FINLAND

	FINLAND

	Composition and structure Court functions Advisory functions

Name of the institution : The Supreme Administrative Court

President :
Mr. Pekka HALLBERG

Address :
Unioninkatu 16,
00130 Helsinki
FINLAND

Phone number :
(358) 10 36 40 202

Fax :
(358) 10 18 53 202

Composition and structure

Number of members :
The President (Chief Justice), 20 ordinary members (Justices of the Supreme Administrative Court), appointed until the compulsory retirement age of 67, and a maximum of 4 (presently 3) additional justices, appointed for a limited period of time.

Recruitment procedures and incompatibilities :
President and Justices are appointed by the President of the Republic, Justices upon proposal of the Court.
The members of the Court are not eligible to Parliament.

Internal organization :
The Court works under the direction and supervision of its President. The Secretary General takes care of the internal work of the Court and its staff.
The Supreme Administrative Court is divided into three sections, each of which is specialized primarily in cases arising in specific branches of public administration.
Cases are regularly settled by panels of five members.

Publications :
The most important decisions are published in the Court's Yearbook and recorded in an electronic data base as well as in the internet. The Court also publishes an annual report on its operations, with statistics.

Court functions

Jurisdiction :
The Court handles legal disputes involving administrative law as a general court of last resort.

Organization of the courts system :
The Supreme Administrative Court is always an instance of appeal. In many cases, it is, however, the first judicial instance, as appeal is in these cases taken directly from decisions of National administrative authorities (which may themselves have acted on appeal from lower administrative agencies). Appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court is in certain cases, especially in minor tax matters, allowed on the leave of the court only. In an appeal case, questions of both law and facts are examined.

Powers of the judge (annulment, reversal, compensation, etc...) :
An unlawful decision may always be reversed. In connection with a reversal, the case may, with some exceptions concerning especially municipal matters, be returned to the lower court or agency concerned.
A judgement of a lower court and in many cases a decision of a State agency may also be amended. Decisions of municipal authorities can in most cases only be confirmed or reversed. The losing party may be ordered to pay the Court costs of the opposite party. A recipient of a water rights permit may be ordered to pay compensation to other interested parties.
Cases concerning damages for wrongful official action are in most cases handled by judicial (civil and criminal) Courts..

Advisory functions

Existence and extent of an advisory authority :
According to the Constitution, the Council of Ministers may ask the Supreme Administrative Court (or the Supreme Court, or both) for an advisory opinion on a bill.
Similarly, the President of the Republic may request, before promulgating an Act of Parliament, an advice.
The Court itself may submit a proposal for new legislation to the President of the Republic. In a more informal manner, various Ministries ask for the opinion of the Court on proposed legislation.

Authority and publicity of the advisory opinions :
The advisory opinions of the Court have no formal authority, but are nevertheless often very important.
The advisory opinions (and proposals for new legislation) are, after having been delivered, public under the Publicity of Official Documents Act. Anyone is thus entitled to ask for a copy of any opinion. In addition, the opinions are published by the Court in its Yearbook.

Miscellaneous remarks
According to the Constitution, it is also the duty of the Supreme Administrative Court to supervise the administration of justice in the field of administrative law by lower authorities.