Demands of proper administrative conduct A research project into the ombudsprudence of the Dutch National Ombudsman

In this article we explain and summarize a research project on the content and development of principles of proper administrative conduct as operated in complaints proceedings before the Dutch National Ombudsman and some local Ombudsman institutions. It shows how the project evolved into mainly a project of normative (re)construction of demands of proper administrative conduct, in their quality of ombudsnorms. This reconstruction was based on the analysis of a large number of Ombudsman reports. The paper describes the situation found concerning the legal approach of the Ombudsman office, takes a stand on the difference between ombudsnorms and legal norms, and explains the way in which the old set of unoperated ombudsnorms was transformed into a new one, ready for interpretation and further development by the Ombudsman and Ombudsman staff.