Finland

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Finland. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Iivari, Juhani. Mediation in Finland

abstract unavailable

Iivari, Juhani. Mediation in Finland.

In three recently-published articles, Juhani Iivari provides a glimpse into the development, use, and possible future of victim offender mediation in Finland.

Minister of Justice of Finland. Réponses des Etats membres du Conseil de l’Europe aux questionnaires préparés sur ces sujets par le Ministère de la Justice de Finlande. Les aspects sociaux de la justice -- La mission sociale du système de justice pénale.

abstract pending

Minister of Justice of Finland. Replies of the Council of Europe member states to the questionnaires prepared on these issues by the Ministry of Justice of Finland. Social aspects of justice -- the social mission of the criminal justice system.

In the framework of their 26th Conference which took place in Helsinki on 7 and 8 April 2005, the European Ministers of Justice were invited by Mr. Johannes Koskinen, Minister of Justice of Finland to debate on the issue of Social Aspects of Justice which includes two substantive themes: 10 The social mission of the criminal justice system (criminal law theme; and 2) Seeking legal solutions to debt problems in a credit society (civil law themes. With the view of having a fruitful debate on these themes, the Finnish Ministry of Justice prepared two questionnaires, one on each theme. The replies to those questionnaires appear hereafter. (excerpt)

Minister of Justice of Finland. Rapport présenté par le Ministre de la Justice de Finlande sur les aspects sociaux de la justice -- La mission sociale du système de justice pénale.

Dans de nombreux pays européens, l’importance du crédit s’est accrue au cours des dernières décennies. Le prêt est un moteur de la croissance économique, et il est utile pour les particuliers. En fait, la disponibilité de crédits suffisants est un élément essentiel dans une économie de marché en bonne santé. Néanmoins, la multiplication des prêts n’est pas sans poser de problèmes. Dans certains cas, des emprunts excessifs peuvent entraîner de sérieuses difficultés financières pour les particuliers ; l’endettement des jeunes, notamment, est un problème très sérieux. L’exclusion dont sont victimes les débiteurs est néfaste pour la société dans son ensemble. L’exécution des créances est la méthode traditionnellement employée pour le recouvrement des dettes. Toutefois, dans une société de crédit, il est également important de prévenir les problèmes liés à l’endettement, et de trouver un système efficace pour gérer les problèmes existants afin d'éviter l’exclusion des débiteurs.(excerpt)

Minister of Justice of Finland. Report presented by the Minister of Justice of Finland on Social aspects of justice -- the social mission of the criminal justice system.

The "social mission" of the criminal justice system may be understood in a variety of ways, including general prevention and deterrence, and the protection of society from crime-related evil and harm. In the present context, the issue was rather interpreted with reference to such modern developments in crime control and crime prevention that are paying special attention to concerns that are beyond the traditional focus. Here, the interest is directed towards neglected issues such as crime prevention, the role of the victim, the importance of undoing the harm done by crime and crime control, and improving the balance between the involved parties in the criminal process. Crime prevention is being extensively covered elsewhere and is on its way to become established as part of a standard approach to criminal policy issues. Therefore, the present analysis concentrates on aspects of what is presently comprised in the concept of restorative justice. Restorative justice being a rather broad and programmatic concept, the relevant concerns are represented in this report by just a few central items: victim-offender mediation, crime victim support, the prevention of re-offending and the re-integration of offenders, special restorative measures regarding offender groups with particular problems. Furthermore, the restorative role of judges and prosecutors is dealt with briefly. The questionnaire on these issues was distributed to all Ministers of Justice of the 46 Council of Europe member States, and the 40 received replies are analysed in this report. It is rather safe to presume that practically all aspects of the situation are reflected in these replies, even though the situation in some countries has not been dealt with. In some member States, principles of restorative justice have not been implemented at all, while in some other countries, the approach seems to have been adopted in a dynamic and constructive fashion, admitting however to the fact that a lot of progress still remains to be achieved even in the most advanced countries, due to the relatively brief history of international trends and recommendations regarding restorative justice. Furthermore, as has rightly been pointed out by some Ministers, solid evidence as to the benefits of restorative justice innovations of criminal justice systems remains, as yet, inconclusive. However, the overwhelming response to the restorative justice approach may be judged to have been strongly positive. Such observations would lead to three types of conclusions. First, the Council of Europe may definitely play an active and important role in promoting the restorative justice approach in its member countries both at the level of further recommendations, and collecting and disseminating experiences of good or promising practices, and also by providing technical support, expertise and advice for individual member States requiring such support, as well as promoting bilateral and regional co-operation between member States in these issues, its role then perhaps also being one of a clearing-house. Second, member States could be recommended to become more involved in learning from each other in regards of these reforms. It is often the practical experience that overrides any general principles and recommendations when trying to learn how to improve one's criminal justice system. Third, ,member States may take a more active role in promoting restorative justice principles in their respective jurisdictions since much remains to be done even in the most advanced countries. (excerpt)

