How do I apply for leave to appeal?

The instructions here are a simplified explanation of how to apply for leave to appeal. You should always read carefully the appeal instructions attached to any decision issued by an administrative court or the Market Court, and follow the guidance provided therein.

Apply for leave to appeal by submitting a written, free-form application.

In your application for leave to appeal and your appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court, please provide the following details about yourself:

• your full name
• your personal ID or business ID
• your contact details, i.e. your postal address and telephone number
• an email address or any other address to which the Supreme Administrative Court may send documents relating to the proceedings (procedural address).
  • The submission of an appeal or other document via the Administrative Court’s e-service is deemed to constitute notification of the use of the e-service as the procedural address.
• if you as the appellant are being represented by another person, their contact details must also be provided
• if your contact details change while your appeal is pending, please notify the Supreme Administrative Court of the change without delay.

If you are lodging an appeal together with other people, please designate one of you as the contact person. If no contact person is designated, the contact person shall be the appellant named first in the appeal. The contact person does not need to present a power of attorney.

What information must be included in the application for leave to appeal and in the appeal itself?

In your application for leave to appeal and in your appeal, you must inform the Supreme Administrative Court of:

• the grounds on which you are requesting leave to appeal and the reasons why leave to appeal should be granted (grounds for leave to appeal)
• the decision you are appealing against (the decision subject to appeal)
• the aspects of the decision that you wish to challenge and the changes that you want made (claims)
• the grounds for your claims
• what your right of appeal is based on if the decision subject to appeal does not concern you

You must include the following with your appeal:

• the administrative court or market court decision that is the subject of the appeal, together with the instructions for appeal
• a statement of when you were served the decision or other evidence of the starting date of the appeal period
• the documents on which you are basing your claim, unless you have already submitted them to the authorities

In what language should the application for leave to appeal and the appeal be submitted?

Everyone has the right to use their own language when dealing with the Supreme Administrative Court. In the administrative courts, the official language is Finnish or Swedish.  The right of the Sámi people to use their own language in court and before other public authorities is laid down in the Sámi Language Act.

Submit your application for leave to appeal and your appeal in the same language in which the Administrative Court or Market Court issued its decision. If the decision you have received is in a language other than your own, you have the right to use your own language.

The appellant’s agent must use the language of the proceedings, unless the client’s own language differs from the language of the proceedings.

The Supreme Administrative Court issues its decisions in the language of the proceedings, i.e. the same language in which the Administrative Court and the authority issued their decisions. The language of the proceedings is changed only if this is necessary for the rights and interests of the interested party.

The language of the proceedings is determined at an earlier stage of the case pursuant to the Language Act (link to the Language Act). As a rule, the language of the proceedings is the language of the private party.

Acts concerning the language of service

The Supreme Administrative Court has, on a case-by-case basis, also accepted documents in English where it has judged that this can be done without compromising the right of other parties or the public to access information. This has mainly concerned matters relating to foreign nationals. However, the Supreme Administrative Court is not obliged to accept documents in foreign languages.

Can I draft an application for leave to appeal and the appeal myself or do I need an attorney? 

You do not need to use an attorney to bring a case before the Supreme Administrative Court. You can draft the application for leave to appeal and the appeal yourself. However, you are free to use an attorney or legal counsel, if you so wish. The attorney and legal counsel must be:

• an attorney-at-law
• a public legal adviser
• licensed legal counsel as referred to in the Licensed Legal Counsel Act, or
• any other honest adult who is suitable for and capable of performing the role, is not bankrupt and whose functional capacity is not restricted.

In child welfare cases, only an attorney, a public legal adviser or licensed legal counsel as defined in the Licensed Legal Counsel Act may act as an agent or legal counsel.

An agent who has not acted as an agent at an earlier stage of the proceedings and who is not an attorney-at-law, public legal adviser or licensed legal counsel must attach a power of attorney to the appeal

If you request a change of attorney or legal counsel while the case is already ongoing, please submit the previous attorney’s or counsel’s consent to the change together with your request. Please specify the date from which you would like the change to take effect. Please state the reasons for your request to change your legal counsel.

Please notice that you must use either Finnish or Swedish when dealing with the Supreme Administrative Court. Applications for leave to appeal and appeals must also be made in either Finnish or Swedish.