Requests for information
Requests for individual documents
Requests for information concerning the documents of a particular court should be addressed to that court.
The request for a document must be specified so that it is clear which document or information the request concerns. If necessary, the court will also help to specify the request for a document. The request is made in free form by e-mail. When submitting a request for a document to the district court you can use the order form (in Finnish or Swedish).
Providing contact details in the request will facilitate cooperation, especially if there is a need to ask clarifying questions when fulfilling the request. The form in which the information is requested, for example, to be viewed or electronically, in print or in copy, may affect what additional information is needed to support the request. If the documents contain personal data, the provision of information is often conditional on the requesting party having the right to process it.
The information shall be provided without delay, but no later than two weeks after the request for information has been made. If the processing and resolution of the matter requires special measures or a greater amount of work than usual, the information on the public document shall be provided or the matter shall be resolved no later than one month after the request for information has been made.
Description of document publicity
For the implementation of the principle of openness, the information management unit must maintain a description of the information resources and case register it manages (Act on Information Management in Public Administration 906/2019, section 28). A court is an information management unit within the meaning of the Act on Information Management. The purpose of the document publicity description is to provide an overview of the information management and case register of the information management unit. With the help of its information, the public and parties can better identify their requests for information as required by the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (921/1999, section 13.1). The description of document publicity of each court can be found on their own website.
Requests for information requiring special measures may be subject to a fee for the copy or extract.
Basic information about legal proceedings or other record data
When the conditions for disclosure are met, the Legal Register Centre also discloses, in addition to the courts, public basic information on the trial and other diary information on the basis of the general right of access.
Request for information on confidential matters of the authority
You can apply for permission to access the confidential documents of a public authority using the attached application. Permission can be applied for, for example, for scientific research, statistics or a public authority’s planning task. Permission applications concerning the information material of an individual court should be addressed to the court that decided the matter.
Ansökan om tillstånd att få tillgång till sekretessbelagda uppgifter
Do you need material for research or statistics?
The disclosure of data for research or statistical purposes always requires a request for information, regardless of whether the request concerns a public or confidential document.
The Legal Register Centre may disclose public basic information on court proceedings and other diary information nationally from the data of more than one court. A request for diary information must be addressed to the Legal Register Centre. A research permit application is not required as an attachment to the request for information.
If data sets are requested for research purposes from the case registers of several courts at once, the availability of national data sets can be inquired from the Legal Register Centre.
Please read the instructions for filling in the application form and fill in the form according to the instructions. Before sending the application, make sure that all the necessary information and attachments are included when sending the application. Each person handling personal data must give a confidentiality undertaking. If the application or its attachments contain confidential matters (e.g. Section 24, paragraph 21 of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities, information on the research plan or the basic material of the research), you can use a secure email message to send your application.
If the data access is granted, the data access holder is responsible for ensuring that the personal data is processed in accordance with the data protection regulations. It is essential that data protection is taken into account throughout the entire life cycle of personal data processing, from the collection of data, through its processing, to its destruction or archiving.
Secure Email Messages
The recommended way to submit confidential and sensitive documents to the Court is the Ministry of Justice’s Secure Email Service. The service is free, easy and secure to use.
When sending a secure email message to the court’s office mail, the message subject and content should include the necessary identifying information (name, related to etc.) so that the court staff can forward the message to the person in charge, know which case the email is related to and from whom it is.