Brønholt, Lis Lynge. Should FGC (Family Group Conferences) be adjusted to the Mainstream Practice? Or Should the Mainstream Practice Be Adjusted to FGC? Ideals and Realities

Two days ago a new study from the Danish Social Research Institute was released. The good news is that modern way of living has not ruined the family solidarity. Most families are close-knit. Around 40\% of the new mothers talk to their mother on a daily basis. So there is still a close connection between generations. The modern nuclear family is not as isolated as researchers had expected. I attach importance to the fact that FGC is a decision making model, where user involvement and influence is an integrated part. This is a step forward in democratisation of social work. It is a clear and simple model with clear values: respect for different views and cultures; willingness to listen to all family members and focus on both strengths and problems. When I formulated the headline of this contribution I had no way of knowing whether the politicians in Denmark would make FGC a right for all families, as a reform for families and children in need was on its way. (excerpt)

Waller, Irvin. Crime Victims: Doing Justice to their Support and Protection

Policies to reduce crime - even based on what is effective - will never totally eliminate crime and so it will always be necessary to assist victims to recover from their losses, foster closure to their trauma, and ensure respect for their interests by law enforcement and criminal justice professionals. Justice services must operate even for the victim. Support, reparation and information must be available to victims. Increasingly, specialised commissions and even legislators recognise what must be done, but much more is needed to go from this rhetoric to real action. Most national constitutions guarantee basic human rights for suspects and convicted offenders. Citizens suspected of offending cannot be deprived of their liberty by the government without being advised and defended by a lawyer in front of an independent court. Yet obvious rights for a person victimized by crime are not guaranteed such as the right to: -- reasonable protection from criminal acts; --redress for pain, loss and injury inflicted by crime --dignity, respect and a fair deal from police, courts and correctional authorities (CCSD, 1981) (excerpt)

Mustajoki, Outi. Legislating Mediation Procedures in Finland.

New legislation on mediation procedure has recently been adopted in Finland. Act on Mediation in Criminal and Certain Civil Cases has come into force on 1st January 2006 (further on referred to as the Act). The Act contains provisions on the administrative organization of mediation services, government compensation for operation expenses and the procedure for carrying out mediation. The primary scope of application of the Act is victim offender mediation. The civil cases that may be handled on the basis of the Act are restricted to minor cases only. There is a separate act which regulates judicial mediation, i.e. a procedure in which a general court judge may act as a mediator in a civil case or a petition. Claims for damages based on a crime may, however, always be dealt with in the same mediation procedure as the crime itself, regardless of, for example, the amount of the damages. This presentation is focused solely on victim offender mediation and application of the law to criminal cases. (excerpt)

Ahmed, Eliza. Bystander Intervention: School Connectedness and Shame Management.

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Goldson, Barry and Muncie, John. State of Transition: Convergence and Diversity in International Youth Justice.

This chapter identifies complimentary and contradictory themes in contemporary international juvenile justice reform. Throughout Western societies, recent juvenile justice reforms mark a divorce from the child welfare approaches of the past and toward a dual commitment to punish persistent young offenders while attempting to prevent offending through early intervention with at-risk groups. Despite this significant convergence in international juvenile justice policy, national differences still exist and revolve mainly around the political willingness to sustain welfare protectionism of the child offender. The authors discuss the decline of welfare protectionism in the 1980s when critics first argued that the juvenile justice system should function to control young offenders rather than simply care for them. This shift from welfare to justice based philosophies ushered in a concern for the due process rights of juvenile offenders as specialized children’s courts were either dismantled or injected with more punitive policies and practices. The United States is offered as an example of how juvenile justice practices have taken on an increasingly punitive tone. International incarceration rates are examined, which have largely risen despite the rhetoric of crime prevention through early intervention. The authors illustrate how, in many Western countries, there has been a political swing to the far right, fueled mainly by public fears over burgeoning youth violence (which has been largely unsupported by official crime statistics). The result is that juvenile justice policies have become increasingly radicalized, particularly as many countries import United States initiatives such as zero tolerance policies and a focus on risk management. There remain examples, however, of countries that have retained elements of non-punitiveness and have successfully decreased their rates of juvenile incarceration, such as Australia, Finland, and Italy. Additionally, recent years have witnessed an explosion in the use of restorative justice practices and in the protection of children’s rights, creating a unique hybrid of punitive and restorative juvenile justice ideologies. (Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.gov).

