Parliamentary Ombudsman

Parliamentary Ombudsman (Finnish: Eduskunnan oikeusasiamies, Swedish: Riksdagens ombudsman, Icelandic: Umboðsmaður Alþingis, Danish: Folketingets Ombudsmand, Norwegian: Sivilombudsmannen) is the name of the principal ombudsman institutions in Finland, in Iceland, in Denmark, in Sweden (where the term Justice Ombudsman - Justitieombudsmannen or JO - is also used) and in Norway. In each case, the terms refer both to the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman and to an individual Ombudsman.

The Riksdag has had an Ombudsman Institution since 1809. At that time Sweden was ruled by the King and therefore the Riksdag of the Estates, which then represented the Four Estates, considered that some institution that was independent of the executive was needed in order to ensure that laws and statutes were observed. For this reason it appointed a Parliamentary Ombudsman and still continues to do so. The first Ombudsman was appointed in 1810, and the Parliamentary Ombudsmen still follow the basic principles that have applied since then.

A complaint to the JO (Justitieombudsmannen) - or Parliamentary Ombudsman (Riksdagens ombudsmän), which is the official name of the Institution - can be made by anybody who feels that he or she or someone else has been treated wrongly or unjustly by a public authority or an official employed by the civil service or local government. A person need not be a Swedish citizen or have reached a certain age to be able to lodge a complaint.

However, the Institution has no jurisdiction over the actions of members of the Riksdag, the Government or individual cabinet ministers, the Minister for Justice or members of county or municipal councils. Nor do newspapers, radio and television broadcasts, trade unions, banks, insurance companies, doctors in private practice, lawyers et al. come within the ambit of the Ombudsmen. Other supervisory agencies exist for these areas, such as the Swedish Press Council (Pressens opinionsnämnd), the Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen), the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) and the Swedish Bar Association (Svenska advokatsamfundet).

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Wikipedia