The operating conditions of the judiciary improved in 2023

“The operating conditions of the judiciary have improved substantially. Basic funding is finally being improved and a number of key projects are under way. This creates excellent conditions for developing activities at different levels,” says Riku Jaakkola, Director General of the National Courts Administration.

In the General Government Fiscal Plan for 2024–2027 (the so-called spending limits decision), the judiciary received nearly EUR 20 million in permanent additional funding. In addition, it is possible that the need for permanent additional funding of around EUR 30 million based on calculations made for the government report on the administration of justice will still be realised during the current government term. In the performance negotiations concerning 2024 held in the autumn of the financial year, courts were granted an increase of around one hundred man-years in human resources.

“The majority of the new personnel will be recruited to large and congested district courts and the court of appeal in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. Once congestion can be dismantled, human resources can also be allocated more evenly to other courts and other parts of Finland. The aim is to adjudicate matters quickly and to ensure equal legal protection throughout the country,” says Director General Jaakkola.

More criminal matters arrived at district courts than in the previous year

A total of 575,845 matters were received at district courts in 2023, which is 64,130 more than in the year before.

The workload of district courts is mainly influenced by the number of criminal matters. In 2023, 54,606 matters were received, which is 3,040 more than in the year before. Compared to last year, there was an increase in nearly every crime group. In absolute numbers, the growth was greatest in thefts (13%), assaults (10%) and aggravated drunken driving (8%). In addition to the above, the most common offences were financial offences, endangering traffic and traffic offences. Drunken driving and aggravated drunken driving cases account for a significant share of all criminal matters. There were a total of 10,849 such matters. Around 15% of all criminal matters in the whole country came to Helsinki District Court, whose number of matters grew by 647 matters from the previous year.

The average processing time in criminal matters was 6.3 months (2022: 6.3 months). The district courts in the Helsinki Metropolitan area had the longest processing times (10.8 months in Helsinki; 8.7 months in Länsi-Uusimaa; 7.9 months in Itä-Uusimaa). At the end of 2023, there were 5,627 pending criminal matters that have been pending for more than 12 months (2022: 5,532).

In 2023, a total of 440 151 civil cases were received (2022: 383 343) and 414 009 civil cases were adjudicated (2022: 376 549). The average processing time for all civil cases adjudicated at a hearing was 14.2 months (2022: 15.5 months).

The number of petitionary matters increased slightly from the previous year. The number of matters received in 2023 was 44,982 matters (2022: 44,079 matters) and the number of matters adjudicated was slightly higher than the number received, i.e. 45,233 cases (2022: 44,064 cases). Of the petitionary matters received, 15,665 were divorce cases (2022: 15,357).

In 2023, 7,827 matters arrived at the Courts of Appeal, which is about 70 fewer than in 2022. Of the incoming matters, 68% (2022: 68%) was criminal matters and 32% (2021: 32%) was other cases. The Courts of Appeal adjudicated a total of 7,795 matters. The number of pending cases increased by around 30 cases from the previous year. In 2023, the average processing time was 6.9 months, which was 0.4 months longer than in the year before. The duration of criminal proceedings was 7.0 months (2022: 6.4 months) and in civil cases 7.3 months (2022: 7.5 months).

The total number of matters in the Supreme Court was the same as in the previous year. In 2023, a total of 1,888 matters were received. The majority of the cases received were applications for leave to appeal, which numbered 1,685 (2022: 1,684).

Roughly as many matters were received in administrative courts as in the previous year

In 2023, 17,403 matters were received by administrative courts, which is roughly the same as in 2022. 23% were alien matters (2022: 24%), including asylum. A total of 981 asylum matters were received, which is clearly fewer (-19%) than in the year before (2022: 1,218 matters).

The average processing time in administrative courts was 9.3 months (2022: 9.9 months). Appeals concerning the environment (17.2 months), construction (14.0 months), taxation (13.2 months) and self-government (12.4 months) stayed longest. In social and health care matters, the average processing time was 6.4 months. The average processing time for child welfare cases was 9.2 months. The processing time for planning matters of major importance to society was 14.5 months.

A total of 3,570 matters were received at the Supreme Administrative Court in 2023 and 3,837 matters were adjudicated. A total of 1,830 matters were pending at the end of 2023. 1,187 alien matters were received during the year, 1,488 such matters were adjudicated (2022: 1,586 matters) and 490 matters were pending at the end of 2023. The average processing time for all matters was 6.5 months (2022: 7.2 months).

Personnel costs increased

In 2023, the operating costs of the accounting unit of the judiciary totalled approximately EUR 320 million. The most significant expenses consisted of personnel costs (75.6%). Personnel costs grew by around 7% compared to 2022, due to wage increases and an increase in the number of personnel. In the year under review, rents amounted to EUR 38.7 million, which was EUR 2.6 million more than in the year before. The growth in rents expenditure is mainly explained by index increases.

The number of man-years in the court system during 2023 was 3,454 persons, of whom 24.1 per cent were fixed-term employees. Women account for around 72.4 per cent of the personnel.

Judiciary final accounts of the accounting unit (KPY 155) for 2023 [pdf, 2.1 Mt] (in Finnish)

Further information:
Raimo Ahola, Director, tel. 029 5650 51, [email protected]
Sari Mutka, Senior Specialist, tel. 029 5650 581, [email protected]