Legal source(s)

• Constitution of Finland (731/1999) (Suomen Perustuslaki /Finlands grundlag)
• Parliamentary Ombudsman Act (197/2002) (Laki eduskunnan oikeusasiamiehestä /Lag om riksdagens justitieombudsman)
• Act on the Division of Work between the Chancellor of Justice and the Parliamentary Ombudsman (330/2022) (Laki valtioneuvoston oikeuskanslerin ja eduskunnan oikeusasiamiehen tehtävien jaosta /Lag om fördelningen av uppgifter mellan justitiekanslern i statsrådet och riksdagens justitieombudsman)

Human rights capacity support

Functions

• Oversight
• Providing remedy
• Collecting data on human rights violations
• Performing promotional activities

Specific mandates

• Ombud with a mandate on maladministration
• National preventive mechanism (NPM) under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT)
• Hate crime
• National monitoring mechanism under the CRPD
• Equality body with a mandate on equal treatment
• Monitoring of forced returns
• Protecting freedom of movement and mobility rights in the EU
• Rights of the child
• Freedom of information
• Any other function under international human rights conventions, under EU legislation or under the national legal system

Structured cooperation with partners at national level

• Collaborates with the Chancellor of Justice and the Human RightsCentre.
• Submits an annual report on its work to parliament.
• Exchanges information with other supervisory bodies, such as the Non-discrimination Ombudsman, the Ombudsman for Children, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities and the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira).
• Informally engages with other bodies such as the Finnish National Agency for Education and regional state administrative agencies.
• Is part of a specialised disability team, together with the Human Rights Centre, that works closely with the Disability Rights Committee.
• Works with key civil-society organisations.

Structured cooperation with partners at international and EU level

• Works with or is a member of the following organisations:
• International Ombudsman Institute,
• European Network of Ombudsmen,
• European Ombudsman,
• Other Nordic ombudsmen,
• Baltic–Nordic Ombudsmen,
• European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI),
• Nordic National Preventive Mechanism Network,
• International Conference of Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces (ICOAF),
• EU Agency for Fundamental Rights,
• Council of Europe.
• Cooperates informally with other bodies as well, such as EU institutions and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), through meetings and written correspondence.