The cornerstone of unity

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LEGAL AID AND CRIMINAL
DAMAGE COMPENSATION
According to educational ideals, international human rights conventions and the Finnish Constitution, all persons 
are equal before the law. This fundamental right is not fulfilled if in reality a person cannot afford to take a matter 
to court or to defend himor herself in court with the help of a competent professional. This is why we consider it 
important in Finland that we have a system of legal aid and compensation for victims of crime that stands up to 
international comparison. 
Legal aid began to be developed in Finland in the late nineteenth century, when certain discerning members 
of the gentility considered it an injustice that the poorer echelons of society could not even dream of taking their 
matters to an expensive court. The City of Helsinki initiated a legal aid system in 1886, and a legal aid office has 
been operational in Helsinki since then. The first law on public legal aid was passed in 1973. In 1998, the 
responsibility for legal aid actions was transferred from municipal councils to the government, and in a legal 
reform of 2002, legal aid was extended to apply not only to persons of limited means but also to a significant 
proportion of people of average income. 
Today, legal aid can be granted for almost all legal cases, with the exception of exiguous cases and cases 
covered by legal expenses insurance. Legal aid means that persons (not companies or corporations) resident in 
Finland receive assistance for conducting a legal case in the form of a legal counsel whose expenses are wholly 
or partly covered by the state. More detailed information on the income limits for receiving complete or partial 
legal aid can be found on the Ministry of Justice website and at legal aid offices. 
In certain cases, the criminally accused are guaranteed a defence regardless of income level. Similarly, 
victims of serious violent crime and sexual offences may be appointed a state-funded legal counsel or support 
person regardless of their income level. Contrary to popular belief, in international terms, Finland has an 
unusually extensive compensation and aid system to help even the victims of many other crimes. The Act on 
Compensation for Crime Damage was recently amended (in 2006), increasing the rights of victims of grave 
violent crime and sexual offences, in particular, to receive compensation from the state for damages and 
– in an 
important new addition 
– also for mental suffering. 
Even though Finland is at the forefront, globally speaking, of public legal aid and assistance and 
compensation for victims of crime, both systems still have room for improvement. When the Legal Aid Act was 
last amended, some Members of Parliament expressed concerns that, despite its intentions, the reform did not 
improve the middle classes’ opportunities for taking matters to court because legal aid does not cover the 
injunction to pay the often very costly legal expenses of the adverse party, which usually befalls the losing party. 
The Parliament (innovation no. 1) was also concerned that the lack of funds for legal aid would in reality lead to 
a “zero-sum game”, in which extending legal aid to cover the middle classes would mean excluding people of 
more limited means. The reform was also criticised for making the distribution of work between lawyers and legal 
counsels somewhat inefficient. 

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Feedback from citizens and preliminary enquiries made by the National Research Institute of Legal Policy into 
the legal reform have indicated that the concerns expressed by the Parliament were not unfounded. In short, the 
legal aid and criminal compensation systems lack money. Budgetary allocations to judicial administration have 
been inexplicably low in recent years, and this is reflected in everyday complications in these fine instruments of 
justice, as well as in surprisingly large deductibles that the persons entitled to aid or compensation must 
personally cover. Recently, the right of receiving legal aid has been declined in the process of asylum seeking.
Tuija Brax 
– Minister of Justice 2007–2011,
Member of Parliament 1995 - 2015