Study title

Confidence in Courts of Justice: District Court Survey 1999

Dataset ID Number

FSD1110

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1110

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Ahonen, Timo (University of Turku. Faculty of Law)
• Laitinen, Ahti (University of Turku. Faculty of Law)
• Niskanen, Hannu (University of Turku. Faculty of Law)

Abstract

In the survey, customers of the Turku District Court were interviewed in order to study their image of the courts of justice in Finland. The respondents were asked the reason for their visit, and whether they had visited a court before. The number of visits, and the reasons for them were recorded. The respondents then evaluated their experiences, and commented on various statements regarding judges and courts in general. Impartiality of the courts was evaluated. If a respondent considered them to be biased, (s)he was asked to state the reasons for this kind of view. All respondents commented on trial costs, and whether it should be easier to operate with the judicial system. They also estimated to what extent the goals set to the judiciary had been realised in the Finnish courts of justice, and whether courts' operations as a whole were satisfactory. Opinions on the lay member procedure and its appropriateness were also surveyed. The respondents were asked where they could turn to for legal advice or counselling, and if they had ever felt they needed these types of services. Those who had needed legal services were asked whether they had used legal aid services, lawyers, law firms, or voluntary legal advice centres. If these types of services had been used, the respondents were asked to describe their personal experiences. Those who had declined such help despite the need were asked to give reasons for this decision.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, place of residence, year of birth, and monthly income.

Keywords

judges; juries; legal advice; legal costs; subordinate courts

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Legislation and legal systems (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Ahonen, Timo (University of Turku. Faculty of Law)
• Laitinen, Ahti (University of Turku. Faculty of Law)
• Niskanen, Hannu (University of Turku. Faculty of Law)

Time Period Covered

1999

Collection Dates

1999-03 – 1999-04

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland, Area of the Turku District Court

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Customers of the Turku District Court (petitions, civil cases, criminal cases)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Purposive

The respondents were selected from customers met in the waiting rooms of the Turku District Court.

Collection Mode

Face-to-face interview

Telephone interview

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.1

Related Datasets

FSD1109 Confidence in Courts of Justice: Extraordinary Appeals 1989-1998

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Ahonen, Timo (University of Turku) & Laitinen, Ahti (University of Turku) & Niskanen, Hannu (University of Turku): Confidence in Courts of Justice: District Court Survey 1999 [dataset]. Version 1.1 (2003-08-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1110

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Niskanen, Hannu & Ahonen, Timo & Laitinen, Ahti (2000). Suomalaisten luottamus tuomioistuimiin. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Turun yliopiston oikeustieteellisen tiedekunnan julkaisuja. Rikos- ja prosessioikeudensarja A; 25.

Niskanen, Hannu (2000). Luottamus tuomioistuimiin. Turku: Turun yliopisto. Oikeustieteen pro gradu -tutkielma.