Administration

Pursuant to the Ombudsman Act, the public defender shall be assisted by an administration appointed in compliance with the principles of transparency, efficiency, pluralism and non-discrimination. The Cabinet of the Ombudsman is in charge with the overall programme planning of the activities of both the Ombudsman and the Deputy Ombudsman.

The Rules of Procedure further provide that the Ombudsman administration shall be managed by a Secretary General and shall be organised in directorates and/or departments. 

According to the distribution of activities in support of the Ombudsman’s work, the administration is two types - general and specialised. 

The specialised administration supports the Ombudsman in discharging her powers and competences and includes the following directorates according to their specialisation:
1. The Reception and Records Directorate conducts the daily dialogue with citizens; reviews inadmissible complaints; maintains the records and is in charge of correspondence. 
2. The International Standards and Regulatory Framework Directorate makes comparative legal analyses of the Bulgarian legislation in conjunction with the international law and the laws of other States; interprets the legal framework; reviews complaints related to citizens’ rights and matters related to the work of private enforcement agents; gives legal guidance in various cases (e.g. vignette stickers, arbitration courts etc.); reviews requests for sending requests to the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court. 
3.  The Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Discrimination Directorate deals with matters such as the right to an accessible environment, social and labour rights of the persons with disabilities, and all matters regarding discrimination on grounds of gender, age, social status, ethnicity, religion, etc. 
4.  The Rights of the Child Directorate monitors respect for the rights of the child, children at risk, children in institutions in compliance with the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. 
5.  The Social Rights, Education, Healthcare and Environment Directorate deals with problems pertaining to labour and insurance length of service, pensions, problems with the National Insurance Institute and the National Revenue Agency, unfair employers, all matters concerning kindergartens, pre-school, primary, secondary, high schools and higher education institutions, healthcare, abuse in hospitals, the National Medical Expert Committee, Territorial Medical Expert Committee, Treatment of Children Fund, Reproductive Health Fund etc.; environment-related matters such as urban parks, polluters, factories, wastewater treatment plants, etc. 
6.  The Property Rights Directorate reviews issues pertaining to condominium property, rights of access, agricultural lands, municipal and state-owned property, work with municipalities, regional governors’ offices, ministries, forest owners, owners of agricultural lands, water bodies, real estates, regulated plots of land, etc. 
7. The National Preventive Mechanism Directorate is an autonomous unit in the Ombudsman Office. It conducts monitoring of all places where people are not placed out of their free will (e.g. prisons, psychiatric hospitals, detention facilities, refugee centres) to protect them against torture and other forms of inhuman or degrading treatment. It conducts regular inspections to monitor conditions in prisons, detention facilities, refugee centres and draws up reports. The directorate’s experts also handle issues police violence, violations of the traffic police, and prosecutor’s rulings. They review complaints filed by asylum seekers and deal with expulsion of migrants after establishing their nationality. 
8. The Rights of Users of Administrative and Public Services Directorate reviews complaints against persons and institutions that provide public services such as the Heating Utility Company, electricity distribution companies, the Water and Energy Regulatory Committee, water and sewerage providers, telephone and internet providers, banks, debt collector companies, other issues related to local taxes and fees. It monitors compliance with the good governance principles by municipalities, municipal councils, regional governors’ offices, public agencies and ministries. It further deals with violations under EU programmes and projects. 
9.  The Audit of Whistleblowing and Protection of Whistleblowers Directorate is engaged in capacity-building as well as drafting of methodology and rules for the independent external audit of the activities of the Commission for Personal Data Protection (the central body tasked to receive external whistleblowing complaints and to ensure protection of whistleblowers in Bulgaria). Conducts on-site checks of the work of the external whistleblowing channel (the CPDP), which includes evaluating: deadline compliance with whistleblowers’ protection requests; the quality of interaction between the CPDP and the other competent authorities and other aspects of the CPDP's activities that allow for an assessment of its whistleblowing protection work’s effectiveness.

The general administration supports the discharge of the Ombudsman’s powers as head of the institution and enables the work of the specialised administration. It further performs technical activities and administrative service and includes the following directorates:
9.  The Finance and Accountancy Directorate deals with the financial transactions of the institution: financial forecasts; balance sheets; payroll. It regularly draws up reports for institutions that monitor budget spending, such as the Audit Office. The service staff is also part of this department: one maintenance staff member, two cleaning staff members and two drivers.
10.  The Public Relations and Protocol Directorate deals with the event organisation of the Ombudsman Institution such as conferences, round tables, public discussions etc. It maintains relations with the media and is in charge of the media promotion of the work of the Ombudsman Office. It further prepares brochures, books and other materials promoting of the work of the Ombudsman. The directorate comprises a director and one chief expert. 
11. The Complaint Handling Oversight, International Activities and Projects Directorate carries out the international activities of the organisation and liaises with partner organisations and institutions for human rights protection in regionally (EU and CoE) and internationally. It organises participation in joint forums and is further in charge of applying and implementing projects for capacity-building of staff members of the Ombudsman Office. In addition, it also monitors the quality of complaint handling. The directorate comprises a director and one chief expert.