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JUSTICE HONG KONG BRANCH
institution of the Ombudsman is the impartiality and integrity with which he has acted in the countries in which he has so far operated. The recent creations in Denmark and New Zealand appear from the information available to have had the good fortune of having men of the highest calibre to hold office. No doubt a great measure of the success of this institution depends on this factor. Rules relating to the appointment, dismissal, remuneration and duration of office are also designed to ensure the independence of the office. The lack of formality not only makes the procedure which the Ombudsman adopts inexpensive, but creates a spirit of goodwill vis-a-vis the administration. As a consequence the Ombudsman has come to be treated as a negotiator, and through negotiations to have many matters corrected without the need for a full enquiry. In Denmark even law reform has been placed under his control.
Chinese Tradition
A principle similar to that of an Ombudsman can be found in the Chinese censorate of imperial times. An institution of great antiquity dating back to the 12th Century B.C., its function may be roughly stated as the investigation, by various means, including travelling inspectors of the conduct of officials in administration, and the taking of appropriate action in cases of injustice, oppression, corruption or peculation. The censorial officials, who acted either on the basis of complaints from the public or on their own initiative, made recommendations to the Throne and were in a position to criticize even the highest officials. The basis of their authority, however, was their duty to take criminal proceedings against officials who violated the complex provisions of the penal and administrative codes. (There is a quite striking analogy to the position of the Swedish Ombudsman, which is also rooted legally and historically in the power of prosecution.)
Probably the censorial system, apart from its primary purpose of protecting the imperial interest in administration, including of course the revenue, brought a dividend to the regime by redressing the worst bureaucratic injustices. What is much more important