FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Pekka Tuunainen, Pekka Tuunainen Attorneys Ltd
the biggest advantages is the speed of the process, which can be significantly less than with normal court proceedings. If agreement is reached at court mediation, the status of the agreement is equal to a court judgment. Agree ‑ ment is legally final and enforceable immediately. Use of these alternative mechanisms is voluntary, and a case can be taken into full court handling at any time. 3.5 Media Access and Transparency in Children Proceedings If a child-related case is at court, those are pub ‑ lic cases. Only documents and hearings related to health issues are generally non-public information. The media is able to report on these matters, but the names of the parties cannot be disclosed if there is no substantial public interest in the case, in order to protect the privacy of the child.
The names of the parties cannot be anonymised if the case is public. The media is not allowed to report names as a default, to protect the privacy of the par ‑ ties. The media follows this expectation well and child-related matters are rarely in the media, with child abduction cases being the main cases that are reported.
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