Decisions by district courts in civil cases
Producer: Statistics Finland
Homepage: http://
www.stat.fi/til/koikrs/index_en.html
Main topic: Justice
Related topics:
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Yes
European Statistical System (ESS): No
Description
These statistics on civil cases describe civil cases instigated and decided by district courts during the year by district court and type of case. Civil cases refer to the settling of disputes between private persons or enterprises at an independent court. As a rule a civil case is instigated when the plaintiff presents a written application for a summons expressing the demands and the grounds to them to the office of a district court. An application for a summons may also be presented electronically. The biggest group of civil cases handled by district courts concern obligations between debtors and creditors, sales of movable property, employment contracts or commissions, and tenancy agreements. Non-contentious civil cases are instigated with an application in which the court is requested to confirm an action or record a matter in a public register. Examples of non-contentious civil cases are divorces, cases concerning the custody of or right of access to a child, and guardianship cases.
Data content
The main contents are data on numbers and types of civil cases instigated and decided by district courts, decisions of district courts, durations of case hearings and appeals. The statistics also contain data on method of instituting proceedings, stage of decision, position of party, official status of decision-maker and deciding court composition, as well as the co-called work account.
The data are public.
Classifications used
District courts, Nomenclature of civil cases.
Data collection methods and data sources
The basic data for the statistics are obtained from the case handling information system of courts (Tuomas) maintained by the Ministry of Justice.
Updating frequency
Annually.
Time of completion or release
Final data are ready by end of March of the year following the statistical reference year.
Time series
Statistics are available starting from 1891.
Keywords
civil cases, civil procedure, courts, courts of justice, district courts
Contact information
http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/koikrs/yht_en.html
Last updated 26.03.2015