The Finnish Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the lower courts' rulings in a case involving parking tickets issued by ParkCom, a private company.

The Vantaa district court and the Helsinki appeals court had dismissed ParkCom's action against a Helsinki motorist who refused to pay fines issued by the company, ruling that only the authorities could issue parking fines.

By contrast, the Supreme Court ruled that parking in private property constituted a contract between the motorist and the company tasked with managing the parking bay.

STT