The Reform of the Finnish Court Fees Act – Were the Societal Functions of the Administrative Courts and Access to Justice Jeopardized?

Finland implemented a reform of court fees in 2015 (1455/2015), almost doubling the costs of certain proceedings and assigning fees to others that were previously free of charge. The objectives of the reform were to increase legal certainty, improve the cost coverage of fees, reduce the manifestly unjustified use of court services, ensure a reasonable relationship between court fees and the costs of different court proceedings, and achieve a simpler and clearer court fee system. An impact assessment of the reform was performed in 2022–2023, and it confirmed that the objectives had largely been met. However, the reform had an unforeseen negative effect: the societal functions of the courts were no longer being fulfilled adequately, jeopardizing everyone’s right to a fair trial, more precisely the right of access to court, as guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Human Rights Convention.