THE OFFICE OF THE DISABILITY OMBUDSMAN
P.O. Box 7779
S-103 96 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone +46(0)8 20 17 70
Fax 　　+46(0)8 20 43 53
Text telephone +46(0)8 21 39 39
Visiting address： Regeringsgatan 67,4th floor.

Cassette, diskette and Braille versions of this brochure are also available.

Authority observing questions affecting the rights and interests of persons with disabilities

The task of monitoring the rights and interests of persons with disablities has been entrusted by the Government to the Office of the Disability Ombudsman. The Swedish policy objectives refer to full participation and equalization of opportunities. The same objectives are also included in the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities endorsed by Sweden.

The Office of the Disability Ombudsman - a national authority
The Office of the Disability Ombudsman is a national authority and as such responsible to the Government. Its powers and duties are defined by an Act and Ordinance.

Better laws for persons with disabilities
One important task for the Office is to ensure that deficiencies in laws and regulations, from the viewpoint of disability are rectified. Government and authorities must be prevailed on to show consideration for the needs of persons with disabilities.

Central action - helping everybody
In principle, the Office of the Disability Ombudsman must act on a general plane, as opposed to intervening in individual cases. But the individual complaints received by the Office are very important. They are often the basis of intervention at central level, and they indicate where deficiencies lie.

Guidance and counselling
Members of tile public can phone the Office for guidance and counselling on the rights of persons with disabilities.

The UN Standard Rules and Women with disabilities
The Government has indicated two things of importance during the Office's first year of existence： - disseminating and establishing in Sweden the UN standard rules on tile Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, - giving priority to the situation for women with disabilities.

International work
The Office observes developments in the disability sector internationally, above all within the EU.

What is disability
The term "disability" refers to a large number of functional limitations occurring worldwide in all groups of the population.
Disabilities can be due to physical, intellectual or sensory damage, medical conditions or mental illness.
Injuries or illnesses of this kind can be permanent or transitory.

What is handicap
The term "handicap" refers to the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the life of the community on the same level as others.
Handicap describes the en- counter between the person with a disability and the environment.
The term underlines short- comings of the environment and of amenities, for example information, communication and education.

Inger Claesson Wastberg has been appointed Disability Ombudsman by the Government. She heads a secretariat of seven persons, located in Stockholm. All decisions are taken by the Ombudsman personally, assisted by a special council of 15 persons.

§The rights and obligations of the Office are set out in the Act to establish the Office of Disability Orebudsman, SFS 1994：749.

Initiate discussions
When necessary, the Office can initiate discussions with authorities, companies, organizations and others, to ensure that no one is unfavourably or unfairly treated on account of disability.

Power of requesting information
Everyone having a mandatory task of any kind relating to persons with disabilities is obliged to furnish particulars of their activity if requested to do so by the Office of the Disability Ombudsman.

Information and opinion formation
The Office is charged with disseminating, through information activity and opinion formation, the knowledge it acquires by monitoring and following up work on behalf of persons with disabilities.

Report to the Government 94/95

The Office of the Disability Ombudsman works on behalf of the Swedish Government to safeguard the rights and interests of persons with disabilities.
The Ombudsman is required to report annually to the Government on the past year's activities and to suggest measures which would improve conditions for persons with disabilities.

The first annual report (for the period 1st July 1994 - 30th June 1995) was presented to the Government in September 1995.

The following pages contain a short excerpt from the Preface and the main proposals.

Preface
This is my first report to the Government as Sweden's first Disability Ombudsman.

Owing to Government spending constraints, the past year has been virtually devoid of reforms for the benefit of persons with disabilities. It is too early yet for a total analysis of conditions in Sweden for persons with disabilities, but quite clearly, they are feeling the effects of the crisis of government finance more than virtually any other sector of the population. A number of policy decisions have been made which in practice imply a lowering of the relative standard for persons with disabilities or a deterioration of their living conditions.

Of course, it is not the intention that persons with disabilities should bear the brunt of these measures, but their conditions have been profoundly affected by the combined impact of a number of the changes made. Each individual measure may seem slight in itself, but the combined impact of, say, reduced disability pension benefits, more expensive medicines and more expensive transport, services can be formidable. Certain changes have been partially aimed at reducing the use made of certain public services. Persons with disabilities, however, do not have this option.

Persons with disabilities often have to struggle in order to ascertain and actually enjoy their rights. This initial year has demonstrated in no uncertain manner the importance of the legal advisory services which the Disability Ombudsman has been able to offer individuals. To many people with disabilities, the Ombudsman's counselling has made all the difference.

Just about every policy question involves, one way or another, aspects of policy relating to persons with disabilities. The breadth of the Ombudsman's domain and the relatively limited resources available have made it necessary to prioritise and to concentrate on a smaller number of questions.

