The legal aid and public guardianship districts operate within the administrative branch of the Ministry of Justice. Each of the six districts provides public legal aid, financial and debt counselling and public guardianship services in its area.

These legal protection and financial counselling services are provided by 23 legal aid offices and 23 public guardianship offices. Around 1,200 people are employed by the districts and offices throughout the country. Public guardianship services are partially produced as a purchased service. The district administration is responsible for human resources and financial administration.

Legal aid offices

Legal aid offices provide people with assistance in judicial problems in many different fields of law. Professional and timely customer service is at the core of the operations of the offices.

Public legal aid attorneys provide advice, draw up different documents and assist clients in court proceedings. Clients can receive help with criminal, family law and inheritance law matters, for example. Legal aid offices also deal with asylum matters. Public legal aid attorneys are lawyers, and many of them are also attorneys-at-law.

Financial and debt advisers go through clients’ financial situation and debts together with the clients, assist clients in planning and managing their finances, and explore different options for resolving over-indebtedness situations, reaching amicable settlements and making other arrangements.

Legal aid secretaries have diverse and interesting tasks. These include customer service, making legal aid decisions, drafting documents and calculations, and assisting public legal aid attorneys or financial and debt advisers in the performance of their duties.

Public guardianship offices

Public guardianship offices provide public guardianship services to persons who are unable to protect their interests or manage their personal affairs because of an illness or for some other reason. The work is meaningful and independent, and it requires good interaction skills. The duties are diverse and responsible.

A public guardian is the client’s trusted adviser. The guardian takes care of the property and financial and personal affairs of the person for whom the guardian has been appointed, in cooperation with the person himself or herself.

A guardianship secretary usually works together with a public guardian. The duties of a guardianship secretary include, for example, managing the client’s financial affairs, applying for benefits and exercising the decision-making powers of the public guardian.

Read more at the website oikeus.fi: Work in the judicial administration.

You can also send open applications to legal aid and public guardianship districts, but they will not be taken into consideration in a public application procedure.