• Staff
• Legal aid
• Prosecutors
• District courts
• Courts of appeal
• The Supreme Court
• Administrative courts
• The Supreme Administrative Court
• Enforcement administration
• Prisons and probation service

In December 2002 the Ministry of Justice published its first legal policy strategy setting out the essential guidelines and prospects for the next ten-year period. The strategy puts stress on the significance of prevention of problems and crimes, explicit laws and good governance.

The legal policy shall mainly focus on improving the accessibility of legal safeguards, the prevention of crime, the reduction of recidivism and the enhancement of the status of crime victims.

The Ministry aims at moving the emphasis of the application of law to the district courts and administrative courts. The legal proceedings are to become more flexible and faster. Alternative dispute settling methods shall be further developed.

The objective is more explicit and easily accessible laws, enacted after thorough deliberation. The coordination of statute drafting and the assessment of the effects of statutes shall be improved.

The Ministry of Justice wishes to promote the cooperation required for an improved functioning of democracy. At the same time the election system shall be reformed and means sought to increase the election participation.

The realization of rights in the European Union is one of the goals of the Ministry of Justice. For instance, the development of practical forms of cooperation in the fight against international crime is important. The Ministry also aims at increasing the results of the legal cooperation with Russia.

Staff

The staff in the administrative sector of the Ministry of Justice totals nearly 10,000, out of whom approx. 6,500 are employed in the courts of law, the prosecuting offices, legal aid offices and enforcement offices. The prison administration and probation service employ more than 3,000 staff. The Ministry of Justice itself has a staff of about 270 employees.

The staff consists of 42 percent male and 58 percent female employees. Nearly half of the judges and over one third of the prosecutors are women.

The Ministry's share of government expenditure is just under 2 percent (approx. 748 million euros in 2008). The share of government employees amounts to 8 percent.

Legal aid

Within the legal aid system private attorneys take care of approx. 32,000 cases and legal aid offices approx. 52,000 cases annually. In all cases the legal aid offices decide whether or not legal aid shall be granted. Legal aid is either wholly or partially free depending on the financial position of the client. The majority of cases are free.

Legal aid is most commonly granted in criminal cases, followed by cases pertaining to family and inheritance law. All matters conducted by private lawyers and about one fourth of the matters dealt with by legal aid offices concern litigation. In about one third of the matters brought to the attention of the legal aid offices legal advice is all that is needed, while other matters result in the drafting of a document or, for instance, the consideration by an administrative authority.

The legal aid offices give legal guidance also by phone (since October 2006). In 2007 the
legal aid guidance service received around 13,000 phone calls.

Prosecutors

The local prosecutors decide more than 80,000 cases yearly. Every year decisions not to prosecute affect about 25,000 persons. In more than half of these the decision is based on the lack of evidence to substantiate the suspected offence. Charges can also be waived, for instance, because of the pettiness of the act, the young age of the offender or the unreasonableness of the punishment.

The consideration of charges in relation to offences of significance to society is conducted at the Office of the Prosecutor-General. Each year 20-30 such cases are decided and about half of them lead to charges being brought.

District courts

Every year about 75,000 cases are decided at district court sessions. Around 90 percent of them are criminal cases and 10 percent civil cases. Nearly one fourth of the criminal cases concern aggravated drunken driving, drunken driving, driving under the influence of narcotics and other traffic offences. Assault and theft offences make up about one tenth respectively.

In October 2006 new written proceedings in criminal cases were introduced in the district courts. Nearly 19,000 criminal cases were decided in written proceedings in 2007. This means that the district courts decided 30 percent of the criminal cases in written proceedings.

A considerable portion of the civil matters are concluded through settlement during preparation of the case, which partly accounts for the small number of civil matters decided in court. Only a little more than half of those civil cases that have been initiated as extensive cases proceed to being heard in session. The most common among these are disputes based on the Tort Liability Act.

The majority of cases dealt with by the district courts consist of the registration of titles to properties, mortgage and other real estate matters as well as indisputable claims to be decided by default judgment. Divorce matters and insolvency matters are treated as non-contentious civil cases.

Courts of appeal

The courts of appeal decide about 12,000 cases every year. Approximately two thirds of them are criminal cases and one-fourth civil cases. The most common criminal cases relate to assault, theft and aggravated drunken driving and thefts. In about 27 percent of the cases appealed, the courts of appeal change the reasons for judgment or the decisions of the district courts.

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court decides about 3,000 applications for leave to appeal annually. In just under 10 percent of the cases leave is granted. Each year the Supreme Court establishes a precedent in more than 100 of the cases heard by the Court, thereby setting a norm for the application of law by other courts.

During recent years leave to appeal has been sought in civil and criminal matters in roughly equal numbers. The most typical of the civil cases are appeals in enforcement proceedings and disputes based on the Tort Liability Act. The most common criminal cases pertain to assaults and aggravated narcotics offences.

Administrative courts

The administrative courts decide approximately 20,000 cases each year. Among the biggest categories are social welfare and health care, taxation, aliens affairs, and construction and environment matters. About one fourth of the decisions of the administrative courts result in the appealed decision being changed or overruled and returned to the authority that made it.

The Supreme Administrative Court

The Supreme Administrative Court hears about 4,000 cases a year. In about half of them a decision on the merits is made in an appeal proper. In certain case categories leave to appeal must first be sought. Leave is granted in about 15 percent of the applications. Close to one third of the matters heard in a year consist of rejections of applications for leave to appeal.

The biggest case categories are social welfare and health care, taxation, building/construction and planning, and environment. In close to 10 percent of the appeals heard by the Supreme Administrative Court the preceding decision is changed each year.

Enforcement administration

About 2,6 million matters are annually dealt with by the enforcement authorities and a total of about 3 billion euros are to be recovered. More than 700 million euros are recovered for the creditors each year. In the past years an average of around 250,000 debtors have been the object of enforcement.

Prisons and probation service

The number of prisoners increased by more than 40 percent between 1999 and 2005. In 2005, however, the trend was reversed. In 2007 the daily average number of prisoners was 3,551, whereas in 2005 it was 3,888. The main reasons for the decrease were the law amendments regarding the conversion of unpaid fines into imprisonment and the new provisions on conditional release. About 25 percent of the prisoners serve their sentences in open institutions.

Every year around 4,000 persons sentenced to imprisonment serve their sentences in the form of community service. Juvenile punishments are imposed in some twenty or thirty cases.

The probation service has a daily number of around 4,500 clients. One fourth of young persons released on parole and one third of those conditionally sentenced are put under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Updated on May 21, 2008