Misplaced Pages

#780219

96-589: 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

192-507: A unicameral assembly with 350 seats. The following general election to the unicameral Riksdag in 1973 gave the Government the support of only 175 members, while the opposition could mobilize an equal force of 175 members. In a number of cases a tied vote ensued, and the final decision had to be determined by lot. To avoid any recurrence of this unstable situation, the number of seats in the Riksdag

288-465: A vote of no confidence against any single cabinet minister ( Swedish : statsråd ), thus forcing a resignation. To succeed, a vote of no confidence must be supported by an absolute majority (175 members) or it has failed. If a vote of no confidence is cast against the Prime Minister this means the entire government is rejected. A losing government has one week to call for a general election or else

384-666: A Prime Minister without casting any "yes" votes. After being elected the Prime Minister appoints the cabinet ministers and announces them to the Riksdag. The new Government takes office at a special council held at the Royal Palace before the Monarch , at which the Speaker of the Riksdag formally announces to the Monarch that the Riksdag has elected a new Prime Minister and that the Prime Minister has chosen his cabinet ministers. The Riksdag can cast

480-465: A clearly defined and balanced separation of powers. Montesquieu was troubled by a cataract and feared going blind. At the end of 1754 he visited Paris and was soon taken ill, and died from a fever on 10 February 1755. He was buried in the Église Saint-Sulpice, Paris . Montesquieu's philosophy of history minimized the role of individual persons and events. He expounded the view in Considerations on

576-540: A complaint itself, other aspects of the actions of a public authority will be appraised instead. As was the case in 1810 – when Lars Augustin Mannerheim was appointed as the first ombudsman – the four parliamentary ombudsmen are today completely independent of the government and the civil service which they monitor. For this reason the Institution is often said to be of an extraordinary nature. This means, for instance, that

672-525: A discussion of how the England's constitution sustained liberty (XI, 6), and another to the realities of English politics (XIX, 27). As for France, the intermediate powers (including the nobility) the nobility and the parlements had been weakened by Louis XIV, and welcomed the strengthening of parlementary power in 1715. Montesquieu advocated reform of slavery in The Spirit of Law , specifically arguing that slavery

768-796: A majority representation of female MPs as of 2022: the Left Party (17 of 24, 70.8%), the Green Party (12 of 18, 66.7%), the Liberals (9 of 16, 56.3%), the Center Party (13 of 24, 54.2%), and the Social Democratic Party (55 of 107, 51.4%). The party with the lowest share of female MPs is the Sweden Democrats (18 of 73, 24.7%). Members of the Riksdag are full-time legislators with a salary of SEK  71,500 (around $ 6,300) per month. According to

864-449: A man "known for his knowledge of the law and exemplary probity" as parliamentary ombudsman. In other words, his duties were to focus on protection of the rights of citizens. For instance the parliamentary ombudsman was to encourage uniform application of the law and indicate legislative obscurities. His work was to take the form of inspections and inquiries into complaints. Complaints played a relatively insignificant role to begin with. During

960-598: A parliament in the modern sense until parliamentary principles were established in the political system in Sweden, in 1917. On 22 June 1866, the Riksdag decided to reconstitute itself as a bicameral legislature, consisting of Första kammaren or the First Chamber, with 155 members and Andra kammaren or the Second Chamber with 233 members. The First Chamber was indirectly elected by county and city councillors, while

1056-519: A similar pronouncement in The Histories of Herodotus , where he makes a distinction between the "ideal" temperate climate of Greece as opposed to the overly cold climate of Scythia and the overly warm climate of Egypt. This was a common belief at the time, and can also be found within the medical writings of Herodotus' times, including the "On Airs, Waters, Places" of the Hippocratic corpus. One can find

SECTION 10

#1732855566781

1152-488: A similar statement in Germania by Tacitus, one of Montesquieu's favorite authors. Philip M. Parker , in his book Physioeconomics (MIT Press, 2000), endorses Montesquieu's theory and argues that much of the economic variation between countries is explained by the physiological effect of different climates. From a sociological perspective, Louis Althusser , in his analysis of Montesquieu's revolution in method, alluded to

