The Rise and Growth of Swedish Institutions for Defending the Citizen against Official Wrongs

Abstract

In Sweden, the rule of law was recognized more than a thousand years ago. Swedish law has its roots in Germanic law. The country has had the privilege of developing its legal institutions in a relatively undisturbed, although, of course, not uninfluenced, way. The development has therefore been extraordinarily continuous. With regard to institutions for defending the citizen against official wrongs, the king comes into focus in his role of guardian of the law. But institutions to which this function was delegated—royal courts, royal officials, and the like—also demand attention. The potentiality of local courts to protect citizens must not be forgotten, nor the control of bureaucracy that parliament, the Riksdag, developed. Here the system of document publicity, as well as the office of the Ombudsman enter the picture. It should be kept in mind that control of bureaucracy is built upon the fact that Swedish officials have, for a long time, performed their duties under a severe penal responsibility. In order to provide a background to later articles in this volume of THE ANNALS, special attention is paid to institutions related to the institution of the Ombudsman.