Error Correction of Restrictive Measures: Appeals Made by Young People in Care

Abstract

The article examines appeals against restrictive measures in child protection submitted to and decided upon by administrative courts in Finland. Restrictive measures used in care restrict children’s and young people’s fundamental and human rights considerably, meaning ‘confinement in fractions’. Therefore, young people’s access to justice is an important issue in situations in which they consider an error to have been made. We study appeals as a form of legal safety and as a means of error correction. Although young people, 12 years of age and older, have the right to appeal, the appeal system is mainly used by parents to appeal against restriction of contact. As such, the appeal system poorly protects young people’s individual access to justice, if at all. As only administrative courts can overturn the decision to apply restrictive measures, the adult-centeredness of the system and young people’s access to justice should be critically assessed and rethought.