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The Romanian Ombudsman (Avocatul Poporului in Romanian, literally meaning "People's Advocate") is an independent institution of the Government of Romania, responsible for investigating and addressing complaints made by citizens against other government institutions.
The Romanian Ombudsman was established in 1991 after the ratification of the country's first post-communist constitution. Initially, the ombudsman was appointed by the Senate for a four-year term. After the Constitutional Amendment of 2003, the ombudsman is appointed for a term of five years, by both chambers of parliament (the Chamber of Deputies and Senate), to which it reports every year or at their request.
The ombudsman is not allowed to hold any other public or private function, aside from teaching in a tertiary education institution. The ombudsman is aided by a number of assistants (adjuncţi) specialised in legal domains such as women's rights, minority rights, children's rights, police issues, property, industrial relations and taxation.
The current ombudsman is Victor Ciorbea. The office of the ombudsman is in Bucharest, at 3 Eugenia Carada St (in Sector 3). The institution also has branch offices in 14 regional centres (Alba Iulia, Bacău, Braşov, Constanţa, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Galaţi, Iaşi, Oradea, Piteşti, Ploieşti, Suceava, Târgu-Mureş and Timişoara).