Personliga ombud (PO) arbetar för att stötta personer med allvarlig psykisk ohälsa till återhämtning och egenmakt. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka personliga ombuds upplevelser och erfarenhet av att möta klienter som är suicidnära, hur samarbetet med dessa klienter ser ut samt att undersöka vilken typ av stöd ombuden upplever att de behöver för att kunna utföra sitt arbete och samtidigt skydda sig själva från sekundära trauman som kan medfölja en klients suicidförsök eller fullbordat suicid. Telefonintervjuer genomfördes med sex personliga ombud som är yrkesverksamma i sex olika kommuner i Sverige. Empirin presenteras i fem teman: intersubjektivitet och empati, risk för sekundärtrauma och emotionell påverkan, distant närhet, arbetsmetoder och förhållningssätt, och individuella och formella stödsystem. Resultaten visar att relationen till klienten är utgångspunkten för att utveckla arbetsmetoder som främjar hopp och återhämtning men som samtidigt sätter PO i risk för emotionell påverkan som går ut över arbetsliv och privatliv. För att förebygga detta beskrivs vikten av att hålla en balans mellan distans och närhet i den personliga relationen till klienter, en trygg arbetsmiljö med tillitsfulla interpersonella relationer till kollegor och tillgång till handledning och annat professionellt stöd. Ombuden använder metoder som är suicidpreventiva med få dödsfall trots att ett relativt stort antal klienter uttrycker suicidala tankar. / Personal ombudsman (PO) is working to support persons with severe mental health problems in their path to recovery and empowerment. This work requires a close and trustful relationship between PO and client. The clients sometimes experience suicidal thoughts which is a factor that the PO needs to acknowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine the experience of PO in working with suicidal clients, how that work is conducted and to find out what kind of support the PO:s need to be able to do their job and at the same time protect themselves from secondary trauma that could follow a clients attempted or completed suicide. Phone interviews were conducted with six PO who is working in six different parts of Sweden. The data are presented in five themes: intersubjectivity and empathy, the risk of secondary trauma and emotional affect, distant closeness, work methods and approaches and individual and formal support systems. The results indicate that the relationship with the client is the starting point for the development of work methods that supports hope and recovery but at the same time puts the PO in risk of emotional affect that in turn can affect personal and professional life. To prevent this risk a balance between distance and closeness in the relationship with the client is needed as well as a safe and supportive working environment and access to supervision and other professional support is needed. PO is using methods that supports suicide prevention with relatively few deaths despite the frequency of clients expressing suicidal thoughts.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce Date: 31 March 2015 / As the framework for the collection of revenue by SARS evolves to ensure taxpayer compliance, the protection of taxpayers’ fundamental rights should not be overlooked. This research will evaluate certain provisions of the recently enacted Tax Administration Act (the Act) against the background of the taxpayers’ rights to privacy, property and just administrative action. These rights are contained in the Constitution of South Africa, the supreme law of the land. The analysis suggests that the conduct of SARS in exercising its statutory powers as well as some of the provisions of the Act may conflict with taxpayers’ constitutional rights and that the remedies available in such situations are limited or do not offer taxpayers an effective mechanism to obtain remedial action. Key words: Bill of Rights, Constitution, Constitution of South Africa, constitutional right, just administrative action, legislation, Ombud, PAJA, Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, privacy, property, remedies, SARS, tax, tax administration, Tax Administration Act, Tax Ombud, taxation, taxpayer, taxpayer compliance.

Intresset för ämnet uppstod efter en lång yrkesverksamhet i människobehandlande organisationer och den brist på samverkan och förståelse för andra yrkesområdens perspektiv som framkommit i den dagliga verksamheten. En önskan att se hur samverkansarbetet praktiseras, hos dem i vars uppgifter samarbete över institutionsgränserna ingår som en central del. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka hur case managers organiserar sitt arbete utifrån frågetällningarna: vilka uppgifter har en case manager? Hur beskriver de sin respektive arbetsmodell och vilka för- och nackdelar ser de med sitt arbete?För att svara på frågorna genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med sju case managers i tre skilda arbetsmodeller: klinisk case management, personligt ombud och Assertive Community Treatment (ACT). Teoridelen består av en sammankoppling av de tre begreppen: biopsykosocialt perspektiv, samverkan och människobehandlande organisationer. Resultatet visade att en case managers grundläggande uppgift var att se till att de stöd- och behandlingsinsatser klienten har behov av utifrån ett biopsykosocialt perspektiv kommer klienten tillgodo. För att kunna göra detta krävdes bland annat att skapa en förtroendefull relation till klienten och att kunna se klientens behov utifrån ett biopsykosocialt perspektiv. Vidare krävdes en samhällsbaserad, uppsökande arbetsmetodik och tillgodoseende av klientens delaktighet i planeringen av stöd och behandling samt att arbetet kunde organiseras med en hög grad av självständighet utifrån klientens behov. / Case management: work models and tasks

