The aim of the final paper is to clarify the institution of the ombudsman as a very important instrument in the promotion of human rights and freedoms. Despite the fact that we live in modern society of the 21st century, where democracy, liberalism, openness and the possibility of choice for individuals and groups are assumed, we are often still witnessing the violation of human rights and some other rights on many levels. The world is still full of poverty, people who don´t have not social and economic rights such as the basic right to primary education, higher level of education, rights to work, social security rights, health care and many others fundamental rights and freedoms that belong to us by birth, and should be guaranteed to all of us dignity and equality. In accordance with the above, the institution of the ombudsman becomes some kind of salvation for the disenfranchised, a protector for those who have their rights and freedoms in any way threatened by state administration bodies, local and district (regional) authorities and other authorities. At the very beginning of the final paper, we will go through the development of the parliamentary institution of ombudsman which goes back to Sweden until its establishment in the Republic of Croatia in the 1990s. The powers and duties of the independent and impartial ombudsman will be clarified as well as his/her inspection of citizen’s complaints about the administrative practice of state authorities and every other reported irregularity. For extrajudicial protection of human rights and freedoms, there have been established new specialized ombudsman institutions such as the ombudsman for gender equality, ombudsman for persons with disabilities, ombudsman for children, commissioner for information, which all lead to greater effectiveness in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms.