Institutional Mechanisms of Protection of Social Rights of Citizens in Finland

The article is devoted to the analysis of institutional mechanisms for the protection of social rights of citizens in Finland. The authors describe the system of the above mentioned mechanisms, which includes general and special institutions. The general institutions include the parliamentary ombudsman, to whom, according to statistics, the majority of complaints concerning social security, social insurance and health care are usually sent. Of the special institutions, the following are analyzed: social ombudsmen, operating in every Finnish municipality, the ombudsman for older people, founded in Finland in 2021, and ombudsmen for patients. Special attention is paid to the status and powers of the National Agency for Social Welfare and Health Surveillance, which was established under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and is considered to be a collegial social ombudsman. The article is written on the analysis of current Finnish legislation, scientific sources, reports and reviews of competent official bodies.