Sjukvården i regionen arbetar med att förbättra patientsäkerheten inom olika områden med hjälp av resurser/ombud som finns i verksamheterna. Studiens syfte är att undersöka vilka faktorer som underlättar respektive hindrar införandet av förbättrade rutiner via reurser/ombud på vårdavdelningar inom sjukhusvård. Syftet ledde fram till följande frågor: Vilka faktorer påverkar hur ombud/resurser kan förmedla kunskap till sina arbetskamrater? Vad leder till att kunskapen används i praktiken? Fokusgruppsmetoden användes. Tre fokusgrupper deltog i undersökningen, en med resuser/ombud, en med chefer och en med annan personal. Ett flertal faktorer som påverkar hur resurser/ombud kan bidra till förbättrade rutiner inom vårdavdelningar framkom. Det handlade till exempel om möjligheten att nå all personal. För att kunskapen som resurser/ombud kan bidra med också ska användas i praktiken framträdde bland annat en vilja att göra rätt som en viktig grund. Resurser/ombud har en central roll som kan fördjupas ytterligare genom att utveckla möjligheten till reflektion i vardagen.

The aim of this study was to comprehend and explain the idea and function of Case Management and its diffusion in Swedish municipalities. More specifically its aim was to investigate factors for the diffusion of Case Management and its differences to similar professional roles. The study was based on interviews with four managers at various levels and two case managers representing two municipalities in Sweden. Five themes were identified that were especially interesting when discussing the function of Case Management, its differences to similar professional roles and its diffusion in Swedish municipalities. The themes were: shortcomings in the welfare system, the functions of Case Management, differences to similar professional roles, descriptions of Case Management and factors for the diffusion. The analysis was based on organizational institutionalism and translation, as well as previous research on Case Management and the diffusion of ideas. As a conclusion Case Management was described as a revolutionizing method that would import evidence based social work in the organization. That, and the obvious effort to adapt and integrate Case Management in the institutionalized metods and values of Swedish welfare organizations were factors for the diffusion. Case Management also turned out to be a similar method to the already established profession personligt ombud, wherefor Case Management can be seen as a relaunch of personligt ombud.

This study aims to describe and analyse the ideas behind and the function of the NGO Maskrosbarn’s advocate services for children (barnombud) during child welfare investigations. The main focus is the advocate services relation to children’s participation. The study has a qualitative case-study approach and contains documents from the local authorities and interviews with eight representatives in six different positions such as child advocates, youth and social workers. An analysis has been made using Shier’ (2001) and Hart’s (1992) theories of child participation and theories about human service organisations (Hasenfeldt, 1983), the New Institutional Theory (Meyer & Rowan, 1977) and the street-level bureaucrat theory (Lipsky, 1980). One main obstacle for child participation in child welfare investigation, shown in the study, is organisational conditions and social workers’ position in public authority. By creating a relationship built on trust, the child advocate supports the child in the investigation process and has the ability to increase the child’s participation and thereby overcome the gap between the social worker and the child. This study highlights the importance of an active cooperation between the child advocate services and the social services, and also of a shared view on the meaning of participation.