1248-479: A social "principle": monarchies (free governments headed by a hereditary figure, e.g. king, queen, emperor), which rely on the principle of honor; republics (free governments headed by popularly elected leaders), which rely on the principle of virtue; and despotisms (unfree), headed by despots which rely on fear. The free governments are dependent on constitutional arrangements that establish checks and balances. Montesquieu devotes one chapter of The Spirit of Law to

1344-410: A supervisory agency that was completely independent of the executive. However, it seemed quite natural to model this new office on that of the chancellor of justice. Like the chancellor of justice, therefore, the ombudsman was to be a prosecutor whose task was to supervise the application of the laws by judges and civil servants. In the words of the 1809 Instrument of Government, the Riksdag was to appoint

1440-452: A survey investigation by the sociologist Jenny Hansson, Members of the Riksdag have an average work week of 66 hours, including side responsibilities. Hansson's investigation further reports that the average member sleeps 6.5 hours per night. The presidium consists of a speaker and three deputy speakers . They are elected for a 4-year term . The Speaker is not allowed to vote, but the three deputies are allowed to vote. The speaker of

1536-449: A term he coined): the monarchy , the aristocracy , and the commons . Montesquieu saw two types of governmental power existing: the sovereign and the administrative . The administrative powers were the executive , the legislative , and the judicial . These should be separate from and dependent upon each other so that the influence of any one power would not be able to exceed that of the other two, either singly or in combination. This

1632-688: A ward of his uncle, the Baron de Montesquieu . He became a counselor of the Bordeaux Parlement in 1714. He showed preference for Protestantism and in 1715 he married the Protestant Jeanne de Lartigue, who eventually bore him three children. The Baron died in 1716, leaving him his fortune as well as his title, and the office of président à mortier in the Bordeaux Parlement, a post that he would hold for twelve years. Montesquieu's early life

1728-530: Is his meteorological climate theory, which holds that climate may substantially influence the nature of man and his society, a theory also promoted by the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon . By placing an emphasis on environmental influences as a material condition of life, Montesquieu prefigured modern anthropology's concern with the impact of material conditions, such as available energy sources, organized production systems, and technologies, on

1824-441: Is often better organized by several than by one person alone. If there were no monarch, and the executive authority were entrusted to a certain number of persons chosen from the legislative body, that would be the end of freedom, because the two authorities would be combined, the same persons sometimes having, and always in a position to have, a role in both. Montesquieu identifies three main forms of government, each supported by

1920-451: Is the parliament and the supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden . Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members ( riksdagsledamöter ), elected proportionally and serving, since 1994, fixed four-year terms. The 2022 Swedish general election is the most recent general election . The constitutional mandates of the Riksdag are enumerated in

2016-639: Is typically only used for Sweden's legislature and certain related institutions. In addition to Sweden's parliament, it is also used for the Parliament of Finland and the Estonian Riigikogu , as well as the historical German Reichstag and the Danish Rigsdagen . In Swedish use, riksdagen is usually not capitalised. Riksdag derives from the genitive of rike , referring to royal power, and dag , meaning diet or conference;

SECTION 20

#1732855566781

2112-553: The Instrument of Government ( Regeringsformen ), and its internal workings are specified in greater detail in the Riksdag Act ( Riksdagsordningen ). The seat of the Riksdag is at Parliament House ( Riksdagshuset ), on the island of Helgeandsholmen in central Stockholm , in Gamla stan , the old town of Stockholm. The Riksdag has its institutional roots in the feudal Riksdag of

2208-600: The English crown . His mother, Marie Françoise de Pesnel (1665–1696), who died when Charles was seven, was an heiress who brought the title of Barony of La Brède to the Secondat family. His family was of Huguenot origin. After the death of his mother he was sent to the Catholic College of Juilly , a prominent school for the children of French nobility, where he remained from 1700 to 1711. His father died in 1713 and he became

2304-613: The European Union and its member states. The Montesquieu tower in Luxembourg was completed in 2008 as an addition to the headquarters of the Court of Justice of the European Union . The building houses many of the institution's translation services. Until 2019, it stood, with its sister tower, Comenius, as the tallest building in the country. A critical edition of Montesquieu's works

