THE ROLE OF THE OMBUDSMAN IN CITIZENS’ LEGAL EDUCATION THROUGH MASS MEDIA: IMPLEMENTATION IN PRACTICE
THE ROLE OF THE OMBUDSMAN IN CITIZENS’ LEGAL EDUCATION THROUGH MASS MEDIA: IMPLEMENTATION IN PRACTICE

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the problem of interaction between the Ombudsman and the mass media in the context of legal education. Under the Federal Constitutional Act “On the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation”, the ombudsman promotes the legal education on human rights, forms and methods of their protection in the ways specified in this Act, including the mass-media resources. The function of the regional ombudsmen is regulated by legal norms of similar character contained in the legislative acts of the subjects (regions) of the Russian Federation. The media which interact with the Commissioner for Human Rights can be divided into three groups: the media funded from the federal budget or the entities’ budgets; the media funded by citizens and independent legal persons; and the media funded by the ombudsmen. Only the media from the first group are obliged to publish the official information of the ombudsmen’s activity. The newspapers and TV-channels from the second group interact with the Commissioner only if the information is significant and interesting for the audience. Many ombudsmen have their own PR assistants who communicate with the media and provide for the journalists access to information on the ombudsman’s activities on human rights protection. The role of federal and regional ombudsmen in citizens’ legal education through mass media is exercised by the following activities: the publication of official reports and other documents, the publication of unofficial articles in the newspapers and magazines on a specific problem involving the human rights protection; the creation of ombudsmen’s Internet sites or placing relevant materials on the e resources of the regional governments and parliaments; the participation in TV programs and press conferences for the purpose of providing explanation on the human rights’ legislation; the ombudsmen’s practical activities aimed at raising the citizens’ awareness of the importance of human rights and overcoming the legal nihilism. Unfortunately, the legislation does not specifically indicate what categories of citizens should be educated by the ombudsmen. For this reason, the federal and regional Commissioners for the human rights should choose themselves the most appropriate forms of legal education activities depending on their own knowledge, experience in human rights work and other factors. The lack of an organized system and sometimes the declarative nature of the interaction between the ombudsmen and the media lead to the imitation of a real legal educational activity.

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