Members and staff

The Supreme Court employs approximately 75 people. Forty-five of these are experts in legal issues and the rest are clerical workers. Under law, the Supreme Court shall have a President and at least fifteen members (referred to as Justices), appointed by the President of the Republic. As a rule, they are appointed on a permanent basis.

The President

The President of the Supreme Court is Mr Tatu Leppänen . President Leppänen is the 14th holder of this office during Finland's independence, and was appointed in 2019. In addition to running the Supreme Court, President Leppänen is also involved in judicial cases.

Justices

The Justices of the Supreme Court have experience from different branches of the legal profession, most often in courts of law, but also in the drafting of legislation, academic positions and as legal practitioners. Justices do not specialise but rather consider all types of cases.

The Court currently consists of the President, Mr Leppänen and eighteen Justices.

Military members

The standard five member assembly of Justices is supplemented with two military members when the Court considers military cases.

Chief Secretary

The Chief Secretary of the Supreme Court assists the President in running the office. The current Chief Secretary is Mr Wilhelm Norrman.

Referendaries

Referendaries of the Supreme Court prepare cases for the Court and present them in hearings. The referendaries also have primary responsibility for communication with the parties to cases and for administrative work relating to the hearings.

The referendaries (numbering about 25) are appointed by the Plenary Session of the Court, and are experienced lawyers specialised in the various branches of law.

Clerical staff

The clerical staff of the Court consists of secretaries, communications assistants, registrars, attendants and information service assistants.