2400-577: The Horn Tavern Lodge in Westminster. He remained in England until the spring of 1731, when he returned to La Brède. Outwardly he seemed to be settling down as a squire: he altered his park in the English fashion, made inquiries into his own genealogy, and asserted his seignorial rights. But he was continuously at work in his study, and his reflections on geography, laws and customs during his travels became

2496-613: 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 Chancellor of 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

2592-466: The practice of law to devote himself to study and writing. He achieved literary success with the publication of his 1721 Persian Letters ( French : Lettres persanes ), a satire representing society as seen through the eyes of two Persian visitors to Paris , cleverly criticizing absurdities of contemporary French society. The work was an instant classic and accordingly was immediately pirated. In 1722, he went to Paris and entered social circles with

2688-401: The 1809 Instrument of Government, power was to be divided between the king and the Riksdag. The king was to appoint the chancellor of justice (in other words, he was the royal ombudsman) and the Riksdag was to appoint its own parliamentary ombudsman. The main purpose of the establishment of this new post as ombudsman (parliamentary ombudsman) was to safeguard the rights of citizens by establishing

2784-405: The 1975 instructions also included a special regulation empowering the ombudsmen to make critical or advisory comments and these have been transferred to the instructions that now apply.) In 1957 the institution of the parliamentary ombudsman was also given the power to monitor local government authorities. The development of the role of the ombudsman institution has resulted in a gradual shift in

2880-647: The 200 French franc note. Since 1989, the annual Montesquieu prize has been awarded by the French Association of Historians of Political Ideas for the best French-language thesis on the history of political thought . On Europe Day 2007, the Montesquieu Institute opened in The Hague , the Netherlands, with a mission to advance research and education on the parliamentary history and political culture of

2976-597: The 2018 election in which neither bloc won a majority of seats, the Social Democrats and Green Party formed a government with support from the Liberals and Centre Party, breaking the center-right Alliance. In March 2019, the Christian Democrats and Moderate Party signaled a willingness to talk with the Sweden Democrats. All 349 members of the Riksdag are elected in the general elections held every four years. All Swedish citizens who turn 18 years old no later than on

Parliamentary Ombudsman - Misplaced Pages Continue

3072-672: The American founders than any source except for the Bible . Following the American Revolution , his work remained a powerful influence on many of the American founders, most notably James Madison of Virginia , the "Father of the Constitution ". Montesquieu's philosophy that "government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another" reminded Madison and others that a free and stable foundation for their new national government required

3168-607: The Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline , that each historical event was driven by a principal movement: It is not chance that rules the world. Ask the Romans, who had a continuous sequence of successes when they were guided by a certain plan, and an uninterrupted sequence of reverses when they followed another. There are general causes, moral and physical, which act in every monarchy, elevating it, maintaining it, or hurling it to

3264-627: The English achieved liberty by separating executive, legislative, and judicial powers, and when Catherine the Great wrote her Nakaz (Instruction) for the Legislative Assembly she had created to clarify the existing Russian law code, she avowed borrowing heavily from Montesquieu's Spirit of Law , although she discarded or altered portions that did not support Russia's absolutist bureaucratic monarchy. Montesquieu's most influential work divided French society into three classes (or trias politica ,

3360-467: The Estates , traditionally thought to have first assembled in Arboga in 1435. In 1866, following reforms of the 1809 Instrument of Government , that body was transformed into a bicameral legislature with an upper chamber ( första kammaren ) and a lower chamber ( andra kammaren ). The Swedish word riksdag , in definite form riksdagen , is a general term for " parliament " or "assembly", but it

3456-420: The French political anthropologist Georges Balandier considered Montesquieu to be "the initiator of a scientific enterprise that for a time performed the role of cultural and social anthropology". According to social anthropologist D. F. Pocock , Montesquieu's The Spirit of Law was "the first consistent attempt to survey the varieties of human society, to classify and compare them and, within society, to study

