Legal Guarantees for the Establishment and Functionality of Ombudsman Institution: A Case for the Insurance Ombudsman Service of Tanzania

Abstract

The concept of Ombudsman represents an institution or a person appointed to receive and investigate complaints against maladministration by public servants and resolve disputes amicably between consumers and service providers. This article aims to expound its basic legal guarantees for the establishment and functionality of the Ombudsman institution in line with the fundamental elements of independence, accountability, fairness and effectiveness. Employing doctrinal research approaches and reviewing ombudsman instruments and literature and case laws from other jurisdictions, it identifies legal personality status, independent resources and sustenance structures as well as procedural and substantive terms of reference as cumulative keys in guaranteeing the functionality of the ombudsman institution. In that view, it shows that the Tanzanian Insurance Ombudsman Service legislative framework does not reflect these key guarantees for its functionality. It ultimately recommends legislative and institutional improvement to entrench those legal guarantees and thereby enhance independence, accountability, fairness and effectiveness in the functionality of the insurance ombudsman service.