We defend fundamental rights

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The Finnish Bar Association promotes the realisation of fundamental rights. Our judicial policy work is based on the realisation of legal protection for every individual, because without functional and comprehensive legal protection, there can be no rule of law. The main objective of our advocacy work is to secure the availability of justice for all.

Through its work, the body of Finnish attorneys-at-law wishes to ensure that everyone, in all circumstances, has a genuine opportunity to have their case heard and decided. We strive for the realisation of equal legal aid for everyone, are against raising court fees and seek to use our influence to ensure that legal expense insurance policies will meet the needs of customers better in the future. Long processing times by authorities and in the courts can also be an obstacle to obtaining justice. This is a long-standing problem in Finland that must be remedied.

Consolidating the rule of law

There are many groups of people for whom it is more difficult to defend their rights. How we look after the legal protection and rights of those in the most vulnerable position says a lot about the state of rule of law in Finland. That is why we pay particular attention to the rights of those in vulnerable positions. Such groups include children, those deprived of their liberty and asylum seekers.

We have demanded improvements to the legal protection of and legal aid for children and asylum seekers. We have constantly drawn attention to the fact that access to legal aid must also be ensured for prisoners. For us, defending fundamental and human rights is the top priority – without regard to the age, nationality, gender, religion or culture of the client. Every person is equal.

We develop legislation

Questions of legal protection and smooth and predictable official processes are also important for businesses. Issues related to fundamental rights and legal protection also arise in the fields of tax and competition law, for example.

We are constantly updating our goals when attorneys are faced with issues related to fundamental rights in legislation, the practices of authorities or actions of the courts.

The Finnish Bar Association issues several statements on bills for new legislation each year. The role of attorneys-at-law is to examine legislative projects from the perspective of the realisation of legal protection for individuals and corporations and to defend a legal culture based on justice and equality. The premise of our advocacy work in judicial policy is that human and fundamental rights must be taken into consideration in the drafting of legislation. Attorneys contribute to the improvement of judicial conditions in Finland by issuing statements on the legislative and other projects of various ministries, the European Union, Parliament and various authorities.

As a rule, the Finnish Bar Association’s judicial policy statements are drawn up by one of its almost twenty teams of legal experts. The teams currently include approximately 125 attorneys who represent the top of their fields and make their expertise available without compensation.