French Ombudsman ('Médiateur de la République' in French) Jean-Paul Delevoye launched the participatory platform 'Le Médiateur et vous' ('the Ombudsman and you' in English) on 10 February 2010.

The online platform firstly aims to create a discussion network on the rights of citizens and to offer a unique forum for debating the matters and proposals that the Ombudsman deals with in his daily activities, as the privileged observer of French society.

The contents of the open to all platform are structured around the following areas:

• Questions pertaining to the citizen/human rights - education, fundamental rights and democracy, family, rights of foreigners and the right to asylum, Public Administration, consuming and money, police, justice and security, social rights and fight against precariousness, santé, health security and bioethics;
• Personal stories submitted by the Internet users and the legal matters they are facing;
• Proposals of reform to legal acts - the platform intends above all to encourage and promote the citizens' initiatives.

The website also seeks to become a collaborative platform for improving laws. In order to better orientate debate and to enrich the collaborative work on the reform proposals, the Ombudsman associated many experts to this initiative. Lawyers, academics and civil society/voluntary organisations representatives shed technical light on the proposals made by the citizens, upon the request of the Internet users or the Ombudsman himself.

The platform is set to become a genuine collaborative work space on the rights of every person and citizen; the members of the network will form a "think tank" whose ideas will fuel the proposals that the Ombudsman will take before the policy makers.  

 

Further information: 

• Original news article - ARTESI - ICT Development Agency of the Region 'ÃŽle-de-France' (in French)
• 'Le Médiateur et vous' Platform (in French)