Care Order Appeal
Contact UsWe prepare the appeal against the child welfare decision on your behalf to the Administrative Court. We also prepare appeals against Administrative Court decisions to the Supreme Administrative Court. We also assist with applications to terminate a care order.
We are lawyers specializing in child welfare law. We defend the right of the child and the parent to the protection of family life.
We will determine your right to free legal aid on your behalf. We serve clients throughout Finland. If needed, we can also arrange a consultation remotely. We also assist with child welfare matters in any oral hearings held by the Administrative Court.
In Finland, the child welfare authority function is carried out by the wellbeing services county. In Helsinki, the child welfare authority is the City of Helsinki.
Under section 4, subsection 3 of the Child Welfare Act, child welfare measures must be carried out as sensitively as possible, primarily using open-care support measures, unless the best interests of the child require otherwise.
Under section 40, subsection 2 of the Child Welfare Act, a child may be taken into care and placed in substitute care only if open-care support measures are not suitable or possible for arranging care in the child's best interest, or if they have proven insufficient, and substitute care is assessed to be in the child's best interest.
In our experience, decisions by child welfare authorities are often in breach of the Child Welfare Act, because the authority has not sufficiently investigated whether, for example, open-care support measures could be sufficient for the family instead of taking the child into care.
Finland is bound by international human rights treaties in child welfare matters. The Administrative Court generally resolves child welfare cases based on an overall assessment, in which the key criteria are the best interests of the child and the protection of family life. This is why it is important that the appeal to the Administrative Court is prepared by a lawyer. The Administrative Court overturns decisions by child welfare authorities more often when the appeal has been prepared by a lawyer.
You have the right to appeal within 30 days of being notified of the child welfare authority's or the Administrative Court's decision. It is therefore important to send the decision to a lawyer without delay after you receive it.
Yes, it can. The Administrative Court quite often overturns decisions by the child welfare authority when the appeal has been prepared by a lawyer specializing in child welfare law. That is why it is worth contacting a specialized lawyer as soon as possible.
As a general rule, the child's parent, guardian, and a child who has turned 12 have the right to appeal a decision made by the child welfare authority. If the same decision has been given to several people, you can send us all of their decisions. We will take care of the appeal for every party.
Yes. In certain situations, both the child and the parent may be entitled to compensation if the child welfare authority's decision was unlawful and unjustifiably restricted the protection of family life. We will determine your right to compensation on your behalf based on the court's final ruling in the case.