Kiri

To whom it may concern,

My colleagues and I are contacting you from the Ministry of Justice of Finland.

We are currently revising the Finnish provisions of our Guardianship Act in order to facilitate the guardians and lasting powers of attorneys possibilities to operate in various electronic services on behalf of the clients/granters that they represent. It is currently possible for the guardians and attorneys to operate digitally in their client’s financial issues (in tax matters, social benefits etc.). This is possible since the representatives have no restrictions on the right of access to the information on the client’s financial issues if the mandate covers financial issues.

However, we have faced difficulties when the guardian / lasting powers of attorney needs to operate digitally and / or on digital platforms and e-services on behalf of the client in matters related to his or her person (e.g. health services). This is because the right to represent the client is more restricted in matters that are personal. Also, the right to information is more restricted because of the protection of privacy. Furthermore, it is not always clear if a certain matter is purely economic or also related to the client’s person. Therefore, as for now guardians and lasting powers of attorneys are not able to operate on behalf of their clients in electronic services in the client´s personal matters. As you can probably already guess, we would be glad to hear if you have been able to solve the above-mentioned situations in which representatives need to act on behalf of someone else online in these situations.

We are aware that in Estonia you have two types of representation:

1) representation arising from law or when a court has appointed a guardian and

2) contractual representation e.g. the relationship between a lawyer and a client.

Even though we are especially interested in questions related to guardianship, we would be keen to know whether it is possible in Estonia to act on behalf of a client in their personal matters (e.g. representation in health care) in digital platforms in both cases of representation. For example,

• can a guardian book doctor´s appointments online, use pharmaceutical services online, get access to their client’s medical history online etc.?

• are there matters that cannot be handled through digital platforms? If so, what are they? Are there any specific reasons for excluding them? If so, what are these reasons?

• are there differences, and if so what differences, in terms of handling financial matters compared to handling personal matters (e.g. representation in health care matters) in digital platforms?

• do representatives have unlimited or limited access to client’s information in digital services (e.g access to medical history)?

• what kind of digital solutions / platforms have you developed for example in health care services and what kind of provisions do you have regarding the guardian’s right of access to information related to client’s person, e.g. health, or medical data?

• have you had any changes to legislation because of digitalization projects?

• have you implemented safeguards to enhance the right to self-determination in a digital context for people under guardianship?

We would be more than grateful if you could provide us with answers regarding Estonian legislation and digital solutions to these questions.

Yours faithfully,

Iida Alén

Senior Specialist

Ministry of Justice, Finland 

FIN-00023 Government 

[email protected] 

phone +358 295 150 148

www.oikeusministerio.fi 
 

For information on how the Ministry of Justice processes personal data, go to https://oikeusministerio.fi/en/data-protection