Maintenance obligations

Finland

Content provided by:
Finland

Article 71 1. (a) - Courts for application for a declaration of enforceability and courts for appeal against decisions on such applications

The court with competence to deal with matters under Article 27(1) is the käräjäoikeus/tingsrätt [District Court]. The court that hears appeals under Article 32(2) is the hovioikeus/hovrätt [Court of Appeal].

The contact details of these courts are available on the Ministry of Justice’s website at: http://www.oikeus.fi/tuomioistuimet/fi/index/yhteystiedot.html

Article 71 1. (b) - Redress procedure

The redress procedure referred to in Article 33 involves an appeal to the korkein oikeus/högsta domstolen [Supreme Court] if it is declared admissible (Code of Judicial Procedure, Chapter 30, Sections 1-5 as applicable).

Appeals against judgments and decisions of the Court of Appeal are lodged with the Supreme Court.

A person who wishes to appeal against a judgment must request leave to appeal from the Supreme Court.

Leave to appeal may be granted only if it is important for the case to be brought before the Supreme Court for a decision on the application of the law in other, similar cases or for uniformity of legal practice. Leave to appeal may also be granted if there is a special reason for this because of a procedural or other error that has been made in the case on the basis of which the judgment is to be reversed or annulled, or if there is another important reason for granting leave to appeal.

Appeal instructions are annexed to the decision of the Court of Appeal. The instructions indicate on what grounds leave to appeal may be granted by law and how the person requesting leave to appeal must proceed in order to have the appeal heard by the Supreme Court. The deadline for requesting leave to appeal and lodging the appeal is 60 days from the date on which the decision by the Court of Appeal was made available to the parties.

Article 71 1. (c) - Review procedure

Applications for a review procedure for the purposes of Article 19 are made to the court which gave the final judgment in the case. The procedure is governed by Sections 3-5 and 14a of Chapter 31 of the Code of Judicial Procedure, as applicable. The contact details of these courts are available on the Ministry of Justice’s website at: http://www.oikeus.fi/tuomioistuimet/fi/index/yhteystiedot.html

Article 71 1. (d) - Central Authorities

Finland’s central authority is the oikeusministeriö/justitieministeriet [Ministry of Justice].

Its contact details are:

Oikeusministeriö [Ministry of Justice]

Unit for International Legal Aid

Box 25

FIN-00023 Valtioneuvosto [Government]

Telephone 358-9-1606 7628

Fax 358-9-1606 7524

E-mail maintenance.ca.om@gov.fi

Please note that the Social Insurance Institution of Finland [Kansaneläkelaitos/Folkpensionsanstalten – (KELA)], which is a public body, may perform some of the tasks entrusted to the central authority (for more details, see Article 71(1)(e) — Public bodies). However, all applications received in Finland must be addressed to the Ministry of Justice.

Article 71 1. (e) – Public bodies

Kansaneläkelaitos/Folkpensionsanstalten [the Social Insurance Institution] is the public body designated under Article 51(3) of the Maintenance Regulation.
When the Social Insurance Institution has awarded maintenance to an individual entitled to it, it performs the following central authority functions:

  • it applies for recognition or recognition and declaration of the enforceability of a decision under Article 56(1)(a);
  • it applies for enforcement of a decision given or to be recognised in the requested Member State under Article 56(1)(b);
  • it makes a request for specific measures under Article 53(1).

The Social Insurance Institution’s contact details are:

Kansaneläkelaitos (Social Insurance Institution)
Recovery Centre
PL 450

FI-00056 Kela

Finland

Telephone: +35820 634 4940 (individuals)

+35820 634 4942 (authorities)


E-mail: maintenance@kela.fi

Website: http://www.kela.fi/

Article 71 1. (f) – Competent authorities for enforcement

The competent authority for the purposes of Article 21 is the ulosottomies/utmätningsman [bailiff] in the defendant’s place of residence or domicile. The application referred to in that Article can be addressed to any local enforcement agency.

The contact details of the enforcement agencies are on the Ministry of Justice’s website at: https://oikeus.fi/ulosotto/fi/index/yhteystiedot.html

Article 71 1. (g) - Accepted languages for translations of documents

Finland accepts translations of the documents referred to in Articles 20, 28 and 40 in
Finnish, Swedish and English.

Article 71 1. (h) - Languages accepted by Central Authorities for communication with other Central Authorities

Finland accepts Finnish, Swedish and English as languages for communication.

Last update: 22/03/2024

The national language version of this page is maintained by the respective Member State. The translations have been done by the European Commission service. Possible changes introduced in the original by the competent national authority may not be yet reflected in the translations. The European Commission accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to any information or data contained or referred to in this document. Please refer to the legal notice to see copyright rules for the Member State responsible for this page.