What to do if you are not satisfied with a decision or your treatment
Who to contact if you are dissatisfied with a decision or your treatment? What to do if you find cause for complaint in the activities of an authority? You have access to a number of legal remedies.
The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has compiled sources of assistance on this page.
The Ombudsman for Children does not have the authority to resolve issues related to individual children or families, and the Ombudsman for Children cannot comment on such issues.
Help and advice for seeking redress
- The Social Ombudsman or Patient Ombudsman will help you with submitting an objection or filing a complaint if necessary. They also provide guidance in questions concerning the rights and status of patients and social welfare clients.
- For legal matters, you can also get help from a public legal aid attorney.
More detailed information on different ways to advance your matter is available below.
Every public and private health care unit has appointed a Patient Ombudsman whose contact details are available from the health care unit’s website. You can also ask the unit directly for them or type ‘Patient Ombudsman’ and the name of the health care unit (such as the hospital or health centre) in an internet search engine.
The Patient Ombudsman is tasked with advising patients and offering information on their position and rights. The Patient Ombudsman primarily helps patients to resolve their problem at the place of treatment. The Patient Ombudsman also helps with submitting an objection or filing a complaint or a notice of a patient injury.
Every wellbeing services county has appointed a Social Ombudsman whose contact details are available from your municipality’s or wellbeing services county's telephone exchange, information desk, social welfare office or website. Alternatively, you can type ‘Social Ombudsman’ and the name of your municipality or wellbeing services county in an internet search engine.
The Social Ombudsman helps with problems concerning social services (such as child welfare). The Social Ombudsman advices clients on issues related to their position and rights. If you feel that you have been treated wrongly by social welfare services, you can contact the Social Ombudsman to resolve the situation. The Social Ombudsman also offers advice and assistance in submitting an objection or filing a complaint.
Public legal aid attorneys provide assistance with legal disputes and the management of other legal matters. You may need a public legal aid attorney in matters such as taking a child into care or placement in substitute care, or in matters involving child custody, residence, right of access or maintenance in the courts.
Public legal aid attorneys work at the State Legal Aid Offices. The offices are usually found at the same place as District Courts.
A person living in Finland can get an attorney paid in full or in part by the state for managing a legal matter. Legal aid covers all legal matters. You may need a public legal aid attorney in issues related to taking a child into care or placement in substitute care, or when a matter related to the custody, residence or maintenance of a child or right of access to a child needs to be instituted at a court of law, or if you are a party in such a matter.
Legal remedies
You have access to the following legal remedies:
- In the first instance, attempt to resolve the matter directly with the other party. You can contact the employee or their manager, or submit an objection to the unit.
- You can submit an objection about the activities on your own behalf or on behalf of another.
- You can apply for the decision to be changed, that is, lodge an appeal or request for an administrative review.
- You can also complain about the activities of an authority to the Regional State Administrative Agency, Parliamentary Ombudsman or the Chancellor of Justice.
- If you suspect discrimination, you can contact the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman or Ombudsman for Equality, who have the power to deal with cases of discrimination.
The Ombudsman for Children does not have the authority to resolve issues related to individual children or families, and the Ombudsman for Children cannot comment on such issues.
In case of disputes involving service, decisions or treatment by the authorities, or if you simply have questions, you should first discuss the matter with the employee in charge of it. Sometimes, the matter can be a simple misunderstanding that is best resolved with a conversation. If necessary, you can also contact the manager of the unit in question.
Social welfare and early childhood education and care personnel are obliged to report any violations to their managers.
You can submit an objection in a matter concerning yourself or on behalf another. A child or young person can also submit an objection. You can submit an objection to, for example, a social welfare office, school, day care centre, child welfare unit or health centre. The objection should be submitted in writing and addressed to the manager of the unit in question. List the aspects of the unit’s activities that you are not satisfied with in the objection.
More detailed instructions for submitting an objection are provided on the website of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (in Finnish).
If you are not satisfied with the decision of an authority, you can appeal to have it changed or complain about the decision. This is called an appeal procedure.
Instructions for appeal, that is, complaining about a decision or having it amended, are included in the decision given to you. More detailed information on appealing against the decisions of authorities can be found on the websites of the authorities in question.
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Information on appealing against child welfare decisions (in Finnish)
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The Regional State Administrative Agency is the appeal authority in issues separately provided for in the legislation. You can file a claim for rectification with the Regional State Administrative Agency on certain decisions of the education provider applying to pupils and students. The Regional State Administrative Agency also processes claims for the rectification of decisions concerning special care programmes and services.
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Claim for a revised decision concerning a decision made by the municipality or a municipal body
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You may find instructions for requesting a review of a decision made by a municipal body on the website of your municipality. For example, see the City of Helsinki's instructions.
A complaint concerning children is filed with the supervisory authorities in the Regional State Administrative Agency or the Parliamentary Ombudsman. You can file a complaint in a matter concerning yourself or on behalf of another person. A child or young person can also file a complaint.
A complaint is a report of a suspected error or negligence, submitted to a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority will then investigate whether the matter or incident has involved violations of the law or other reprehensible action.
A complaint on a single subject or connected group of subjects is addressed to one of the above-mentioned authorities, because different supervisory authorities will not investigate complaints concerning the same matter at the same time.
The Regional State Administrative Agency is a public authority tasked with various enforcement duties related to legal protection, fundamental rights and the safety of the environment. The Regional State Administrative Agency supervises social welfare and health care services, education and early childhood education and care, the rescue services, the sale and serving of alcohol, occupational safety, the accessibility of public digital services, environmental health, and business activities in a number of fields. Filing a complaint with the Regional State Administrative Agency
You can contact the Parliamentary Ombudsman if you suspect that an authority or public official has not complied with the law or fulfilled their duties, or if you suspect that fundamental and human rights have not been appropriately realised. You can discuss your complaint in advance with the officials of the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. You can contact them through the Parliament switchboard, tel. +358 (0)9 4321. Instructions for filing a complaint with the Parliamentary Ombudsman
The Parliamentary Ombudsman's website for children and young people can be found here: www.oikeusasiamies.fi/lapset. The site contains information on filing a complaint, along with a form for sending your complaint to the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
The Office of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman offers guidance and help in cases in which a person has experienced discrimination. You can also contact the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman on behalf of another individual.
The Office of the Ombudsman for Equality provides guidance and advice if you suspect discrimination based on gender, gender identity or gender expression.
A child has a right to submit a complaint to the UN Committee of the Rights of the Child, if the child is of the opinion that Finland has violated the rights of the child. A child or a group of children can submit on complaint. A complaint may be submitted by another party on behalf of a child or group of children, if this person has the child's/children's consent.
Before submitting a complaint to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, redress must be sought through all existing domestic remedies in Finland. This means that appeals have been made on the matter as far as possible under Finnish law.