3552-584: The German word Reichstag and the Danish Rigsdag are cognate . The Oxford English Dictionary traces English use of the term "Riksdag" in reference to the Swedish assembly back to 1855. The roots of the modern Riksdag can be found in a 1435 meeting in the city of Arboga ; however, only three of the estates were probably present: the nobility , the clergy and the burghers . This informal organization

3648-480: The Moderate Party, Liberals, Centre Party, and Christian Democrats—governed Sweden from 2006 through most of 2014 (after 2010 through a minority government ). The Red-Greens combination disbanded on 26 October 2010 but continued to be considered the main opposition until the 2014 election, following which the Social Democrats and the Green Party formed a government with support from the Left Party. In 2019, after

3744-424: The Riksdag nominates a Prime Minister ( Swedish : statsminister , literally minister of state) after holding talks with leaders of the various party groups in the Riksdag. The nomination is then put to a vote. The nomination is rejected (meaning the Speaker must find a new nominee) only if an absolute majority of the members (175 members) vote "no"; otherwise, it is confirmed. This means the Riksdag can consent to

3840-406: The Riksdag. The ombudsmen's inquiries (supervision) are based on complaints from the general public, cases initiated by the ombudsmen themselves and on observations made during the course of inspections. Every year the parliamentary ombudsmen receives almost 5,000 complaints – of widely varying kinds. Most of the ombudsmen's work consists of dealing with complaints. The parliamentary ombudsmen have

3936-466: The Second Chamber was directly elected by universal suffrage. This reform was a result of great discontent with the old Estates, which, following the changes brought by the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution , was no longer able to provide representation for large segments of the population. By an amendment to the 1809 Instrument of Government , the general election of 1970 was the first to

Parliamentary Ombudsman - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-547: The Standing Committee on the Constitution and the parliamentary auditors) into the current system of parliamentary government. The idea of creating some organ answerable to the Riksdag that could monitor the way in which the authorities complied with the law was not a new one in 1809. In fact, in 1713 the absolute monarch Charles XII had created the office of His Majesty's Supreme Ombudsman . At that time King Charles XII

4128-442: The activities of the ombudsmen are not intended to replace the supervision and application of the law that devolves on other organisations in the community. Even though from a constitutional point of view monitoring the application of law by public authorities is the prerogative of the Riksdag, for reasons of principle it has been considered unacceptable to incorporate any political considerations into this supervision. For this reason

4224-712: 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 ( Sveriges advokatsamfund ). An ombudsman is an individual elected by the Riksdag to ensure that courts of law and other agencies as well as

4320-560: The authorities should be lawful and correct in every other respect. The institution of the parliamentary ombudsmen today is a vital element in the constitutional protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of each individual. The supervision exercised by the parliamentary ombudsmen consists mainly of inquiries into complaints submitted by the general public. In addition the four ombudsmen make inspections and any other investigations they consider necessary. The ombudsmen are, however – unlike normal official agencies – never obliged to consider

4416-414: The cases where an official could not be charged with any punishable error and therefore there were no grounds for a decision to waive prosecution, the expression of criticism or advice on the part of the ombudsman was based only the usages that had evolved over the years. These practices were appraised and approved by the Riksdag in 1964. The decision in 1975 to abolish the special right to waive prosecution

4512-469: The circumstances of every case submitted to them. Instead the ombudsmen make their own assessment of which complaints to investigate and which require no further action. This presupposes, however, an ungrudging attitude on the part of the ombudsmen to the complaints they receive so that all those that give grounds for suspecting that some error has been committed will be investigated. It can also happen that even though an ombudsman finds no reason to inquire into

4608-619: The compliance of public authorities with the law. The Riksdag Act of 1810 contained provisions concerning the auditors elected by the Riksdag to scrutinise the doings of the civil service, the Bank of Sweden and the National Debt Office . The regulations in Chapter 12 of the Instrument of Government of 1974 later incorporated these three supervisory Riksdag agencies (i.e. the parliamentary ombudsmen,

