The Ministry of the Environment experiments with a new way to develop legislation – Lakiklinikka.fi guides and collects feedback
Lakiklinikka.fi online service under the KIRA-digi Project offers legal advice to projects that promote digitalisation in the real estate and construction sector free of charge. Information is also collected on statutes that may complicate the digitalisation process. Lakiklinikka.fi service is provided by Lexia Attorneys Ltd.
Quite a unique experiment has been started in the Finnish central government as the Ministry of the Environment aims to develop legislation through a new kind of service concept. Lakiklinikka.fi collects feedback especially from those affected by the legislation.
What this means in practice is that those implementing the projects are asked whether they have encountered legal problems, what they were like, and how they were solved. The service offers legal advice as well.
“We wanted to try a new, more agile way of developing legislation, and got the idea of combining advisory service with legislative work. The advisory service attracts more users as it brings concrete benefits to those who ask questions. The more questions and legal problems we have in the advisory service, the better picture the Ministry will gain of the provisions that may complicate digitalisation. The model is now being tested for the first time, and feedback will be most welcome. We encourage everybody to use the service”, says Jaana Junnila, Senior Ministerial Adviser at the Ministry of the Environment.
Open access to data – Lakiklinikka.fi summarises the state of play
All results of the advisory service and surveys are published on the Lakiklinikka.fi website. The questions to be published will be anonymous so that those who asked them cannot be identified. Everybody has access to open data – including various kinds of companies offering digital services.
Lakiklinikka.fi service for operators in real estate and construction business is constantly updated and supplement by data collected from the advisory service. Lakiklinikka.fi collects, classifies and analyses legal problems of the clients according to criteria such as topic and complexity.
"The task of a legal professional today is to serve as the client’s strategic partner. This is why the project is a unique opportunity for us to think about and analyse problems that come up and to promote the development of the real estate and construction business together with various stakeholders", says Aleksi Lundén, Associate responsible for jurisprudence at Lexia Attorneys.
Lakiklinikka.fi also offers a platform for discussion and sharing information and expert views on legal matters. The project will continue until the end of 2018.
KIRA-digi support already to more than a hundred projects
The Ministry of the Environment is preparing legislative amendments that will support digitalisation in the real estate and construction sectors as part of the Government’s key project. The KIRA-digi Project, which will continue until the end of 2018, looks for digital solutions to facilitate day-to-day operations in the real estate and construction sectors.
So far funding under the KIRA-digi Project has been granted to 104 experiments. A culture of experimentation is a key element in the Government’s key projects, which is also strongly reflected in the projects that have received KIRA-digi funding.
Experiences are collected from all experimental projects in order to construct a comprehensive picture of the most relevant legislative problems associated with digitalisation.
Read more InquiriesTeemu Lehtinen, Chief Digital Officer, Building Information Foundation RTS, tel. +358 40 456 6108, [email protected]
Aleksi Lundén, Associate, Lexia Attorneys, tel. +358 40 512 5424, [email protected]
KIRA-digi project (2016-2018) is part of the Government key project concerning the digitalisation of public services, which also contributes to the key project concerning improved legal provisions. The responsible ministry for the project is the Ministry of the Environment. The fourteen organisations participating in the KIRA forum are: Association of Finnish Architects' Offices ATL, Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies KVKL, Real Estate Employers, Finnish Construction Managers and Engineers RKL, Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT, Building Information Foundation RTS, Finnish Association of Architects SAFA, Finnish Real Estate Management Federation, Finnish Real Estate Federation, Finnish Association of Civil Engineers RIL, Finnish Association of Consulting Firms SKOL, Electrical Contractors’ Association of Finland STUL, Finnish Association of Building Services Industries, as well as the Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of Education and Culture, Corporate Real Estate Management of the city of Turku, City of Espoo, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, Finnish Environment Institute and National Board of Antiquities.
Lexia Attorneys Ltd established in 1996 is a full-service law firm specialised in demanding domestic and international business law. The key areas of expertise include the ICT, technology, real estate, construction, EU, competition, contract, employment, finance and insurance law and corporate restructuring. Lexia employs more than 70 professionals in Helsinki and Turku. www.lexia.fi