Using our services
You can apply for legal aid at any legal aid office regardless of your place of residence. Using the services of the office nearest to you is usually the most practical choice.
There are 23 legal aid offices throughout the country (including the Legal Aid and Public Guardianship Office of Åland), and they are usually located in the same municipalities as district courts. Legal aid offices may have branch offices, if necessary. The staff consists of public legal aid attorneys and legal aid secretaries.
Based on the information you provide in the legal aid application, the legal aid office will decide whether you will be granted legal aid.
You can contact a legal aid office through e-sevices, by telephone or by visiting the office.
E-services
In the e-services, you can make a preliminary calculation of whether you are entitled to legal aid and submit an application for legal aid. If you wish, you can save an incomplete legal aid application and continue filling it in later. Please note: the e-services are available only in Finnish and Swedish.
Log in to the service with online banking codes, a mobile certificate or a certificate card. If it is not possible for you to log in to the e-service, you can request legal aid at a legal aid office.
Completing a preliminary calculation for legal aid does not require logging in to the service.
Attorneys and defence counsels can complete an application and submit claims for fees and expenses paid from state funds.
In the service, interpreters and translators can draw up an itemised invoice and submit it to the court or legal aid office.
The e-service works best with Chrome and Firefox browsers. Other browsers are not supported.
Chat with us online
In the national legal aid chat service, you can get general advice and guidance. Click on the chat button at the bottom corner of the page and start an anonymous conversation. You do not need to sign in to the service, and the advice provided is general in nature. The chat is intended for situations where you need general guidance on individual questions.
Chat opening hours
in Finnish: Mon–Fri at 10–12
in Swedish: Fri at 10–12
in English: Wed at 10–12
Telephone advice
You can contact us by phone during our opening hours. The telephone numbers and opening hours of legal aid offices can be found in the contact details.
Legal aid information service
Experienced legal aid secretaries working at the legal aid offices will assist you in finding help with legal problems – before the problems become too difficult to handle. Consult the secretary on whether you should contact a lawyer, an authority or some other third party that could be of assistance. Call a legal aid office for instructions on where you can find further information regarding your problem, as well as related forms and applications.
The cost of the call is determined in accordance with your subscriber connection agreement.
Legal advice by phone
The legal aid offices’ public legal advisers are lawyers who provide legal advice by telephone in appropriate cases. The telephone service is available by appointment only.
For a telephone appointment, please contact one of our offices.
Remote services
You can book a remote meeting by calling a legal aid office. They will tell you whether your matter can be dealt with in a remote meeting.
See contact details for legal aid offices.
Legal aid offices provide remote services, which means that you can receive legal aid services via video connection. In a remote meeting, you can talk to a legal aid secretary or a public legal aid attorney the same way you would at the office.
In a remote meeting, you can receive advice, prepare documents and discuss with a public legal aid attorney, or prepare for court proceedings with an attorney.
A remote meeting is not a suitable option if both the client and the attorney need to sign a document on the same occasion. This is the case, for example, when signing a testament, as the personnel of the legal aid office must certify the authenticity of the signatures.
Sending secure email messages
The service is easy and safe to use and free of charge.
The secure e-mail service (Turvaviesti) of the Ministry of Justice