Special Courts
There are special courts in Finland, the duties of which are provided for in separate statutes. The special courts were set up for cases that cannot be handled by general courts or administrative courts because they require special expertise. The composition of the special courts usually reflects the expertise pertinent to the field in question. The special courts are:
- The Labour Court
- The Market Court
- The Insurance Court and
- The High Court of Impeachment.
The Labour Court
The Labour Court handles and settles disputes concerning the interpretation of the Employment Contracts Act, the State Civil Servants Contracts Act, the Municipal Civil Servants Contracts Act and the law governing the contracts of civil servants in the employ of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. It also deals with disputes relating to the contracts of State civil servants and the collective agreements of employees.
The Market Court
The Market Court acts as a specialised court for competition and enforcement, intellectual property and market law.
The Insurance Court
The Insurance Court acts as a special court for social security matters. The matters dealt with by the Insurance Court include, inter alia, a person’s entitlement to an employment pension, national pension and unemployment benefit and to compensation on the basis of an accident at work, an occupational disease, damage caused by a crime, military invalidity or a military accident.
High Court of Impeachment
The High Court of Impeachment is a special court that hears cases involving charges of unlawful conduct in office brought against members of the Finnish government, Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court judges and certain senior civil servants. The High Court of Impeachment is convened only when necessary.
Additional information
The website of the Finnish courts contains information on the judicial system of Finland. It is a one-stop portal providing information about courts, prosecutors, enforcement authorities and legal aid.
It includes, for example, the latest case law from the courts of appeal and the administrative courts and links to the websites of all courts.