How do I complain to Peru's Ombudsman, and what can it actually do?

What it is for

Ley 26520, article 1, gives the Defensoría del Pueblo two jobs: to defend the constitutional and fundamental rights of the person and the community, and to supervise how the public administration performs its duties and how public services are delivered.

That defines who you can complain about: a municipality, a public hospital, a state school, the police, Reniec, Migraciones, Sunat, a company providing a public service. It is not the channel against a shop, a private employer or a neighbour.

Who can complain

Article 10: «cualquier persona natural o jurídica, en forma individual o colectiva, sin restricción alguna». Your nationality, your age, your migration status and whether you are at liberty do not matter. The only exclusion is article 12: no administrative authority may file a complaint with the Defensor. It is a mechanism for the citizen against the State, not between State offices.

How to send it

Article 19 asks for a signed written statement with your name, your address and a description of the facts, and says it is subject to «ningún otro requisito de carácter formal o económico». No fee. No lawyer. It can be done online. As an exception a verbal complaint is admitted and recorded in a written act.

Article 20 says when a complaint may be rejected: anonymous, in bad faith or without grounds, or when the matter is pending a judicial decision. Even then the Defensoría may investigate the general problem. A decision not to admit cannot be appealed.

What the Defensoría does with your complaint

It investigates. Article 16 obliges authorities to give it the information it requests and to allow inspections, including unannounced ones. With what it finds, article 26 lets it address to officials warnings, recommendations, reminders of their legal duties and suggestions. The body is obliged to answer in writing within a non-extendable 30 days. If it takes no measures, the Defensoría can take the matter to the sector minister or the head of the entity, and to the Contraloría.

What it cannot do

This is what disappoints people most, so know it beforehand:

• It does not sanction. It does not fine the official or the entity.
• It does not annul or change decisions. It cannot revoke the resolution that harms you.
• It is not a court. It does not issue judgments or order payments.
• It does not replace litigation. If the matter is in court, it may reject the complaint.

Its strength is different: it forces the body to inform and to answer in writing, it leaves an official record of the problem, and it escalates when ignored. For a migrant facing a counter that never answers, that is more than it sounds.

When to use it and when not to

Is your complaint about a security camera?

If your complaint involves surveillance cameras and the use of your image, first review your specific rights in video surveillance: your rights regarding security cameras before going to the Ombudsman.