Processing of a civil case

After a civil case becomes pending, the district court processes it either with a written procedure or orally with a court hearing. If the case is undisputed, or a summary case, the district court will process it with a written procedure.

Plaintiff is the person who brings a case to a district court. The plaintiff submits their written claims which the court then process. Defendant is the person against whom the plaintiff makes their claims. The defendant is always reserved the right to submit a response to the plaintiff’s written claims. Both the plaintiff and the defendant can be private persons, corporations or organisations.

After a plaintiff’s written claims have arrived at a district court and the case has become pending, the district court will serve the claims to the defendant either by telephone or mail or through a process server. At the same time, the district court will inform the defendant of the deadline by which the defendant must submit their written response to the claims.

If the defendant does not submit a response

If the defendant does not submit a response, the district court will issue a default judgment. In this case, the decision will be made at the district court registry office and the plaintiff and defendant are not summoned to a hearing.

A default judgment can be enforced immediately, which means that the plaintiff may apply for enforcement based on the default judgment, for example.

The defendant may appeal a default judgment within 30 days. This is called applying for a re-trial.

Response to written claims

If the defendant submits a response and opposes the written claims, the district court continues to process the case either in written or oral preparation. Written preparation can only be used if the plaintiff and the defendant both consent to it and there is no need to hear witnesses in the case.

In its preparations, the court will determine the following:

• What claims each party of the dispute have and what are the grounds for the claims
• Which issues the parties disagree on
• What evidence will be presented in the case
• Can a settlement be reached in the case

In judicial proceedings, the plaintiff and the defendant have the right use Finnish or Swedish, or a Sámi language in the Sámi homeland. If necessary, the authorities must arrange interpretation to a party in a civil matter into a language that the party speaks.

Main hearing

At the start of the main hearing, the chair summarises the results of the preparations in the case and what each party has claimed. After this, the plaintiff and the defendant present the grounds for their claims. The district court also goes through any written evidence and hears any witnesses.

At the end of the main hearing, the plaintiff and the defendant give their closing statements in which they explain how the case should be decided in their view.

Decision

In a civil case, the judgment or decision can be issued immediately after the hearing or later. If the decision is issued later, the district court will send the decision to the plaintiff and the defendant on their request by email, for example. The decision can also be read at the district court customer service.

The decision is final unless the plaintiff or defendant appeal it within the deadline. More information on appeals.

Enforcement

The district court does not enforce decisions in civil cases. If the decision states that one party has to pay damages to the other party, the party receiving the damages must contact the other party or apply for the enforcement of the damages from the National Enforcement Authority, which will then collect the damages or otherwise enforce their payment. More information on applying for enforcement (ulosottolaitos.fi).

Precautionary measures

The purpose of a district court’s precautionary measures is to ensure that a party of a civil case does not lose or destroy their property before the judicial proceedings or during them.

The most common precautionary measure used is seizure. A party to judicial proceedings can also be prohibited from continuing activities that cause harm with a notice of a conditional fine. The conditional fine becomes payable if the party continues the harmful activities.

The enforcement authority is responsible for enforcing precautionary measures. A party applying for a seizure must still provide the enforcement authority a guarantee in case the precautionary measure is found unfounded later. In addition, the applicant must initiate the civil case related to the precautionary measure within one month from the decision to employ precautionary measures.