Appealing against decisions to the administrative court

The administrative court primarily decides appeals against decisions of authorities. An appeal must always be lodged in writing with the administrative court. When appealing a decision, the instructions in the appeal instructions attached to the authority’s decision must be followed.

Who can appeal against a decision taken by an authority?

A party may appeal against a decision of an authority if the decision is eligible for appeal under the law.

A party is a person or an organisation to whom a decision by an authority is addressed to or who is directly affected by it. In the case of municipal decision-making, all municipal residents may also appeal a decision, among others.

Can I appeal a decision of an authority directly to the administrative court?

A decision by an authority can often be appealed directly to the administrative court. In some cases, however, you must first request an administrative review of the decision by the authority that made the decision.

For example, in tax matters, municipal matters and matters concerning various fees, you must first request an administrative review. You can appeal a decision made by an authority in an administrative review procedure to the administrative court.

The appeal instructions attached to the decision of the authority will tell you how to appeal.

How can I appeal to the administrative court?

An appeal to the administrative court must always be made in writing.

You can prepare the appeal yourself or have a legal counsel do it. You can also appoint an attorney to appeal on your behalf.

The attorney must attach a power of attorney signed by you to the appeal. A power of attorney is not required if your representative is an attorney, public legal aid attorney or a licensed legal counsel authorised under the Licensed Legal Counsel Act.

What should the appeal contain?

Your appeal can be freely formulated, but it must always contain the following information:

• The decision your appeal concerns
• The respects in which a review of the decision is requested and the amendments that are requested  
• The reasoning for your claims for the decision to be changed.
• If the decision does not concern you, state the basis of the right of appeal
• Your name, signature, place of residence and contact details. An electronic appeal does not need to be signed.
• Your personal identity code or Business ID
• Address for service (e.g. e-mail address) to which communications relating to the proceedings and the decision are to be sent

What documents should be attached to the appeal?

 Attach the following documents to your appeal, each as a separate file:

1. The decision you are appealing, including the appeal instructions, in original or as a copy.  
2. Information on when you received the decision, for example a copy of the acknowledgement of receipt or other evidence of when the appeal period began to run
3. The documents you refer to in your appeal, if you have not already submitted them to the authority that made the decision.

Please send the documents preferrably as PDF files. Name the documents so that the name describes the content of the document as well as possible. You can find help for naming documents on E-services of administrative and special courts page.

How is the appeal to be submitted to the Administrative Court?

It is always best to submit your appeal to the administrative court primarily via the e-service of the Administrative and Special Courts.

The e-service is a secure way to submit confidential and sensitive documents. You can log in to the e-service with your bank ID, mobile certificate or smart card.

If you cannot use the e-service, you can also file your appeal by e-mail, by post or by submitting it in person or through an attorney to the registry of the administrative court. You will find the contact information of the administrative courts on the Find a court page.

If your appeal contains confidential or sensitive documents, we recommend that you use the e-service of the Administrative and Special Courts or the secure e-mail service of the Ministry of Justice. Instructions for using secure e-mail can be found on oikeus.fi.

The appeal instructions attached to the decision of the authority will tell you which administrative court to file your appeal with.

When is the deadline for submitting the appeal?

The appeal instructions attached to the decision of the authority contain information on the appeal period, i.e. the time limit for lodging an appeal.  Appeal documents submitted electronically (through the e-service or by e-mail) must be received during the last day of the appeal period. Appeals documents delivered to the registry of the Administrative Court or by post must be received by 16:15 on the last day of the appeal period.

In order for the administrative court to be able to examine the appeal, the appeal document with attachments must be submitted to the administrative court within the prescribed time limit. If the last day of the appeal period is a holiday, the appeal may be submitted on the following working day.

The sender is responsible for the timely submission of the appeal documents. It is easy to check in the e-service that the appeal has been registered in the system. An automatic acknowledgement of receipt is sent for messages sent to the court’s official email address. However, please note that there may be technical delays in the automatic acknowledgements of receipt.

Appeals lodged after the expiry of the time limit for appeals shall be ruled inadmissible.

How much does a trial in the administrative court cost?

A court fee of EUR 310, determined by the Government, can be charged for decisions of administrative courts. Certain groups of cases handled by administrative courts are, however, exempt from the fee. No fee shall be charged if the Administrative Court amends the decision appealed against in favour of the appellant.

More information about court fees is available on the Fees page.

How does the appeal affect the enforcement of the decision?

As a rule, a decision by an authority may not be enforced until the appeal period has expired or the appeal has been finally decided by the administrative court.

However, there are exceptions to the main rule in various laws. Among other things, taxes and public fees are normally charged even if an appeal has been lodged. In municipal matters, too, the main rule is that the decision may be enforced even if it has been appealed against.

How can I ask the administrative court to prohibit or suspend the enforcement of an administrative decision?

You can make a request concerning the enforcement of the decision in your appeal or later separately. In order for a request for a prohibition of enforcement to be processed, an appeal must have been filed in the matter.

For example, the collection of taxes or fees is prohibited or suspended unless your appeal is manifestly unfounded.

The administrative court may also, on its own initiative, prohibit or suspend the enforcement of a decision or issue other interim orders.

A request for a prohibition of enforcement is usually decided by a separate interim decision. The administrative court decides the principal matter separately after the interim decision has been issued.

When will my appeal be decided in the administrative court?

The administrative court usually considers appeals in the order in which they are filed. Some cases must be handled quickly by law. You can read more about the average processing times of the administrative court on the web page Statistics.