The Ministry of Justice promotes e-participation in various ways. First, it is responsible for the website Demokratia.fi, which brings together various online services for democratic participation and civic engagement. In addition, it enhances transparency in ongoing policy and legal processes. The Ministry of Justice has also created guidelines for youth participation in decision-making. These guidelines highlight various online platforms, such as Digiraati.fi, otakantaa.fi, and kuntalaisaloite.fi, as key digital services through which young people can participate in decision-making processes.  

The Virtual Council – Digiraati 

The Virtual Council (Digiraati/E-panelen) online service was launched as part of An update on developments regarding civic space in the EU and an overview of the possibilities for human rights defenders to enter EU territory (Lundell & Hanski 2022). The Virtual Council is a tool designed to support young people’s online participation in decision-making. The service has been developed in collaboration with the ALL-YOUTH research project, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the National Strategy for Finland, the Ministry of Justice, the Centre of Expertise for Youth Inclusion, and the Finnish Red Cross. 

In addition, Finnish SOS Children's Villages and the Itla Children’s Foundation have been collaborative partners in ensuring that the Virtual Council interface is child- and youth-friendly. 

The Virtual Council can also be understood as a method for promoting the inclusion of children and young people. The government sector’s shared learning environment, eOppiva, offers an online course (in Finnish) that introduces the use of Digiraati as a method for youth inclusion. The Digiraati webpage (in Finnish) shows that, recently, the method has been used to collect young people’s views on, for example, harmful childhood experiences, voting practices, social anxiety, loneliness, and the use of digital devices in schools.  

According to the Ministry of Justice’s press release (2024, November 21, in Finnish), the Virtual Council supports the National Child Strategy, as well as the government’s efforts to promote the inclusion of children and young people.