
The head of the Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO), Zarko Puhovski, described Croatia as a specific country given that local judges were more frequently breaching human rights than police officers. Main problems of the human rights' protection are the national judiciary and time terms for conducting proceedings and delivering verdicts, according to this human rights activist.
The head of the Delegation of the European Commission, Vincent Degert, said that the institution of ombudsman was recognised both in Europe and in Croatia. Thanks to the work of ombudsman, the communication between citizens and public administration has become more transparent and efficient, the EC official said.
Degert added that a European Commission report would probably insist on expanding the role of ombudsman in Croatian society.
The head of the OSCE mission in Croatia, Jorge Fuentes Villalonga, said the role of ombudsman in Croatia should be made more prominent.
The fact that the ombudsman receives about 1,700 complaints from citizens on an annual levels bears witness to the importance of this function, said the official of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
He added that the OSCE was closely cooperating with Croatia's ombudsman.
The Zagreb conference was organised by the OSCE and the Human Rights Centre.