Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection dr Janusz Kochanowski
(...) All too often can we observe the attitude which emphasizes rights but ignores their correlate – duties to other people and the society. All the greater importance of and all the more appreciation do we owe to those engaged in helping others by their work in the successfully developing network of Union of Citizens Advice Bureaux. Their activities prove the vitality of citizen’s virtues such as the sense of justice and the readiness for unselfish dedication to others, which are essential for the existence of civil society.
Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection fulfils his duty of preserving human and civil liberties and rights in cooperation with associations, civil movements and other voluntary organizations and foundations. The information as well as suggestions about the need for intervention provided by those organizations are an extremely valuable source of knowledge on the possible violations of civil rights. They also help the ombudsman to assess the problems that arise from the application of the law.
The cooperation between Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection and CAB network started in 2001. In 2002 the ombudsman received the first CAB clients’ cases in which the human and civil liberties and rights were violated. My predecessor, professor Andrzej Zoll, became a patron of CAB network and gave his recommendation to the most experienced bureaux. In 2003 and 2005 agreements on cooperation were signed. I hope that the cooperation will develop fruitfully in the future.
The experiences gathered during the last decade allow the CABs to act on a bigger scale. It was extremely interesting for me to get to know the methodology of campaigning for social change used by Citizens Advice in United Kingdom. I am really happy that good models of social, constructive commitment are being transplanted to Poland. I would like to declare my readiness for cooperation also in this realm. (...)
Fragments of the speech by dr Janusz Kochanowski’s, Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection, which opened the conference “From advice to action. 10 years of Citizens Advice Bureaux”, 1 June 2006.
Created by: inga, modyfied: Tue Jul 25 19:21:41 2006
