Towards the Establishment of Ombudsman in Malaysia: What can we learn from Sweden?

This paper analyses the establishment of the Ombudsman in Sweden by looking at its historical background, scope and effectiveness. The discussions are important to provide a best practise model to be applied by Malaysia in its efforts to establish an ombudsman. By using a qualitative approach through document analyses, the findings show that the Ombudsman Institution in Sweden is clear evidence of the country’s commitment to protecting people's rights and improving the quality of governance. The excellence of the Ombudsman Institution in Sweden largely depends on the procedures and practices of complaint management that can be adopted by other countries, mainly Malaysia.