Legal advice

You have a right to a legal counsel. If you want a legal counsel, contact the closest legal aid office.

The legal counsel does not usually participate in asylum interviews. He or she is allowed to be present but he or she will only be paid if there are special, weighty reasons why he or she needs to be there. The legal aid office decides whether it will compensate the legal counsel’s costs. If the legal aid office decides not to cover the costs, you may pay for your legal counsel yourself or go to your interview alone.

If you are an asylum seeker who is under 18 years of age and if you arrived in Finland alone, your representative will find a legal counsel for you. The legal aid offices always compensate the costs of the legal counsels of asylum seekers who are under 18 years of age and who arrived alone.

Ask your reception centre for more information about the places where you can get legal aid.

Further information about a legal aid is also available on the website of the Finnish juridicial administration.