Judicial Training Board

The purpose of the independent Judicial Training Board is to plan and coordinate, jointly with the National Courts Administration and the courts, the training of the staff involved in applying the law at the courts of law, from court traineeships to supplementary training.

The Judicial Training Board implements the application procedure for the posts of Junior Judges candidates under the Courts Act, and carries out the pre-selection. As part of the pre-selection process, the Board confirms and arranges the pre-selection exam. The Board grants the candidates who complete training programme the title of Junior Judge. The Board also carries out the centralised application procedure for court traineeships and selects and appoints Trainees to District Courts, Administrative Courts and Courts of Appeal and grants the candidates who successfully complete the court traineeship the right to use the qualification of ‘judicial training’.

The Government appoints the Judicial Training Board for a term of five years. The Board has ten members, six of which represent the court system. The Finnish Prosecution Service, members of the Finnish Bar Association, legal research and teaching, and the National Courts Administration are each represented by one Board member. The appointment procedure for the Board members largely corresponds to the appointment procedure of the Judicial Appointments Board.

The first Judicial Training Board took up its activities on 1 January 2017 when the Courts Act entered into force. The first five-year period of the Board will therefore run from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021.

Members of the Judicial Training Board

Composition of the Judicial Training Board from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2026

Chairperson

Jussi Tapani, Justice of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court

(Katariina Sorvari, Judge of the Court of Appeal, Turku Court of Appeal)

Vice Chairperson

Juha Lavapuro, Justice of the Supreme Administrative Court, the Supreme Administrative Court

(Ahti Kontturi, District Judge, Oulu District Court)

Members

Sirpa Pakkala, Chief Judge of the District Court, District Court of South Ostrobothnia

(Emil Waris, Secretary General, the Supreme Administrative Court)

Seija Kaijanen, Chief Judge of the Administrative Court, Turku Administrative Court

(Anna Pitkänen, Insurance Court Judge, Insurance Court)

Mia Sundström, District Judge, Helsinki District Court

(Timo Saranpää, Judge of the Court of Appeal, Vaasa Court of Appeal)

Minna Koskinen, Judge of the Court of Appeal, Court of Appeal of Eastern Finland

(Mari-Lea Kovanen, District Judge, District Court of Lapland)

Kirsi Männikkö, District Prosecutor

(Tom Laitinen, Prosecutor General)

Jyrki Piiparinen, Advocate

(Sinikka Kelhä, Advocate)

Sakari Melander, Professor, University of Helsinki

(Tuulikki Mikkola, Professor, University of Turku)

Johanna Anttonen, Senior Specialist, National Courts Administration

(Leena Larsio-Varsani, Specialist, National Courts Administration)

Deputy members are mentioned in brackets.

The secretary of the Judicial Training Board is Jaakko Turunen, Master of Laws with court training.