4704-430: The day of the election and have at one point been registered residents are eligible to vote. To stand for election, a candidate must be eligible to vote and be nominated by a political party. A minimum of 4% of the national vote is required for a party to enter the Riksdag, alternatively 12% or more within a constituency. Substitutes for each deputy are elected at the same time as each election, so by-elections are rare. In

4800-405: The deviations from proportional national distribution that may arise when allocating the fixed constituency seats. There is a constraint in the system that means that only a party that has received at least four per cent of the votes in the whole country participates in the distribution of seats. However, a party that has received at least twelve per cent of the votes in a constituency participates in

4896-399: The distribution of the fixed constituency seats in that constituency. Bibliography 59°19′39″N 18°04′03″E  /  59.32750°N 18.06750°E  / 59.32750; 18.06750 Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 1689 – 10 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu ,

SECTION 50

#1732855566781

4992-424: The division of powers. With the autocratic rule of King Gustav III fresh in mind, the legislators introduced into the new constitution a system that would allow the Riksdag some control over the exercise of executive power. The Standing Committee on the Constitution was therefore charged with the task of supervising the actions of ministers and with ensuring the election of a special parliamentary ombudsman to monitor

5088-410: The event of a snap election , the newly elected members merely serve the remainder of the four-year term. The electoral system in Sweden is proportional . Of the 349 seats in the unicameral Riksdag, 310 are fixed constituency seats allocated to 29 multi-member constituencies in relation to the number of people entitled to vote in each constituency. The remaining 39 adjustment seats are used to correct

5184-424: The executive and judicial powers, as Montesquieu indicated, there will be no separation or division of its powers, since the power to appoint carries with it the power to revoke. The executive authority must be in the hands of a monarch, for this part of the government, which almost always requires immediate action, is better administrated by one than by several, whereas that which depends on the legislative authority

5280-417: The executive authority for things that stem from the law of nations, and the executive authority for those that stem from civil law. By virtue of the first, the prince or magistrate enacts temporary or perpetual laws, and amends or abrogates those that have been already enacted. By the second, he makes peace or war, sends or receives embassies, establishes the public security, and provides against invasions. By

5376-410: The executive authority, there is no freedom, because one can fear lest the same monarch or the same senate make tyrannical laws in order to carry them out tyrannically. Again there is no freedom if the authority to judge is not separated from the legislative and executive authorities. If it were combined with the legislative authority, power over the life and liberty of the citizens would be arbitrary, for

5472-440: The first century of the existence of the office, the total number of complaints amounted to around 8,000. Initially, the role of a parliamentary ombudsman could be characterised as that of a prosecutor . Cases set in motion by the ombudsman were either shelved with no action being taken or resulted in prosecution. Eventually, however, routines evolved which meant that prosecution was waived for minor transgressions and an admonition

5568-540: The free labor of slaves. While addressing French readers of his General Theory , John Maynard Keynes described Montesquieu as "the real French equivalent of Adam Smith , the greatest of your economists, head and shoulders above the physiocrats in penetration, clear-headedness and good sense (which are the qualities an economist should have)." Another example of Montesquieu's anthropological thinking, outlined in The Spirit of Law and hinted at in Persian Letters ,

5664-463: The government of the Republic, other men would have risen in their place. The cause was not the ambition of Caesar or Pompey, but the ambition of man. Former Former Montesquieu is credited as being among the progenitors, who include Herodotus and Tacitus , of anthropology —as being among the first to extend comparative methods of classification to the political forms in human societies. Indeed,

5760-529: The ground. All accidents are controlled by these causes. And if the chance of one battle—that is, a particular cause—has brought a state to ruin, some general cause made it necessary for that state to perish from a single battle. In a word, the main trend draws with it all particular accidents. In discussing the transition from the Republic to the Empire , he suggested that if Caesar and Pompey had not worked to usurp

5856-419: The growth of complex socio-cultural systems. He goes so far as to assert that certain climates are more favorable than others, the temperate climate of France being ideal. His view is that people living in very warm countries are "too hot-tempered", while those in northern countries are "icy" or "stiff". The climate of middle Europe is therefore optimal. On this point, Montesquieu may well have been influenced by

