Utredande

Utredande is a Swedish adjective and present participle of the verb utreda, meaning to investigate, examine or clarify. It describes activities, methods, roles or documents that involve investigation or inquiry. The term is common in legal, governmental, journalistic and academic contexts.

Examples of usage include a utredande arbete (an investigative or diagnostic task), ett utredande organ (an investigative body), and en utredande journalist (an investigative journalist). More generally, it can describe processes such as utredande arbetsgång (an investigative workflow).

Grammatically, utredande functions as an adjective and agrees with the noun it modifies: ett utredande arbete, det utredande arbetet, flera utredande arbeten, de utredande arbetena. It is derived from utreda and shares semantic ground with other terms like undersökande (investigative), but utredande often carries a more formal or institutional coloration.

Relation to related terms: utredning denotes the investigation itself, and utredare refers to a person who conducts investigations. The word may appear in policy, administrative, media or research settings and tends to imply a structured inquiry aimed at clarifying facts, rather than simply exploring possibilities. As a descriptor, utredande signals the involvement of systematic examination or inquiry, rather than passive observation.