THE STOCKHOLM 2009 CONFERENCE PAPERS
According to the then new Swedish Constitution of 1809, Parliament was to elect an Ombudsman to exercise “supervision of the observance of the laws by judges and officers of the State”. For more than 100 years, the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman was the only institution of its kind. Beginning in the 1950’s, however, the idea spread rapidly around the globe.
The year 2009 thus marked the Bicentennial of the very idea of ombudsmanship and of the Swedish Ombudsman institution. To celebrate this event, the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), which today brings together 150 ombudsman institutions from more than 75 countries, decided to hold its 9th World Conference in Stockholm.
The IOI World Conference convened 340 delegates and observers from more than 90 countries. The Conference opened on June 9, 2009. Key note addresses were delivered by the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi A. Annan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navanethem Pillay. The Conference ended on June 11 with the IOI General Assembly, during which important decisions were taken, aiming at a new beginning for the organization.
Finally, on June 12, the delegates and other invited guests attended a seminar designed to celebrate the Bicentennial. A number of colleagues, representing different ombudsman traditions, described how the original Swedish concept has been adapted to other legal, political and cultural contexts. Taken together, those contributions gave a comprehensive overview of the diversity and richness of the ombudsman concept. At the same time, they also emphasized what is common to all ombudsmen: to independently investigate citizens’ grievances against public authorities and thus to promote human rights, the rule of law and good governance.
The contributions to the IOI World Conference and to the Bicentennial seminar are now made accessible on the IOI website. They will also be published by the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s Office in two separate volumes. I wish to thank all the contributors who graciously have agreed to review and elaborate their conference presentations into a form suitable for publishing. I also want to sincerely thank Ms Linda Williamson of the Ontario Ombudsman’s Office for having volunteered to edit all the manuscripts and Ms Charlotte De Geer Fällman of my own office for her committed work which has been necessary to make the contributions accessible. I feel confident that these combined efforts will provide all ombudsmen and similar institutions, as well as scholars, decision-makers and interested citizens, with a useful source of knowledge and inspiration.
Stockholm, May 25, 2010
Mats Melin
Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman
Opening Ceremony |
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| 01 | Berit Andnor | Committee Chariman's Welcome |  [PDF] (14.04 KiB) |
| 01a | Per Westerberg | Speaker's Welcome | [PDF] (13.33 KiB) |
| 02 | Bill Angrick | I.O.I. President's Welcome | [PDF] (17.34 KiB) |
| 03 | Mats Melin | Swedish Chairmen's Welcome | [PDF] (28.93 KiB) |
Plennary Session I |
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| 04 | Kofi Annan | Sovereignty - The State and the Individual | [PDF] (22.27 KiB) |
| 05 | Navanethem Pillay | Current Challenges to the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights | [PDF] (23.70 KiB) |
| 07 | Henrik Jordahl | Privatization: Is dismantling Public Authority an International Trend? | [PDF] (226.25 KiB) |
Workshop 1 |
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| 08 | Riitta-Leena Paunio | The Ombudsman as Human Rights Defender | [PDF] (80.39 KiB) |
| 09 | Victor O. Ayeni | Ombudsmen as Human Rights Institutions: The New Face of a Global Expansion | [PDF] (121.23 KiB) |
| 10 | Thomas Hammarberg | Ombudsmen Need Independence to Speak Out for Human Rights | [PDF] (17.52 KiB) |
Workshop 2 |
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| 11 | Javed Sadiq Malik | The Ombudsman Reaching Outside the Public Sector | [PDF] (17.90 KiB) |
| 12 | Rafael Ribo | The Ombudsman Reaching Outside the Public Sector | [PDF] (65.32 KiB) |
Workshop 3 |
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| 13 | Yorgos Kaminis | Without a Residence Permit. The Protection of Asylum Seekers and Illegal Immigrants | [PDF] (78.89 KiB) |
| 14 | Catherine De Bruecker | No Residency Status - Protection for Asylum-Seekers and Illegal Immigrants | [PDF] (66.22 KiB) |
Plennary Session II |
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| 15 | Dean M. Gottehrer | Fundamental Elements of an Effective Ombudsman Institution | [PDF] (86.53 KiB) |
| 16 | Andre Marin | Leveraging Moral Suasion Through SORT Investigations | [PDF] (36.66 KiB) |
| 17 | Peter Kostelka | Reaching Out to Citizens | [PDF] (32.31 KiB) |
| 18 | Kerstin Andre | Inspections as a Pro-Active Method of Combating Maladministration | [PDF] (35.31 KiB) |
Workshop 4 |
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| 19 | Arne Fliflet | Ombudsman and Prisons Oversight | [PDF] (29.29 KiB) |
| 20 | Cecilia Nordenfelt | Incapable Adults - The Most Vulnerable | [PDF] (24.74 KiB) |
| 21 | Bruce Barbour | Actions Speak Louder Than Words: An Ombudsman's Office and Children | [PDF] (53.93 KiB) |
Workshop 5 |
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| 22 | S S Mafisa | Reconciling Multiple Mandates | [PDF] (46.97 KiB) |
Back to Roots |
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| 23 | Hans-Gunnar Axberger | The Original Recipe: 200 Years of Swedish Experience | [PDF] (38.31 KiB) |
| 24 | Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen | The Introduction and Development of the Swedish Justitieombudsman in Denmark | [PDF] (100.21 KiB) |
| 25 | Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer | The Spread of the Ombudsman Idea in Europe | [PDF] (173.31 KiB) |
| 26 | Brian Elwood | The Ombudsman Travels to the Anglo-Saxon World | [PDF] (42.57 KiB) |
| 27 | Jean-Paul Delevoye | Mediation as a New Ombudsman Tool | [PDF] (51.08 KiB) |
| 28 | Beatriz Merino | Protecting the People: The Latin American Approach to Ombudsmanship | [PDF] (46.81 KiB) |
| 29 | Alice Tai | Diversity of Ombudsmen in Asia | [PDF] (48.07 KiB) |
| 30 | Moulay Mhmamed Iraki | In the Kingdom of Marocco. Readings in the Islamic Model of Ombudsman | [PDF] (63.85 KiB) |
| 31 | Nina Karpachova | The Ombudsman Institution as a Determining Factor in the Transition to Democracy | [PDF] (51.43 KiB) |
| 32 | P. Nikiforos Diamandouros | Leaving the National Arena: Adapting the Recipe to the Supranational Level | [PDF] (37.68 KiB) |