Emikh Valentina
The article summarizes world experience of applying the concept of ombudsman to social relations, which involve entrepreneurs. The author analyses legal status of business ombudsmen (using the example of USA, Australia, and Russia), taxpayers’ ombudsmen (using the example of Georgia, Canada, USA, and Pakistan) and procurement ombudsmen (using the example of Canada) among public sector ombudsmen and self-regulatory industry-based ombudsmen, and organizational ombudsmen among private sector ombudsmen. The main tendencies of legal regulation of these ombudsmen status are determined. The author defines the perspectives of their development. The first one is variability of their terms of competence depending on social and political needs of the state. The second one is expanding of exercising the ombudsman conception to private relations purposed on alternative dispute resolution, and supporting such ombudsmen by state through their approval as alternative dispute resolution schemes. The third one is setting up mediation functions to ombudsmen contributing to business rights protection, and using the informal procedures of dispute resolution in their activity. The forth one is the search for additional guarantees of ombudsmen independence, including involvement of publicity into their activity.
Keywords: business ombudsmen, taxpayers’ ombudsmen, procurement ombudsman, self-regulatory industry-based ombudsmen, alternative dispute resolution, business rights protection.