ombudsman.vg Submit Complaint Online British Virgin Islands : Complaints Commission

Organization : Virgin Islands Complaints Commission
Type of Facility : Submit Complaint Online
Country: British Virgin Islands

Website : http://www.ombudsman.vg/complaints/investigate/
Submit Complaint : http://www.ombudsman.vg/complaints/start/

Submit Complaint Online :

Make A Complaint :
Remember, the principal function of the Commissioner or Ombudsman is to investigate any action taken by a public body or department of Government in the exercise of its administrative functions when that action is brought to his attention by an aggrieved person.

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Persons can complain that they had been treated unfairly or improperly discriminated against; for example, they had been denied a benefit that others in the same position got, for no good reason. A complaint might be that a government officer had kept a member of the public waiting much too long for an important response; or that the officer had been rude, or unreasonable, or had made a mistake. All of these faults are termed “maladministration”, the opposite of good or sound administration.

The Complaints Commissioner advises that you first try to resolve the matter with the specific agency concerned before you involve the Commission, giving the department or agency a chance to respond correctly to the cause of the complaint.

A complaint can be submitted to us via this website, by letter, in person, by fax or email.

All complaints must be signed.

What We Cannot Investigate:
If the complaint concerns a Government policy that was made by the Cabinet or a Minister, the Commissioner cannot look into the policy, although he may investigate how it is administered or applied to people. He also is not allowed to investigate a matter in which, in general, the complainant can get a civil remedy in court, but he may investigate such a matter if he considers that in this particular case it would not be reasonable for the person complaining to take court action.

The Act prevents the Commissioner from investigating any complaint where the law provides a body or tribunal to which one can appeal an unfavourable decision and the complainant has not used the appeal avenue provided.

Employment matters within Government or a public body would also not come within the Commissioner’s authority, nor would action taken by the proper authorities to investigate crime or protect national security.

The Commissioner may not investigate complaints to do with courts, judges or magistrates. Complaints having to do with the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Auditor General in pursuance of their constitutionally appointed duties are outside of his jurisdiction, as are those relating to proceedings in Cabinet or the House of Assembly.

The Commissioner may not investigate corruption in a Government department or a public authority, but if he comes across evidence of corruption he must inform the Governor.

The Complaint Process:
When we have received your complaint we will acknowledge receipt within 2 working days and a special reference number will be produced and used in any future correspondence from the Complaints Commissioner (Ombudsman). With this number, you would be able to conveniently check on the status of your complaint at any given time.

The Ombudsman will then appropriately assess your complaint and determine whether to investigate it or not. This decision is not automatic as we must ensure that the complaint falls within the terms of our governing statute (The Complaints Commissioner Act 2003). We must have jurisdiction to investigate the specific problem.

The Commissioner, in his determination, may find that your grievance should first be referred to a more suitable agency for investigation; or he may try informally to get the matter cleared up through communication with the department involved. If the Commissioner does decide not to investigate your grievance, he will give a reason in writing as to why.

When the Commissioner is satisfied that the complaint is valid, then a full investigation is conducted and appropriate recommendations are made. In suitable cases, the Commissioner may propose formal mediation between you and the agency as the best means to resolve your grievance. Throughout the process we update you regularly on the progress of the investigation and at the end we inform you what we found and recommended.

Contact Us:
Office of the Complaints Commission
#80 Main Street, 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 4628
Road Town, Tortola VG1110
Virgin Islands

Telephone: 284-468-5123
Fax: 284-468-5082