Requests for information and publicity of documents

In accordance with the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), everyone has the right of access to an official document in the public domain. The right of access to information on the activities of the authority shall not be unduly or unlawfully restricted, nor more restricted than what is necessary for the protection of the interests of the person protected.

Requesting access to documents concerning court files‍

Requests for access to information concerning the files of an individual court must always be addressed to the court that has decided the matter. More detailed instructions on how to request access to documents can be found on the courts’ website.

If your request for right of access to information concerns statistics on court activities, you can find information about them here.

When data are requested for research purposes from the data files of several courts at once, the application for a research permit must be addressed to the Legal Register Centre.

If the conditions for disclosure are met, the Legal Register Centre may disclose basic information regarding court proceedings or other court records data held in the national record and case management system on the basis of the general right of access.

The National Courts Administration does not have access to the case management systems of individual courts, so it cannot disclose documents of individual courts. In addition, the National Courts Administration cannot disclose information based on requests for access to information from the national data pool of the judicial administration. This is expressly assigned to the Legal Register Centre.

Submission of a request for access to documents to the National Courts Administration

You can submit a request for access to documents concerning the data of the National Courts Administration to the National Courts Administration. A request for access to documents submitted to the National Courts Administration is recorded in the agency’s case management system (in Finnish)Avautuu uuteen välilehteen. If we cannot execute a request for access to a document, we will on request issue a decision that is eligible for appeal.‍

A request for access to an official document shall be sufficiently detailed, so that the authority can determine which document the request concerns. For example, the date or title of a document should always be indicated if it is known. If necessary, the National Courts Administration will assist in identifying the document. The provision of contact information in connection with a request facilitates cooperation, especially if there is a need to ask further questions in the execution of the request for access to information. In addition, the form in which the information is requested to be provided, for example, for viewing or an electronic-format copy as an electronic document, in the form of a copy or a printout, may affect what additional information is needed in support of the request.

If the document is public and there are no other factors limiting the disclosing of the document, there is no need to justify or explain the request for access to information. The person requesting access to information need not identify himself or herself in this case.

If the documents contain personal data, the disclosure of the data often requires that the party requesting the data has the right to process them. In this case, it is advisable to specify the purpose or reason for processing the data already at the time of submitting the request for access to information. If personal data are disclosed, the recipient of the disclosure must also take into account the data protection provisions in its own activities.

The information shall be disclosed without delay, but no later than two weeks after the request for access to information has been made. If the consideration and resolution of the matter require special measures or a higher workload than usual, the public document shall be disclosed, or the matter resolved no later than one month after the request for access to information was made.

The National Courts Administration discloses the requested information either in the form of an electronic-format copy, on paper or for viewing at the agency’s premises.
Further information on submitting a request for access to information to the National Courts Administration can be found in the document publicity description of the National Courts Administration (in Finnish) referred to in section 28 of the Information Management Act (906/2019).

Request for access to information in secret documents of an authority‍

If the application or its appendices contain personal data or confidential matters (e.g. Section 24, paragraph 21 of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities, information on the research plan or basic research data), you can use the secure email message service maintained by the Ministry of Justice to send your application https://turvaviesti.om.fi/.

If a permit for obtaining information is granted, the permit holder is responsible for ensuring that the material is processed in accordance with the provisions. When processing material containing personal data, it is essential to take into account the data protection of personal data in the project throughout the life cycle of the processing of personal data, from the collection, processing to destruction or archiving of the data. For more information on how data protection should be taken into account in connection with scientific research, see here.

Contact details of the National Courts Administration

National Courts Administration
Silkkitehtaantie 5 C
PL 100, 00085 National Courts Administration
Switchboard:
0295650500 (in Finnish)
0295650440 (in Swedish)
tuomioistuinvirasto(at)oikeus.fi