Human rights applications to international bodies

Human rights applications are processed by the judicial and investigative bodies of the UN and the Council of Europe. The competence of the bodies is based on international human rights treaties and conventions that Finland has signed and implemented nationally.

If a Finnish authority violates a person’s human rights guranteed under a treaty or a convention, a private person or a legal entity may lodge a human rights application against the State of Finland.

According to the general principles of international law, lodging a complaint with an international judicial and investigative body requires that all relevant domestic remedies have been exhausted.

Usually this requires taking the legal process to the highest court instances, which in Finland are the Supreme Court or the Supreme Administrative Court.