SECTION 60

#1732855566781

5952-523: The help of friends including the Duke of Berwick whom he had known when Berwick was military governor at Bordeaux. He also acquainted himself with the English politician Viscount Bolingbroke , some of whose political views were later reflected in Montesquieu's analysis of the English constitution. In 1726 he sold his office, bored with the parlement and turning more toward Paris. In time, despite some impediments he

6048-399: The independent attitude adopted by the parliamentary ombudsmen has applied to their relationship with the Riksdag as well. For instance, the Riksdag is not considered able to issue directives to the ombudsmen about any individual case, nor can it express opinions retrospectively about how a case was dealt with or the final adjudication. Instead the authority of the Riksdag over the activities of

6144-499: The inter-functioning of institutions." "Émile Durkheim," notes David W. Carrithers, "even went so far as to suggest that it was precisely this realization of the interrelatedness of social phenomena that brought social science into being." Montesquieu's political anthropology gave rise to his influential view that forms of government are supported by governing principles: virtue for republics, honor for monarchies, and fear for despotisms. American founders studied Montesquieu's views on how

6240-419: The judge would be the legislator. If it were combined with the executive authority, the judge could have the strength of an oppressor. All would be lost if the same man or the same body of principals, or of nobles, or of the people, exercised these three powers: that of making laws, that of executing public resolutions, and that of judging crimes or disputes between individuals. If the legislative branch appoints

6336-507: The official for malfeasance or some other irregularity. This very rarely happens, but the mere awareness of this possibility means a great deal for the ombudsmen's authority. The office of the parliamentary ombudsman was established in connection with the adoption of the Swedish Instrument of Government that came into effect after the deposition of the Swedish king in 1809 and which was based to some extent on Montesquieu 's ideas about

6432-463: The ombudsman found that this was not the case, he was empowered to initiate legal proceedings against them for dereliction of their duties. In 1719 the supreme ombudsman was given the title of chancellor of justice ( Justitiekanslern ). This office still exists, and today the Chancellor of Justice acts as the government's Ombudsman. After the death of Charles XII in 1718 Sweden enjoyed decades of what

6528-399: The ombudsman has one ombudsman and two assistant ombudsmen (Finnish: apulaisoikeusasiamies , Swedish: biträdande justitieombudsman ). The officials are elected for a term of four years and their duties closely resemble the jurisdiction of their Swedish counterparts. The other Finnish official charged with the supervision of public power is the Chancellor of Justice . The jurisdiction of

6624-480: The ombudsmen finds expression in the instructions issued to the parliamentary ombudsmen and in the funds allocated to the office. It is the Riksdag that decides on the budget for the parliamentary ombudsmen – not the government or the Ministry of Finance. Finland has had the institution of parliamentary ombudsman (Finnish: eduskunnan oikeusasiamies , Swedish: riksdagens justitieombudsman ) since 1920. The office of

6720-549: The other ombudsmen. However, the ombudsman cannot intervene in another ombudsman's inquiry or adjudication in any case within their ambit. Each ombudsman has a direct individual responsibility to the Riksdag for their actions. The Annual Report—which is one of the official publications of the Swedish Riksdag—is submitted to the Standing Committee on the Constitution , which then draws up its own written report and notifies

6816-499: The primary sources for his major works on political philosophy at this time. He next published Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline (1734), among his three best known books. He was to publish The Spirit of Law in 1748, quickly translated into English. It quickly rose to influence political thought profoundly in Europe and America. In France, the book met with an enthusiastic reception by many but

6912-431: The procedure of nominating a new Prime Minister starts anew. No party has won a single majority in the Riksdag since 1968. Political parties with similar agendas consequently cooperate on several issues, forming coalition governments or other formalized alliances. Two major blocs existed in parliament until 2019, the socialist / green Red-Greens and the conservative / liberal Alliance . The latter—consisting of

7008-400: The public officials they employ (and also anyone else whose work involves the exercise of public authority) comply with laws and statutes and fulfil their obligations in all other respects. An ombudsman is elected for a four-year period and can be re-elected. Although there is no formal requirement for an ombudsman to be a jurist , in practice all but the first have had legal training. In 1941

