Ombudsman

An ombudsman is a political and legal institution, typically an independent official or office, charged with investigating complaints from members of the public against government agencies, businesses or other organizations, and with recommending remedies for administrative injustice or maladministration. The institution originated in early nineteenth-century Sweden, where the Riksdag established the position of Justitieombudsman in 1809 to oversee the conduct of public officials, and the model was later adopted, often under the same Swedish-derived name, by many countries around the world as an accountability mechanism operating alongside formal courts. As a political institution, the ombudsman is generally distinguished by its independence from the bodies it investigates, its accessibility to ordinary citizens without the cost or formality of litigation, and its typical reliance on public reporting and recommendation rather than binding legal enforcement.