Positions in the judiciary

In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, appointments to tenured positions in the judiciary are made by the President of the Republic, on the basis of a draft decision submitted by the Government. For the purpose of filling positions in the judiciary, other than positions in the judiciary in the Supreme Court, there is an independent Judicial Appointments Board. These positions include President of the Court of Appeal, Justice of the Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of a District Court, District Judge, Chief Judge of an Administrative Court, Administrative Court Judge, Chief Judge of the Insurance Court, Insurance Judge, President of the Labour Court, Labour Court Judge, Chief Judge of the Market Court, Market Court Judge, Market Court Engineer, and Engineer of a District Court operating as a Land Court. Most of these include positions with higher and lower job grades. The composition, number of members constituting a quorum and operations of the High Court of Impeachment are provided in more detail by law.

The goal of the Act on Judicial Appointments (205/2000) is to ensure that positions in the judiciary are filled by persons with versatile experience of various branches of law. For this reason, the person appointed in a position in the judiciary should have prior experience of court and other legal work and the functioning of society on a more general level.

Tenured positions in the judiciary must be announced as open to applications by a court. When announcing an open position, the court in question must also indicate whether the applicants are required to have any specific language skills.

Open tenured positions in the judiciary are listed on page open workplaces.

Required qualifications

In Finland, those holding positions in the judiciary are required to have a Master of Laws degree completed in Finland, except for the LL.M degree with international and comparative law as its major subject. The Finnish National Board of Education's decision to recognise professional qualifications or to recognise studies completed abroad as equivalent to studies completed in Finland do not currently qualify an applicant for a position in the judiciary. The degree must be completed before the application period ends.

The persons appointed as President of the Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of a District Court, Chief Judge of an Administrative Court, Chief Judge of the Insurance Court, President of the Labour Court or Chief Judge of the Market Court must also have leadership skills.

To qualify, the appointed persons must also have an excellent spoken and written command of the language of the majority of inhabitants in the court's judicial district. In unilingual courts, they must also have a satisfactory understanding and spoken command of the second language. In bilingual courts, they must have a satisfactory spoken and written command of the second language. In certain language-specific positions, the appointed persons must have an excellent spoken and written command of the minority language and a satisfactory spoken and written command of the majority language spoken in the judicial district.

Procedure in the Judicial Appointments Board

Before making its appointment proposal, the Judicial Appointments Board requests an opinion on the applicants from the court that has advertised the position as vacant and, for applicants to a position as District Judge, also from the District Court where the position is vacant. The Board may also obtain other opinions and statements, as well as interviewing the applicants and hearing experts.

The court that has announced the open position must acquire sufficient information as the basis of its assessment concerning all applicants who seem eligible in regard of the qualifications they have presented. If the applicant is not sufficiently well-known in the court issuing the opinion, a written statement can be requested from the applicant's employer such as another court or another agency. If possible, information should also be obtained on eligible applicants working outside the court system. The court can also interview applicants before issuing its opinion. The applicants to Presidents and Chief Judges can also be subjected to aptitude assessments.

After the courts have submitted their opinions to the Judicial Appointments Board, the applicants are reserved the opportunity to comment on the statements and information acquired for the preparation of the appointment. The assessments of applicants contained in the appointment-related documents delivered to the applicants are confidential. The applicants may not disclose to third parties any information about the other applicants indicated in these documents.

The Judicial Appointments Board's appointment proposal

The Judicial Appointments Board is tasked with making preparations for the appointment. Based on the applications and the statements it receives, it makes an appointment proposal, with grounds, for the position in the judiciary. This proposal is delivered to the Government which presents it to the President of the Republic.

When the appointment is considered, the applicants' qualification and familiarity with the position are assessed. The applicants' qualifications are assessed by looking at the knowledge and skills they have acquired through their education and earlier work experience. The focus is on the applicants' actual ability to perform the duties required in the position. Familiarity includes issues such as substantive and process knowledge, command of legal information, problem analysis and solving skills, ability to familiarise oneself with the facts and legal material of a case, process management skills, reasoning skills and language skills. These skills can be acquired in other legal professions, aside from working for the court system. Such professions include attorney, prosecutor, university researcher and lecturer and law drafting officials, and legal professions in various administrative sectors. A person appointed for a position in the judiciary must also have the necessary personal characteristics. These include talent, ability to work, initiative, efficiency and leadership skills. These also include professional ethics: the ability to make independent decisions, independence, motivation for personal development, team work skills and an attitude towards work and changes therein.

The Judicial Appointments Board is chaired by the member nominated by the Supreme Court; the member nominated by the Supreme Administrative Court shall be the vice-chair. The other Board members are a President of a Court of Appeal, a Chief Judge of an Administrative Court, a Chief Judge of a District Court, a Senior Justice or a Justice of a Court of Appeal, a District Judge, an Administrative Court Judge, another Administrative Court Judge or a Judge from a special court, an Advocate, a Public Prosecutor and one person representing the research and teaching of law. The Judicial Appointments Board has a quorum when the chairperson or vice-chairperson and at least eight members or alternate members are present. The Judicial Appointments Board also has a secretary who must have a degree in law and sound knowledge of court operations.