How to complain

You can file a complaint with the Parliamentary Ombudsman if you feel that a public authority, an official or a private party performing a public task has not complied with the law or fulfilled its duty, or if you suspect that fundamental and human rights have not been appropriately implemented in their activities.

Before filing a complaint, it is often advisable to get in direct contact with the authority that you feel has acted unlawfully. That in itself can sometimes lead to a swift resolution of the problem.

The Ombudsman does not investigate:

• a matter currently pending before another authority, unless it is a question of, for example, delay in the processing of the matter or the conduct of a public official
• a complaint concerning a matter older than two years, unless there are special reasons for an investigation

You can file a complaint on your own or together with others. A complaint can also be made on someone else’s behalf. Power of Attorney needed when complaining on someone else’s behalf.

Anonymous complaints will be recorded but they will not be investigated.

There is no charge for investigating a complaint.
 

You can complain about unlawful actions, such as:

• exceeding authority or abusing discretionary powers
• undue delay in dealing with a matter, not providing adequate reasons for a decision, carelessness, failure to provide advice, inappropriate behaviour or other conduct contrary to good administration
• violations of fundamental and human rights
   

Who can you file a complaint against

You can also complain to the Parliamentary Ombudsman about institutions that perform public duties, such as unemployment funds and insurance institutions. They pay compensation, benefits and pensions to people. If a municipality buys services from a company, this company is also performing public tasks. A children’s home may be a company of this kind.

The Ombudsman’s oversight does not include:

• the Parliament as a legislative body nor its Members
• Chancellor of Justice of the Government
• foreign authorities
• international organisations
• non-profit associations
• banks, other businesses, unless they are performing a public duty
• housing companies
• individual entrepreneurs, such as lawyers or doctors in private practice
• private individuals

The Ombudsman is not an alternative to the statutory appeal system or a complementary means of appeal. Under section 3, subsection 3 of the Constitution of Finland, judicial powers in Finland are exercised by independent courts, with the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court as the highest instances. Under section 109, subsection 1 of the Constitution, the Parliamentary Ombudsman must supervise that the courts, among others, comply with the law and fulfil their obligations. The Ombudsman cannot intervene in how a court has exercised its discretion under the law, unless that discretion has been exceeded or misused.

Patient complaint procedure

Matters concerning healthcare and social welfare services should, in principle, be addressed in the first instance through the formal complaint procedure. Such a complaint constitutes the primary mechanism envisaged by the legislator for obtaining a review of the matter. The procedure is often a more expedient and appropriate means of resolving issues relating, for example, to a patient’s care and treatment than lodging a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Within the healthcare sector, a patient who is dissatisfied with the care provided or the manner in which they have been treated in connection therewith may submit a formal complaint to the director or other person responsible for healthcare services within the relevant healthcare unit. Prior to submitting such a complaint, it is advisable to seek to resolve the matter directly with the healthcare professionals involved in the patient’s care.

Within social welfare services, a client who is dissatisfied with the treatment they have received may submit a formal reminder to the person in charge of the social welfare service unit or to the senior official responsible for social welfare services.

Where will I find more information?

The Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman does not provide general legal advice, answer questions at a general level or act as anyone’s agent. The Ombudsman investigates matters only on the basis of complaints. Complaints must be sufficiently specific and detailed to make it possible to investigate them.

Please note that the possibilities to examine the content of discussions with the authorities afterwards are rather limited in the written complaint procedure, as it is usually not possible to obtain a detailed account of their content. It is also possible that the expectations of the parties to the discussion or, for example, their different knowledge of the topic discussed may affect how they perceive the content of the discussion. Usually, the longer the time that has passed since the discussion the more difficult it is to investigate the matter.

You can discuss submitting a complaint in advance with the officials of the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. They can be reached by calling Parliament’s switchboard, tel. +358 9 4321. Meeting in person is by appointment only.