Goldson, Barry and Muncie, John. Comparative Youth Justice.

There is a widespread assumption that juvenile justice policies around the world are becoming increasingly punitive and less concerned with the protection and education of young offenders. While an examination of international juvenile justice policies certainly supports such a view, there are also examples of an increasing concern for the rights of juvenile offenders and a turn to restorative-like justice practices. The 13 chapters presented in this volume offer comparative case studies of juvenile justice policies in a number of countries: the United States, Canada, England and Wales, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Scotland, Japan, Italy, and Finland. Chapter 1 traces the evolution of the American juvenile justice system from the 1960s through the early 2000s, analyzing its increasingly punitive approach and its current interest in early intervention of at-risk groups. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 offer critical analyses of recent juvenile justice developments in Canada, England and Wales, and the Netherlands, while Chapter 5 examines major juvenile justice developments experienced in France during the last quarter of the 20th century. Chapter 6 examines the emergence of restorative justice practices in New Zealand and criticizes current restorative practices as inaccurate co-options of Maori cultural practices. Juvenile justice developments and current trends in Australia and Belgium are explored in chapters 7 and 8, while chapter 9 turns to a review of the history of the Scottish juvenile justice system and an analysis of recent reforms. Chapter 10 analyzes recent changes in Japan’s juvenile justice policies and chapters 11 and 12 consider the tolerance exercised in the juvenile justice systems of Italy and Finland. Chapter 13 uses the collective knowledge provided in the previous chapters to identify complimentary and contradictory themes in contemporary international juvenile justice reform.

Lappi-Seppala, Tapio. "Reducing the prison population: long-term experiences from Finland"

"In Finland the criticism of the treatment ideology has since merged with that directed against an overly severe Criminal Code and the excessive use of custodial sentences. The resulting criminal political ideology was labelled as "humane neo-classicism." It stressed both legal safeguards against coercive care and the objective of less repressive measures in general. "Between 1970 and 1990 all the main parts of Finnish criminal legislation have been reformed from these starting points. The reform ideology, which guided the law reforms from the early 1970s onwards, represented a pragmatic, non-moralistic approach to crime problems. In this framework, the role of criminal law as a means of crime policy occupies a much less prominent place than before." (excerpt)

Albrecht, Berit . Multicultural Challenges for Restorative Justice: Mediators' Experiences from Norway and Finland .

Since today's civil society in the Nordic countries is multi-ethnic, participants and mediators in restorative justice procedures often have diverse cultural backgrounds. This can lead to miscommunication, misunderstandings, and at worst re-victimization of the victim. This article aims to discuss the applicability of restorative justice theory and practices in cross-culture mediation with a focus on migrant minorities such as immigrants and refugees in Finland and Norway. On the basis of case studies and interviews with mediators, administrative mediation staff, and project leaders in countries, relevant issues such as communication processes, prejudices and stereotypes, the role of the mediator and mediation models are discussed. The study explains advantages of restorative justice for minorities in Norway and Finland as well as the need of safeguards. It demonstrates that restorative justice theory is a concept of conflict resolution that is more easily accessible for minorities from certain ethnic groups than from others. Finally, the value of restorative justice for the social integration of minorities is critically discussed. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to problems of restorative justice for ethnic migrant minorities, not to provide 'handbook solutions'. In the course of this research project, it became clear that more systematic research is needed, including the perspective of participants in mediations, in order to enhance appropriate restorative justice practices for migrant minorities in the Nordic countries. (author's abstract)

Lahti, Raimo. Is a Rational and Humane Criminal Policy Possible. The Experience of a Small Scandinavian Country, Finland.