7104-536: The regulations that already applied to public prosecutors with regard to prosecution and the right to waive prosecution. Today, the 1986 instructions – the Act with Instructions for the Parliamentary Ombudsmen (1986:765) and the amendments added in 1989 – state that when undertaking the role of prosecutor, the ombudsmen are also to comply with the other statutory regulations applying to public prosecutors. (In addition,

7200-421: The right to initiate disciplinary procedures against an official for misdemeanours. The most frequent outcome is, however, a critical advisory comment from an ombudsman or some form of recommendation. An ombudsman's opinion is never legally binding. The office of the parliamentary ombudsman is politically neutral. The most extreme recourse allows an ombudsman to act as a special prosecutor and bring charges against

7296-427: The seminal character of anthropology's inclusion of material factors, such as climate, in the explanation of social dynamics and political forms. Examples of certain climatic and geographical factors giving rise to increasingly complex social systems include those that were conducive to the rise of agriculture and the domestication of wild plants and animals. Between 1981 and 1994, a depiction of Monetesquieu appeared on

7392-446: The stipulation that only men could be elected as ombudsmen was rescinded; since then, five women have been elected to the office. Today there are four ombudsmen, two women and two men. Each ombudsman has her or his own area of responsibility (supervisory area). One of the ombudsmen has the title of chief parliamentary ombudsman and is responsible for administration, deciding, for instance, which areas of responsibility are to be allocated to

7488-402: The third, he punishes criminals, or determines the disputes that arise between individuals. The latter we shall call the judiciary power, and the other, simply, the executive power of the state. Montesquieu argues that each power should only exercise its own functions; he is quite explicit here: When in the same person or in the same body of magistracy the legislative authority is combined with

7584-422: The thrust of these activities from a punitive to an advisory and consultative function. The task of forestalling error and general endeavours to ensure the correct application of the law have taken precedence over the role of prosecutor. The starting point of the work of the parliamentary ombudsmen today is based – as it was nearly two centuries ago – on the desire of individuals that any treatment they receive from

7680-696: The two offices overlaps, but the parliamentary ombudsman is the authority specially charged with the handling of complaints by military servicemen, conscripts , prisoners and other persons in closed institutions. He also regularly inspects prisons, garrisons and Finnish peacekeeping missions abroad. The other special duty of the parliamentary ombudsman is the supervision of police undercover and wiretapping activities. The Norwegian Parliamentary Ombud has existed since 1962. The Danish parliamentary ombudsman has existed since 1955. It investigates complaints against public authorities and can also take up cases on its own initiative. The Icelandic parliamentary ombudsman

7776-407: Was a French judge , man of letters , historian , and political philosopher . He is the principal source of the theory of separation of powers , which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He is also known for doing more than any other author to secure the place of the word despotism in the political lexicon. His anonymously published The Spirit of Law (1748), which

7872-532: Was a radical idea because it does not follow the three Estates structure of the French Monarchy: the clergy , the aristocracy, and the people at large represented by the Estates-General , thereby erasing the last vestige of a feudalistic structure. The theory of the separation of powers largely derives from The Spirit of Law : In every state there are three kinds of power: the legislative authority,

7968-597: Was a time of significant governmental change. England had declared itself a constitutional monarchy in the wake of its Glorious Revolution (1688–1689), and joined with Scotland in the Union of 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain . In France, the long-reigning Louis XIV died in 1715 and was succeeded by the five-year-old Louis XV . These national transformations had a great impact on Montesquieu; he would refer to them repeatedly in his work. Montesquieu eventually withdrew from

8064-459: 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 an individual has been treated wrongly or unjustly by a public authority or an official employed by

8160-737: Was denounced by the Sorbonne and, in 1751, by the Catholic Church ( Index of Prohibited Books ). It received the highest praise from much of the rest of Europe, especially Britain. Montesquieu was also highly regarded in the British colonies in North America as a champion of liberty. According to a survey of late eighteenth-century works by political scientist Donald Lutz, Montesquieu was the most frequently quoted authority on government and politics in colonial pre-revolutionary British America, cited more by

