Is There a Subjective Right to Medical Treatment according to Finnish Legislation?
Keywords:
subjective right, legislation regarding medical treatment, the rights of a patient, the organising obligation of a municipalityAbstract
The article concentrates on three issues: to what extent is there a subjective right to medical treatment, how is it implemented and what legal remedies does a person have in order to authenticate his or her right.
According to common definitions, a subjective right should be guaranteed by legislation, the content of the right should be clearly formulated, the right should be non-aligned to the budget and the right should correspond to an obligation of the public authorities.
It can be argued that the subjective right to urgent medical treatment is guaranteed through the Constitution of Finland Section 19.1 and special enactments regarding health care. A person’s right to non-urgent medical treatment is based on the consideration of need (=behovsprövning) and therefore more difficult to invoke.
On the other hand, the legal remedies for authentication of the right to (urgent) medical treatment are in practice remote and ineffective. If a person has no possibility to have his or her right to treatment confirmed by a court of justice, one can ask whether such a right actually exists.