Som den svenska asylprocessen såg ut innan 2006, var den omdiskuterad och hårt kritiserad. Processen sades sakna insyn och ansågs därför alltför öppen för beslut tagna baserat på politiska, snarare än juridiska, grunder. År 2005 skapades en ny Utlänningslag. Även asylprocessen reformerades och den nya ordningen innebär bland annat möjligheten för asylsökande att få sin sak prövad i särskilda domstolar; Migrationsdomstolar. Då målet med reformerna var att skapa en öppnare process offentliggjordes även Migrationsverkets databas för landinformation. De offentliga biträdena och ombuden som Migrationsverket tilldelar asylsökande fick utvidgade arbetsuppgifter. Vid prövning i Migrationsdomstol möter klienten med biträde Migrationsverket som motpart. Reformerna har bidragit till en möjlig stärkt ställning för den asylsökande beroende på hur den sökandes talan förs. Mycket av detta ansvar beror därför på klientens biträde. Med anledning av reformerna som trädde i kraft år 2006 och de offentliga biträdenas betydande roll syftar denna uppsats till att utvärdera rättssäkerheten i den svenska asylprocessen genom att rikta fokus på biträdena i processen. Undersökningsmetoden utgörs av ett enkätutskick till offentliga biträden i Malmö region. Undersökningen backas upp av en teoretisk diskussion om den svenska rättsstaten, de svenska statsmakterna och så kallad lesson-drawing. Det senare innebar möjligheten till att dra lärdom från andra länder, områden eller skeden, där brister i rättssäkerheten uppdagas. Detta ramverk har använts i syfte att jämföra asylprocessen före och efter reformerna. Resultatet av enkätundersökningen stödjer hypotesen om att rättssäkerheten i asylprocessen ökat sedan reformerna och den nya lagen trädde i kraft. Processen upplevs som tydligare, mer rättssäker och mer öppen överlag. Undersökningen har dock belyst områden av processen som fortfarande hotar förutsägbarheten samt lämnar många biträden missnöjda över sin arbetssituation. Det faktum att Migrationsverket utser biträdena och på så vis kan påverka sin egen motpart i Migrationsdomstolen är ett problem som hotar rättsäkerheten. Migrationsverkets landinformation kritiseras även för att vara otillräckligt och anses ibland ha företräde i domstol, vilket belyser ytterligare infekterade områden. / The Swedish asylum process, as it appeared before 2006, was debated and criticised. It was know to lack transparency and, therefore, to leave to much room for political rather than legal decisions. A new law regulating asylum and immigration was created in 2005. The asylum process was reformed and opened, among other things, up for the possibility for asylum seekers to receive a trial in special courts; Migrationsdomstolar. Since one of the goals with the reforms was to make the process more transparent, the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) made their database for country specific information available to the public. The public defenders were granted a more significant role in pleading his or her clients cause. During a trial in court the client will meet the Migration Board. The reforms have thus opened up for the possibility for the client to have a stronger position in the process, where much of the responsibility of ensuring this falls upon the assigned counsel. Because of the changes in the asylum process in 2006, and the high level of responsibility given to the public defenders following the reforms, this thesis aims at evaluating the rule of law in the Swedish asylum process. Focus is on the public defenders and the method of investigation a self-administered survey distributed to the public defenders in Malmö region. A theoretical discussion including the Swedish Rechtstaat and possibilities of lesson-drawing from programs across jurisdictions, various areas and time, is used as a framework for comparing the asylumprocess before and after the reforms. The survey results support the hypothesis that the legal security in the asylum process has been improved following the reforms and the introduction of the new law. The process is more transparent, more secure and more predictable. The investigation has, however, illuminated some infected areas of the asylum process. The fact that the Migration Board assignes the counsels, and thus has got the opportunity to select their opponent in court, is one of these problematic areas. Another concerns the country specific information in the Migration Board’s database. The database has not only been criticised for not being up to date but has also been said to be preferred and seen as more reliable in the special courts.

