How are complaints processed?
Once the complaint is received, the Ombudsman’s Office will send a receipt notification to the complainant, indicate whether or not the complaint has been accepted to be processed and inform them of the procedure that will follow.
Acceptance to be processed means that, having studied the case and the documents provided, the ombudsman has decided to investigate the case and liaise with the City Council to clarify the causes of the problem and potential errors made, if applicable, and recommend, remind or suggest formulas to resolve the case. During the investigation process, the ombudsman requests a report or copy of the municipal file and examines it. She can also request information from other public and private services to accumulate all the relevant information needed to make a decision regarding the complaint with full awareness of the surrounding circumstances and the legislation applicable to the case.
In all cases, resolutions are communicated in writing to the concerned party.
If the complaint is not accepted, the concerned party will be notified in writing and will be advised of other channels that may be used to try to solve the problem, if possible.
The ombudsman’s resolutions do not modify or invalidate administrative remedies, nor can they be appealed. Nonetheless, the ombudsman’s intervention may encourage the Municipal Administration to check its actions and detect potential errors, delays, omissions or failures to comply in the processing and/or resolution of cases.