In the process of shaping the new authority and focusing its work, the UN Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities have been a valuable point of departure. Those 22 rules cover vital aspects of full participation and equality, and questions and statistics within the authority have been grouped accordingly.

During its first year, the Office has had upwards of a thousand cases to deal with. Of the phone-in counselling cases attended to, 31% are concerned with support and service, 24% with accessibility, 13% with education, 10% with employment and 7% with income maintenance and social security.

Questions of accessibility account for 60% of complaints received, followed by questions relating to education and to support and service. An analysis of press cuttings shows that media coverage has focused mainly on questions of accessibility(35%), support and service (14%) and income maintenance and social security (13%).

Questions of accessibility, then, have predominated, both among cases referred to the Office and in the initiatives taken by it.

The UN Panel of Experts has recommended member states to keep questions regarding accessibility, education, employment, legislation and organisations of persons with disabilities under special surveillance.

Surveillance of laws and regulations is one of the most important of all the Ombudsman's duties. We discharge this duty by commenting on official reports, making representations to Government Commissions and committees, proposing new commissions and drafting legislation. By convening discussions we have also established good co-operation with other authorities, such as the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, the Civil Aviation Administration and the National Board for Industrial and Technical Development.

The present report proposes stronger legislation on the subjects of accessibility, employment and discrimination on account of disability. The USA and Australia, for example, have stronger legislation in these fields. Many disabilities today are an unnecessary cause of handicap, because not enough is done to make Society accessible. Stricter legislation can change this.

Accessibility questions are a striking example of the way in which different policy measures and sectors of society must collaborate so as to reduce obstacles to equal opportunities for persons with disabilities. A stronger Planning and Building Act would elicit necessary measures. Municipalities, businesses and authorities must in various ways make premises, transport services, public places and information available to persons with disabilities.

This report gives a more detailed account of the activities conducted by the Ombudsman and of changes proposed. During this initial year I have of course seen the considerable obstacles, both economic and otherwise, to an achievement of the participation in community life which our country has pledged itself internationally to provide. At the same time, in most of the individual cases which have been raised, the Office has been able to secure changes and remedy shortcomings. Steps which have been taken to influence legislation, official inquiries etc. have resulted in questions of relevance to persons with disabilities being put on the agenda in new contexts.

For the coming year I will be further pursuing questions of accessibility and, in accordance with the Government's remit, will be working on questions concerning women and disability, as well as the UN Standard Rules, and I will be intensifying my surveillance of questions referring to Sweden's co-operation within the European Union.

lnger Claesson Wastberg
Director General

Summary of the main proposals

Accessibility - elimination of minor obstacles

Accessibility is a fundamental precondition of social participation. The existence of serious deficiencies in this respect has been reflected by a large number of complaints and counselling interviews. The draft new Planning and Building Act, PBL, included a provision to the effect that easily remedied obstacles to accessibility were to be remedied not later than 2005. That proposal, however, was retracted after the draft document had been studied by the Council on Legislation.

The Disability Ombudsman proposes
that the Government introduce the amendments to the new Planning and Building Act referred to the Council on Legislation in Government Bill Prop. 1994/95：230. worded as follows in Chap. 1 7, Section 21 a：

"Oh premises to which the general public have accessibility and in public places, easily remedied obstacles to accessibility for and use by persons with reduced movement or orientation capacity shall be eliminated by the year 2005 to the extent indicated by prescriptions issued by authority of this Act."

Discrimination at work and procedural role

Job applicants with disabilities are an especially vulnerable group. Today there is nothing to prevent a job applicant being subjected to negative discrimination on account of disability. Persons with disabilities do not have the legal safeguards extended to persons belonging to ethnic or religious minorities or to an under- represented sex. The anti-discrimination safeguards enjoyed by those groups - under the Ethnic Discrimination (Prohibition) Act and the Equal Opportunities Act respectively - also apply to them as employees.

The Disability Ombudsman proposes
therefore that the Government promptly introduce legislation forbidding discrimination of persons with disabilities at work.

The Disability Ombudsman proposes
that the Government also introduce legislation empowering the Ombudsman to litigate in cases of discrimination affecting persons with disabilities al work.

Discrimination and the law

Attitudes and "social climate" make an important difference to the way in which people with disabilities are treated. Anti-discrimination legislation can in the long term affect the attitude of the business community towards fellow human beings with disabilities, but the Ombudsman realises that people's attitudes and values are above all affected by non-legislative measures. Even so, it is important that society, acting through the Riksdag (parliament) as its legislative assembly, should clearly indicate a standpoint on these questions of basic values. It is also important that prosecution should be possible for the crime of unlawful discrimination against persons with disabilities.