In this paper, which is primarily theoretical in character, Raimo Lahti engages public debate and decision-making pertaining to crime prevention and to control and sanctioning of criminal behavior. He uses the example of Finland to look at questions concerning the effects of ideology on Nordic criminal policy since the 1960s, the relationship of those developments with criminological research and theories of criminal policy, and the extent to which practical criminal policy has been based on research and rational justifications. He extends his discussion by speculating about the prospect for realistic interaction between theory and practice in the future.

Kriesberg, Louis. The role of reconciliation in changing inter-communal accommodations.

Terrible conflicts often occur between peoples about how they should live together in the same country or in neighboring counties. Relationships between such peoples can change and new accommodations can be jointly shaped, but these transformed relationships are never static. Sometimes they evolve into more equitable and integrated accommodations; sometimes they regress into further conflict. In this paper, Louis Kriesberg examines the possible contributions that various degrees and kinds of reconciliation can make to advance more equitable and integrative inter-communal accommodations. To demonstrate his points, Kriesberg analyzes changes in inter-communal relations from 1948 to 1999 in South Africa and in Israel/Palestine.

Government of Finland. Act on Mediation in Criminal and Certain Civil Cases.

For the purposes of this Act, mediation in criminal cases (mediation) means a non-chargeable service in which a crime suspect and the victim of that crime are provided the opportunity to meet confidentially through an independent conciliator, to discuss the mental and material harm caused to the victim by the crime and, on their own initiative, to agree on measures to redress the harm. (excerpt)

Malan, Jamie. Making Peace Education Appealing to the Adversarially Minded.

Much is already being done in Peace Education to promote and model constructive mental attitudes. The relatively small group of enemy-minded, aggressive learners may need more attention, however. An empathetic understanding of these learners, with their mindset and the reasons behind it, can inspire peace educators to present Peace Education in a way that may appeal to them as well. Suggestions are therefore made with regard to attractive and explanatory names, justice-restoring and problem-solving approaches, unrestrained dialogic methods, and an open-minded exploring of mental attitudes. It may be worthwhile to develop all appropriate ways of communicating a non-pressurising but dynamic appeal about voluntary changes of attitude to adversarially minded learners and all others.

Iivari, Juhani. Victim-offender mediation in Finland

Juhani Iivari examines the history and current state of victim-offender mediation in Finland. Reform of the criminal justice system in Finland began in the 1970s and 1980s. This "neo-classical" reform sought, for example, a system based on punishment to express and maintain social norms, general prevention of crime, just and legitimate punishment, and clarity and simplicity in sentencing (i.e., limitation of judicial discretion in sentencing). Soon, however, this came under criticism from many social workers, researchers, and others. At the same time, some people in Finland became aware of Nils Christie's interpretation of criminal offenses as conflicts "owned" by the parties directly involved (primarily the victim and offender). This led to alternative ideas and efforts based on conflict resolution --particularly victim-offender mediation --as the better response to criminal offenses. Mediation experiments took place in Finland in the early 1980s. Through the mid 1990s mediation programs expanded in Finland to many cities, towns, and municipalities. At first mediation programs in Finland operated primarily under community supervision, with minimal roles for criminal justice authorities. Because of problems with this model, alterations were made; victim-offender mediation programs now operate more like the Anglo-American model in cooperation with social welfare and justice authorities. Finland does not have a separate law for mediation; the legal basis is found in the general penal code. Also, there are no formal conditions for non-prosecution base on the results of mediation. While there are generally followed principles of ethics and standards for mediation and mediators, there are no prescribed standards specified in Finnish law.

Takala, Jukka-Pekka. "Moral Emotions in Victim-Offender Mediation."

This paper describes how crimes are dealt with in Finnish victim-offender mediation sessions and Finnish mediation is not a part of the criminal justice system but has frequent relations with that system concerning referral of cases and their further processing. The mediation movement has criticized the criminal justice system for its "facelessness" and inadequacy in dealing with emotions. Many judges allegedly prevent offenders from expressing their feelings of regret and from making apologies, considering those actions inappropriate for court proceedings. This study interviewed 10 mediators regarding their views on the role of emotions in mediation and observed nine mediation sessions and four criminal court sessions. Mediation often offered a forum for participants to express their moral emotions. In mediation sessions, it was easier for participants to initiate conciliatory moves, with a reasonable expectation that the other party would cooperate, than in more formal and adversarial court proceedings.