The ombudsman in Britain and France: A comparative evaluation

This article examines the workings of the Ombudsman scheme in Britain and France, concentrating, as regards the former, on the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. The character and status of public law, in conjunction with deep‐seated notions of the proper relationship between politicians and administrators in government, are posited as the decisive variables which explain the evolution of the respective Ombudsman schemes, and the extent to which they have realised the potential inherent in the Ombudsman system.