The Disability Ombudsman proposes
that the Constitution Act be amended and a new section added to it, worded as follows.
Chap. 2, Section 16 a
A law or other statutory instrument may not imply disfavour to any person on account of disability.

The Disability Ombudsman proposes
that the Government introduce a Bill to expand the rules of Chap. 16, Section 9 of the penal code so as also to include persons with disabilities. It is proposed that the amendment be worded as follows：

"A person as referred to in subsections 1-3 subjecting another person, as there indicated, to discrimination on account of that person's disability shall be similarly convicted of unlawful discrimination."

The term "disability" summarises a great number of different functional limitations occurring in any population in any country of the world. People may be disabled by physical, intellectual or sensory impairment, medical conditions or mental illness. Such impairments, conditions or illnesses may be permanent or transitory by nature.
(Definition in accordance with the UN Standard Rules).

Committee terms of reference affecting persons with disabilities

At present there are terms of reference indicating that committees and investigators are to state consequences for regional policy, assess public commitments and state consequences in terms of equal opportunities policy.

The Ombudsman feels that all committees and commissions appointed should be similarly instructed in their terms of reference to state the policy implications for persons with disabilities of their proposals.

The Disability Ombudsman proposes
that all committees and commissions appointed shall be instructed, in special terms of reference, to state the policy implications for persons with disabilities of their proposals.

The Office of the Disability Ombudsman

The Office of the Disability Ombudsman is a national authority reporting to the Government. The duties of the Office and the "tools" at its disposal are indicated by an Act and Ordinance.

One of the Ombudsman's main tasks is to ensure that deficiencies of legislation and statutory instruments with regard to disabilities are eliminated, and to prevail on those in power to show consideration for the needs of persons with disabilities. The Ombudsman keeps the legislative process and judicial precedent under observation.

In principle, the Ombudsman has to operate on a general plane, as opposed to intervening in individual cases. Even so, the individual complaints received by the Office are very important. Often they provide the foundation for initiatives at central level and help to pin down the deficiencies. Once those deficiencies have been pruned down, the Ombudsman can propose amendments' to existing regulatory systems.

Legal advice is another important task. Anyone can phone the Ombudsman for advice and guidance concerning the rights and interests of persons with disabilities.

It is the task of the Ombudsman, through informative activities and the shaping of public opinion, to disseminate the knowledge accumulated by observing and following up activities on behalf of persons with disabilities.

Statutory powers of the Office

The rights and duties of the Office are set out in the Disability Ombudsman Act, SFS 1994：749. This statutory codification lends added strength to the Ombudsman's activities.

One important power is that of requesting information. Everyone with any kind of task or duty affecting persons with disabilities is obliged to furnish particulars concerning their activity if requested to do so by the Ombudsman.

If the Ombudsman wishes to go further than this in a particular case, deliberations can be convened with public authorities, businesses, organisations and others, so as to ensure that nobody is subjected to unfavourable or humiliating treatment on account of a disability.

Cases during the first year

The Office itself takes many initiatives, e.g. in supervising implementation of the law, by issuing statements on current social issues, by arranging seminars and so on. But the Office also receives signals of unsatisfactory conditions.

Complaints and counselling

Needless to say, the Office also has a large mail bag. During the first year, about 50 straightforward complaints were received and 100 requests for counselling. More than half the complaints (60%) concerned accessibility questions, followed by education and support and service.

Invitations

The Office of the Disability Ombudsman has become well-known and arouses interest, as can be seen for example from the large number of invitations it has received - some 180 in all. The Disability Ombudsman is invited to describe the tasks and activities of the Office, to take part in panel debates, to lecture on various subjects. Invitations are received from organisations of persons with disabilities, municipalities, research and educational bodies, trade fair organisers etc. The Ombudsman has been able to accept about 80 of the invitations received.

The consultation process

Most sectors of society are of importance to persons with disabilities. This is reflected by the wide scope of official reports on which the Ombudsman has commented during the initial year. The Office has returned statements, for example, on the draft version of a new Planning and Building Act, on the EU White Paper concerning a common European social policy, on the report A Choice of Schools, and on the report of the Social Services Commission.

The Ombudsman's co-ordinating function

UN Standard Rule No. 17 on Co-ordination lays down that states are responsible for setting up national co-ordinating committees or suchlike bodies. It is the task of such a committee to ensure the co-ordination of questions affecting persons with disabilities.
The Swedish Government has safeguarded this co-ordinating interest by setting up the Office of the Disability Ombudsman.

Other chapters of the report deal with priority issues

Legal advice, for which there has proved to be a great need. The UN Standard Rules and women with disabilities are two topics specially referred to the Ombudsman by the Government. The Office is also to maintain a long-term observation of disability policy questions within the EU.

The report also covers the following fields： accessibility, education, employment, legislation, organisations of persons with disabilities, awareness-raising, information and research and international co-operation.