Child welfare matters in court
According to the Child Welfare Act, the child’s parents have primary responsibility for the child’s wellbeing. The child’s parent must ensure a balanced development and well-being for the child. If parents or guardians are unable to take care of their child’s well-being for some reason, it is the duty of society in Finland to ensure the child’s well-being.
If there is an immediate danger or otherwise an urgent need for placement and substitute care, you may be placed urgently in family care, institutional care or the situation may be arranged in some other way.
An emergency placement is a drastic interference with fundamental human rights. The need for emergency placement may arise if
- parents are under the influence of intoxicants and are incapable of caring for you
- there is a well-founded suspicion against the parents that they have assaulted you, and the parents are not cooperative in investigating the matter; emergency placement is often an option in the best interests of you
- you act in a self-destructive manner, use intoxicants or commit crimes
- the parent gets sick or has had a serious accident.
During an emergency placement, the body responsible for social welfare decides on your whereabouts, care, immediate healthcare and contacts with you.l welfare decides on the child’s whereabouts, care, immediate healthcare and contact with the child.
Often a child is taken into care when, during an emergency placement, the child’s situation does not improve so that his or her health and development can be safeguarded in his or her home.
If all parties agree that taking into care is necessary to arrange the child’s care, the civil servant in child welfare shall make a decision on taking into care.
In Finland, child welfare matters are not considered in the same court as, for example, criminal cases. Child welfare matters are considered in administrative courts.
A child welfare matter may end up before the Administrative Court in two different situations.
Child welfare matters are usually decided by a child welfare official without the matter being resolved in court. Such situations include, for example, emergency placement or taking into care in a situation where the child or the parents do not object to taking the child into care. However, if a decision on a child welfare matter (e.g. emergency placement) needs to be changed, the decision can be appealed to the court. In such a situation, the matter is transferred to the court. Once the court has examined the decision concerning you, it can leave the decision unchanged, annul the decision or amend it. The appeal authority is the administrative courts, and the highest instance is the Supreme Administrative Court. You can read more about this procedure below under the heading “How can I appeal to the administrative court?”.
However, there are also situations in which a matter of taking a child into care is decided directly in court without a decision by a child welfare official. Such a case is initiated in an administrative court on the basis of an application by a child welfare official, if the child’s guardian or a child aged 12 or over has objected to the taking into care. In the application will be requested that the administrative court decide on taking the child into care and placement in the substitute care place mentioned in the application. The decision is also made in the administrative court if your guardian or you yourself object to the place that has been chosen as your place of substitute care.
You always have the right to share your views with the court. However, the processing in the administrative court is mainly in writing. This means that when your matter is heard in court, you do not have to appear in person in court. However, you can write your opinion in the matter to the administrative court in free form.
The court, in this case the administrative court, first hears you and your parents in writing before making a decision on the matter.
When the administrative court hears you on the application for taking into care, the responsible social worker in child welfare assigned to you or, for example, the director of a child welfare institution will notify you of the hearing documents sent by the administrative court. At the same time, he or she explains the content and purpose of the documents. If you have a legal counsel, he or she will also help you.
If a child aged 12 or over or his/her parent requests that an oral hearing be held in the matter, the administrative court will assess whether an oral hearing is necessary in the matter. If an oral hearing is held in the matter, you can tell the court your opinion orally.
In the oral hearing in the courtroom of the administrative court, in addition to you, there will be the composition of the administrative court, i.e. the legal experts who will deal with your case, the expert member and the child welfare authority, the guardians and the parents. Witnesses may be heard at the oral hearing.
If necessary, you may be heard in such a way that, in addition to the composition of the administrative court, no one else is present except your possible legal counsel. Your hearing will be recorded and the main points of the hearing will be reported to the other parties at the oral hearing.
You can appeal against decisions on child welfare if you are over 12 years old. In the decision made by the authority in a child welfare matter will be information about the right to appeal and how to appeal against the decision. The social worker can advise you and your family if necessary.
If you are over 12 years old and the decision on your child welfare matter has been appealed to the administrative court, the administrative court will give you the opportunity to state your views on the matter in writing. Your social worker is also responsible for helping you apply for legal aid if you think you need a legal counsel to help you respond to the administrative court.