8256-572: Was elected to the Académie Française in January 1728. In April 1728, with Berwick's nephew Lord Waldegrave as his traveling companion, Montesquieu embarked on a grand tour of Europe, during which he kept a journal. His travels included Austria and Hungary and a year in Italy. He went to England at the end of October 1729, in the company of Lord Chesterfield , where he was initiated into Freemasonry at

8352-410: Was established in 1987. It oversees the actions of state and local authorities. Riksdag Confidence and supply (73) Opposition (173) The Riksdag ( Swedish: [ˈrɪ̌ksdɑː(ɡ)] , lit. transl.  " diet of the realm " ; also Swedish : riksdagen [ˈrɪ̌ksdan] or Sveriges riksdag [ˈsvæ̌rjɛs ˈrɪ̌ksdɑː(ɡ)] )

8448-460: Was in Turkey and had been abroad for almost 13 years. In his absence his administration in Sweden had fallen into disarray. He therefore established the supreme ombudsman to be his pre-eminent representative in Sweden. The task entrusted to him was to ensure that judges and public official in general acted in accordance with the laws in force and discharged their duties satisfactorily in other respects. If

8544-474: Was inherently wrong because all humans are born equal, but that it could perhaps be justified within the context of climates with intense heat, wherein laborers would feel less inclined to work voluntarily. As part of his advocacy he presented a satirical hypothetical list of arguments for slavery . In the hypothetical list, he'd ironically list pro-slavery arguments without further comment, including an argument stating that sugar would become too expensive without

8640-430: Was issued instead. This development was acknowledged by the Riksdag in 1915 by its inclusion of a specific right to waive prosecution in the instructions for the parliamentary ombudsman. Until the adoption of the 1975 instructions, these provisions on an ombudsman's right to waive prosecution in cases involving transgressions that were not of major consequence provided the only formal basis for the expression of criticism. In

8736-415: Was linked to the simultaneous reform of official accountability, which involved among other things major curtailment of the legal responsibility of public officials for their actions. In this context it was considered that there was no longer any need for the parliamentary ombudsmen to have the right to waive prosecution. Instead it was stipulated that in inquiries into cases the ombudsmen were to be subject to

8832-478: Was modified in 1527 by the first modern Swedish king, Gustav I Vasa , to include representatives from all the four social estates : the nobility , the clergy, the burghers (property-owning commoners in the towns such as merchants etc.), and the yeomanry ( freehold farmers). This form of Ständestaat representation lasted until 1866, when representation by estate was abolished and the modern bicameral parliament established. Effectively, however, it did not become

8928-455: Was more or less parliamentary rule (the Age of Liberty ). In 1766 the Riksdag actually for the first time elected the chancellor of justice. In the 1772 Instrument of Government , however, the right to appoint the chancellor of justice again became a royal prerogative. After a period of renewed autocratic rule under Gustaf III and his son, Gustaf Adolf IV , the latter was deposed in 1809. According to

9024-597: Was received well in both Great Britain and the American colonies, influenced the Founding Fathers of the United States in drafting the U.S. Constitution . Montesquieu was born at the Château de la Brède in southwest France, 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Bordeaux . His father, Jacques de Secondat (1654–1713), was a soldier with a long noble ancestry, including descent from Richard de la Pole , Yorkist claimant to

9120-479: Was reduced to 349, from 1976 onwards. The Riksdag performs the normal functions of a legislature in a parliamentary democracy . It enacts laws, amends the constitution and appoints a government. In most parliamentary democracies, the head of state commissions a politician to form a government. Under the new Instrument of Government (one of the four fundamental laws of the Constitution) enacted in 1974, that task

9216-430: Was removed from the Monarch of Sweden and given to the Speaker of the Riksdag. To make changes to the Constitution under the new Instrument of Government, amendments must be approved twice, in two successive electoral periods with a regular general election held in between. There are 15 parliamentary committees in the Riksdag. As of September 2022, 163 members, or 46.7% of the 349 members are women. Five parties have

#780219