About the Ombudsman
Dr. Hayden Thomas was appointed Antigua and Barbuda's first Ombudsman in 1995 and was later elected President of the Caribbean Ombudsman Association, member of the Board of Director's of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Special Fund for Ombudsman and other National Human Rights Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
He was educated at the Willikies Government School, The Faith & Hope High School and the University of the West Indies where he obtained the B.Sc. (Special) Degree in Chemistry. He subsequently did post-graduate work at the University of Reading, England where he obtained the M.Sc. degree in Food Technology and the University of London where he obtained the Ph.D. degree in Food Science. He also holds a Diploma in Management from the University of Connecticut, U.S.A.
Dr. Thomas worked for several years in the Antigua and Barbuda Civil service as the Government's Chief Chemist and Food Technologist and acquired vast experience as teacher, researcher, analyst and forensic scientist at national, regional and international levels. Since taking up duties as Ombudsman he has attended several conferences and presented many papers on the Ombudsman and on Human Rights worldwide. He is co-editor of the book "Strengthening Ombudsman and Human Rights Institutions in Commonwealth Small and Island States - The Caribbean Experience" by Victor Ayeni, Linda Reif and Hayden Thomas (Commonwealth Secretariat London, U.K in collaboration with I.O.I., 2000).
In 1988, he was given a national award "Order of Honour" and was made a Companion of the most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (C.M.G.) by Queen Elizabeth II. in 1995.
The main function of the Ombudsman is "to investigate any complaints relating to any decision or recommendation made or any act done or omitted by any officer of the Government or Statutory body in any case in which a member of the public claims to be aggrieved, or appears to the Ombudsman to have sustained injustice as a result of the exercise of the administrative function of that officer or body."
