Supreme Court overturns Rovaniemi investment compensation orders

Finland’s Supreme Court has overturned compensation orders against two former Rovaniemi city officials over millions of euros in risky investments, Yle reported. The case will return to the Lapland District Court for further proceedings.

The investments were made nearly a decade ago and have since been examined by both the Lapland District Court and the Rovaniemi Court of Appeal.

The district court dismissed the charges related to irregularities in the investments. It found that group legal counsel Heli Välikangas had committed basic-form abuse of office, but dismissed the charge because it was time-barred.

Despite dismissing the charges, the court ordered Välikangas and former city treasurer Jussi Päkkilä to pay compensation to the city. The Court of Appeal reached the same conclusion and increased the compensation orders to 210,000 euros.

Question of public authority

One of the most disputed issues in the district court proceedings was whether Välikangas held public office at the time. This was significant because official liability and charges of abuse of office can apply only to public officials.

The Supreme Court ruled in its precedent that Välikangas was not exercising public authority as defined by the Criminal Code and could not be considered a person exercising public authority under the law.

As a result, the Supreme Court overturned the decisions of both lower courts insofar as they were based on compensation liability arising from abuse of office.

However, the Supreme Court did not decide all possible grounds for compensation. The city’s other grounds had not been examined by the lower courts, so the case was sent back to the Lapland District Court.

Rovaniemi city officials said the city would assess the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision after studying it in full. The city did not comment in greater detail on the proceedings that will continue in the district court.