Don't believe me? Well, the Ombudsman (love typing this word) is appointed by the government, and their task is to investigate, report, and make recommendations concerning defective administration by those in public service. Now replace public service with 'The Emperor.'
See, things are bit clear now. Anyways, the Ombudsman has jurisdiction to review administrative actions undertaken by ALL departments and authorities. However, the Ombudsman cannot investigate activities of the courts or parliament (can an Imperial Auditor investigate the Emperor?).
Ombudsman may initiate an investigation, and Parliament may also request the Ombudsman to investigate a matter. They conduct their investigations in private, and obstruction of their investigation is considered to be an offense, and there will be consequences (fine of $250.00 and/or imprisonment for 12 months).
Once an Ombudsman's investigation is complete he/she may recommend an action to be taken, however, the recommendation can be ignored, BUT, an Ombudsman can report the ignored recommendation to the Premier, Parliament, or in an Annual report. As my tutor said, if you are a head of a department why the hell won't you follow the recommendation of an Ombudsman, the consequences of their recommendation making it to any of the above is -not- worth ignoring the rec. Apparently departments in the government shake in fear at the thought of an investigation done by the Ombudsman.
See, it is an Imperial Auditor. Unfortunately, our State's Ombudsman is female (and I'm not sure about the Federal Ombudsman). So no chance of an
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cranky