Supreme Court of Finland in the context of "Grand Duchy of Finland"

The Finnish order of precedence is a nominal and symbolic hierarchy of important positions within the government of Finland. It has no legal standing, it does not reflect the Finnish presidential line of succession or the co-equal status of the branches of government under the constitution, and is only used to indicate ceremonial protocol.

1. President of the Republic Alexander Stubb
2. Retired Presidents of the Republic in order of term:
   1. President Tarja Halonen
   2. President Sauli Niinistö
3. Speaker of the Parliament Jussi Halla-Aho
4. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo
5. Other ministers of the Finnish Government
6. President of the Supreme Court Tatu Leppänen
7. President of the Supreme Administrative Court Kari Kuusiniemi
8. Chief of Defence Janne Jaakkola
9. Chancellor of Justice Tuomas Pöysti
10. Archbishop of Turku Tapio Luoma
11. Chancellor of the Order of the Cross of Liberty Ari Puheloinen
12. Chancellor of the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Lion of Finland Jussi Nuorteva
13. Chancellor of the University of Helsinki Kaarle Hämeri

The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland (Finnish: korkein hallinto-oikeus, Swedish: högsta förvaltningsdomstolen) is the highest court in the Finnish administrative court system, parallel to the Supreme Court of Finland. Its jurisdiction covers the legality of the decisions of government officials, and its decisions are final. Appeals are made to the Supreme Administrative Court from the decisions of the administrative courts of Helsinki, Turku, Hämeenlinna, Kouvola, Kuopio, Vaasa, Oulu, Rovaniemi and Åland, the Market Court, and the Council of State.

In most issues, it is possible to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland from the judgment of the administrative court. However, in some case areas of administrative law, an appeal requires a leave of appeal from the Supreme Administrative Court. The most important such area are insurance cases. In some restricted areas of law, for example, in parking fines, the decision of the administrative court is final and cannot be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court.

The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Alexander Stubb, who leads the nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of the Finnish Defence Forces. Finland's head of government is Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who leads the nation's executive branch, called the Finnish Government. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Finland (Finnish: Suomen eduskunta, Swedish: Finlands riksdag), and the Government has limited rights to amend or extend legislation. The Constitution of Finland vests power to both the President and Government: the President has veto power over parliamentary decisions, although this power can be overruled by a majority vote in the Parliament.

The judiciary is independent of the executive and legislative branches. The judiciary consists of two systems: regular courts and administrative courts. The judiciary's two systems are headed by the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, respectively. Administrative courts process cases in which official decisions are contested. There is no constitutional court in Finland: the constitutionality of a law can be contested only as applied to an individual court case.

The war-responsibility trials in Finland (Finnish: Sotasyyllisyysoikeudenkäynti, Swedish: Krigsansvarighetsprocessen) were trials of the Finnish wartime leaders held responsible for "definitely influencing Finland in getting into a war with the Soviet Union and United Kingdom in 1941 or preventing peace" during the Continuation War, the Finnish term for their participation in the Second World War from 1941–1944. Unlike other World War II war-responsibility trials, the Finnish trials were not international. The trials were conducted from November 1945 through February 1946 by a special court consisting of the presidents of the Supreme Court of Finland, the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, a professor from the University of Helsinki and twelve MPs appointed by the Parliament of Finland. The accused were convicted and imprisoned, but later paroled and pardoned.