Lag om förvaltningsförfarande

This section says the law applies to administrative procedure and defines that term, excluding court-style administrative adjudication and certain investigations/enforcement steps.

If another law or an older decree conflicts with this law, the conflicting rule is applied instead of this law.

The law applies to specified public authorities and courts, but not to the President.

Viranomaisen on tarpeen mukaan annettava neuvoja asian vireille panosta ja asian käsittelystä asianosaiselle ja muullekin henkilölle.

The matter is handled publicly when the law so provides or when a special provision has been decided under it.

Administrative procedure may use an agent or assistant; the principal may have to appear personally if needed, the agent must usually show a power of attorney, and unsuitable agents or assistants can be barred by the authority.

A matter is initiated in writing; with authority consent, it may be initiated orally. The filer must state the claim and the grounds for it.

If a document is sent to the wrong authority, the authority should identify the correct one, transfer the matter promptly when competence is clear, and notify the sender.

If a document submitted to an authority has missing required information, a missing attachment, no signature, or another formal defect, the person who submitted it must be given a chance to fix the problem unless that is unnecessary.

A civil servant is disqualified in listed conflict-of-interest situations, including when the civil servant or a close relative is a party, stands to benefit or suffer harm, has an assistance/representation role, has a service or assignment relationship, holds certain board or executive roles, or impartiality is otherwise endangered.

A disqualified person may not handle a matter or be present when it is being handled, unless the disqualification cannot affect the outcome or the matter cannot be delayed.

When a statement or other explanation is requested, the request must specify what matters should be addressed, explanations should be requested together if possible, and a deadline must be set.

Pending matters must be publicly announced in certain cases, and known non-parties who may be significantly affected must also be notified, unless an exception applies.

When several pending matters require a benefit or right that cannot be granted to everyone because there are many parties, the matters must be prepared together and decided at the same time, unless that would cause harmful delay.

Before a matter is decided, the party must be given a chance to explain claims and non-public material that may affect the decision.

Säännös määrittää, kuka käyttää vajaavaltaisen tai muun edunvalvonnassa olevan henkilön puhevaltaa ja milloin hän voi käyttää sitä itse.

The authority must investigate the matter. If needed, the party concerned must provide evidence for the basis of its claim, and the authority handles obtaining other evidence.

A party in a pending matter should be given the chance to present a claim or explanation orally, if possible.

Authorities may hold inspections and hearings, parties must be allowed to attend, and parties may question the witness and comment on the testimony.

Orally presented claims, oral explanations, inspection observations, and certain personal-register information that may affect the outcome of a case must be entered into the document.

If needed, a reasonable deadline must be set for the party to fix a defect in a document, give an explanation, or submit evidence.

Authority must arrange interpretation and translation in specified cases, and may do so in other cases for special reasons.

A decision must clearly state what the party is entitled or obliged to do, or how the matter has otherwise been resolved.

A decision must state its main facts and the rules it relies on, unless an exception applies. If a correction remedy must be used before appeal, instructions for using it must be given with the decision.

The decision must be notified to the concerned party.

An authority may cancel an erroneous decision and decide the matter again, but it may not correct the error without the parties’ consent.

If a decision contains an obvious writing or calculation error, the authority that made the decision must correct it, unless correction would lead to an unreasonable result for the affected party.

If an appeal is pending, the authority must notify the appeal authority about taking up the correction matter and send it the decision. The authority may temporarily stop enforcement while handling a correction, must record the correction in the retained copy, and must give the corrected or new document to the party free of charge. A refusal to correct cannot be appealed by complaint.

This section states when the law takes effect, listing the initial commencement date and several later amendment commencement dates.