The thesis examines accompanied asylum-seeking children’s position in Swedish asylum reception management and in the determination of their claims. The three articles of the thesis focus on children’s own experiences of seeking asylum, on the experiences and practices of the civil servants at the Migration Board, as well as those of the legal representatives that assist asylum-seekers in the application process. The thesis builds on ethnographic fieldwork carried out between 2008 and 2010 in southwest Sweden. Theoretical inspiration has been sought in the new sociology of childhood as well as in practice theory. The first article in the thesis concerns children’s caseworkers who are responsible for safeguarding children’s interests in the Migration Board’s daily work with reception. The study highlights a range of dilemmas caseworkers have to deal with in their role as frontline bureaucrats. The study shows that the children’s caseworkers often perceive their discretion as limited, but also that they themselves contribute to limiting it, for example due to their hesitation in challenging existing norms and collegiality.    The second article examines the ways in which legal representatives, who act on behalf of families in asylum determinations, in their practice perceive and relate to the concept of children’s best interests and children’s right to participate. The study shows that children in families can become invisible in the legal representatives’ daily rounds. This invisibility is due to practical limitations in the representatives’ work as well as a general view that children rarely have their own grounds for asylum, as separate claimants to their parents. The third paper of the thesis explores the ways in which children experience and seek to influence circumstances that signify their time spent as asylum-seekers. The study shows how the children developed a range of tactics to deal with their particular situations, which varied with their housing and schooling, and the family’s financial resources. The conclusion is that the children themselves are the primary representatives of the child perspective in the asylum-seeking process, not least through their struggle to belong and create a life like that of ’ordinary’ children.  In line with previous research in the field, the thesis points to the contradiction between the principle of regulated migration and the child perspective in the asylum-seeking process. Together with practical circumstances, such as lack of resources, this contradiction results in a more limited implementation of the child perspective than rules and regulations actually stipulate. Finally, the thesis points to the active role asylum-seeking children take in their efforts to create an everyday life that is as similar as possible to that of  the ’ordinary’ children (e.g. non asylum-seeker and permanently settled children) around them. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted.</p>

Equality before the law and equal access to justice are fundamental rights in a modern state governed by the rule of law. Access to justice refers to the essential notion that all people have the right to legal protection and a jucidial remedy and that no practical, legal or other obstacles should prevent individuals from exercising their rights. The main facets that constitute the essence of access to justice is the right to access to court, involving a right to effective access to a fair and public hearing for everyone. Applied to criminal proceedings, this includes the right to equality of arms and practical and effective legal representation, if it is needed in order to ensure effective access to court.  Access to justice as a fundamental right covers several European legal principles, the right to a fair trial in article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms being the main focus. The provision aims particularly on the person being suspected of a crime. However, the overall principle of the right to a fair trial and access to justice also includes the victim of a crime. This means that the rights deriving from access to justice also must be respected in regards of the injured party.  In order for the injured party to be able to exercice his or her rights under access to justice, the rights for the victim under Swedish law must provide him or her with sufficient conditions for doing so. The injured party may, inter alia, institute a private claim for compensation in criminal proceedings as well as under certain conditions file an action in accordance with the rules on private prosecution. The police and public prosecutor have an obligation to inform the injured party on his or her rights. The victim of a serious crime may have the right to be represented by a counsel. The right to counsel for the injured party does not correspond to the suspect’s right do defense counsel, which can result in failure to ensure equality of arms between the victim and the suspect. A procedural imbalance that favors one of the parties at the expense of the other may cause that his or her right to access to justice is denied. In general, being represented by a counsel for the injured party increases the victim's chances of defending his or her rights in accordance with access to justice.

This study examines the factors to consider in establishing an effective tax Ombudsman in South Africa. It seeks to establish how the democratic protection institutions such as the South African Public Protector and the South African Human Rights Commission and the Courts created in terms of the 1996 Constitution vis-à-vis the ways the South African Revenue Service‟ (hereinafter referred to as SARS) new court rules and Service Monitoring Offices safeguard and protect taxpayers rights against SARS‟ administrative abuses. The researcher reviews and analyses literature gathered from the following sources: the Australian and Canadian tax Ombudsman, the United Kingdom‟s tax adjudicator, the South African motor industry Ombudsman, the South African banking services Ombudsman, the South African Public Protector, the Tax Administration Act (28 of 2011) (hereinafter referred to as the TAA), the South African Constitution (108 of 1996), and other popular scientific articles and reports on the introduction of the tax Ombudsman in South Africa. The findings reveal the core factors that underscore the establishment of an effective tax Ombud in South Africa to include: independence, neutrality, credible review process and confidentiality. Other auxiliary factors with regard to the appointment of the tax Ombud are: leadership skills, honesty, integrity and courage. Furthermore, the provisions of the TAA, in relation to the appointment of the tax Ombud‟s funding, staffing, location, and powers with particular reference to cost recovery and disclosure of taxpayers‟ confidential information, impede on the tax Ombud‟s independence. It also emerged from this study that the independence of the tax Ombud‟s office is being over-emphasised, leaving other pertinent issues of equal importance, such as education and publicity, unattended to. The recommendations for this study revolve on the tax Ombud‟s appointment, budget and recruitment of its own staff, building a reputation of independence through public education and the power to recover costs. / MCom (South African and International Taxation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014