Prosecutions, sentences and punishments: documentation of statistics
The documentation of the statistics describes how the statistics were compiled and what methods were used in the compilation. The data help interpret the figures of the statistics and evaluate their reliability and comparability. The quality report is based on the EU's SIMS model. The documentation also contains change releases describing changes in the statistics and possible specifying methodological descriptions.
If you are looking for statistical figures for these statistics, go to the statistics page: Prosecutions, sentences and punishments
Quality report
Data description (SIMS 3.1)
Statistics on prosecutions, sentences and punishments contain data on punishments imposed by courts of first instance, on those for whom a punishment has been waived, and on dismissed charges. The data are obtained from the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Register Centre and published once a year.
Sector coverage (SIMS 3.3)
The data sets cover all cases considered by district courts and courts of appeal, in which persons were charged with and sentenced for offences, and punishments and other criminal sanctions imposed by these courts, charges dismissed by them, and cases lapsed. The data also cover the summary penal orders issued by the prosecutor, and fine orders and petty fines issued by the police.
The statistics also contain data on decisions by courts of appeal and how the district court decisions were changed in the courts of appeal.
Data on recidivism are also published. Decisions on criminal cases issued by lower courts (district courts) since 1977 are used as basic data on recidivism. Recidivism data include offences for which under three years have elapsed since the date of the previous criminal
conviction.
Statistical unit (SIMS 3.5)
The cases are presented in the statistics in accordance with the principal offence rule. Principal offence is a concept used in the compilation of statistics. Principal offence is the most serious offence of the sentence.
The number of offences attributed to a person and the number of dismissed charges by offence are also presented in the statistics, and in these cases the person appears in the statistics as many times as there are court decisions concerning them during the year.
The principal offence of the sentence is specified when the decision on the defendant concerns more than one offence or dismissed charge. If the decision on the defendant only concerns one offence or dismissed charge, it constitutes the principal offence of the sentence. The principal offence is specified in accordance as follows.
1. The principal offence is the offence that has resulted in the most severe punishment. The order of punishment is as follows:
- life imprisonment
- combination sentence
- fixed-term unconditional imprisonment
- an earlier unconditional imprisonment also applies to this offence
- monitoring sentence
- community service
- earlier community service also applies to this offence
- juvenile punishment
- conditional imprisonment
- close confinement
- confinement to barracks
- fine
- disciplinary fine
- petty fine
- caution or reprimand
- waiving of sentence
- charge is dismissed
- case has lapsed
- euro-denominated penalty payment
2. If the principal offence has not yet been determined, the offence with the most severe punishment under the law is selected as the principal offence.
3. If there are offences with the same punishment, the principal offence is selected using the priority rules of types of crime.
In offences meeting criteria 1, 2 or 3, the latest or (in the case of more than one offence) one of the latest offences is selected.
Summary penal orders and fine orders: If the fine has been issued for two or more offences, the principal offence of the summary penal order or fine order is determined using the above-mentioned criteria 2 or 3.
Petty fines: Only one type of offence and one legal provision used as a basis for the fine are obtained from basic statistical data, and the principal offence is thus not specified. From 1 December 2016, the principal offence has been determined in the same manner as a summary penal order or a fine order. If the fine has been issued for two or more offences, the principal offence of the petty fine is determined using the above-mentioned criteria 2 and 3.
Even though the principal offence of the sentence is the most commonly used statistical unit, the number of all offences attributed to a person and dismissed charges by offence can also be obtained from the statistics.
Statistical population (SIMS 3.6)
The statistics on prosecutions, sentences and punishments are based on total data. The data are obtained from three different registers. The registers are maintained by the police and the Legal Register Centre.
The following persons are included in the statistics on prosecutions, sentences and punishments:
- persons charged with an offence in courts of appeal
- persons charged with an offence in the main process of district courts
- persons charged with an offence in courts of appeal acting as courts of first instance
- persons issued with a summary penal order or a fine order
- persons issued with a petty fine
- and persons that have been sentenced to a punishment in a criminal case as injured parties, witnesses or experts.
Reference area (SIMS 3.7)
The statistics cover the sentences issued by district courts and courts of appeal by court and by court of appeal district.
Time coverage (SIMS 3.8)
Annual data on sentences are available on the websites from 2005 onwards. Older publications can be found in digitised format.
The statistics have been published since 1891 in the Official Statistics of Finland series OSF XXIII and Justice under the following titles:
- 1891–1916 Oikeustoimi (Legal process)
- 1917–1924 Oikeustilasto (Legal statistics)
- 1925–1926 Rikollisuus (Crime)
- 1927–1937 Rikollisuus II. Syytetyt (Crime II. Individuals charged with offences)
- 1938–1950 Rikollisuus II (Crime II)
- 1951–1954 Criminal statistics B. Judicial statistics relating to criminal proceedings
- –1990 Criminal cases tried by the courts (OSF XXIIIB or Justice)
- 1991–2009 Yearbook of Justice Statistics (section 6) (Justice)
For the period 1839 to 1879, handwritten statistics were produced by the Imperial Finnish Senate. The first printed and published statistics on justice and crime are included in the report on criminal and civil cases for 1880 issued by the Imperial Finnish Senate. The report was published in Helsinki in 1882.
Unit of measure (SIMS 4)
The following units of measure are used for the data published in the statistics: number, month, day, hour and euro.
Reference period (SIMS 5)
The reference period of the statistics on prosecutions, sentences and punishments is a calendar year.
Classifications (SIMS 3.2)
The following classifications are used in the statistics:
- Offence group
- Places of residence
- Nationality
- Gender
- Age
- Principal offence
- Duration of the prohibition
- Similarity of offences
- Length of sentence
- Court
- Court of appeal
- Judgment
- Principal offence
- Sanction
- Penalty change at Court of Appeal
- Court of Appeal decision
- Appellant
Concepts and definitions (SIMS 3.4)
Ban on animal keeping
The ban on the keeping of animals can be imposed on an aggravated animal welfare offence (Criminal Code, Chapter 17, 14a), animal welfare offence (Criminal Code, Chapter 17, 14), and petty animal welfare offence (Criminal Code, Chapter 17, 15). A ban on animal keeping may also be imposed on an animal welfare violation (Animal Welfare Act 247/1996) or an animal transport violation (Animal Transport Act 1429/2006) or if the person is to be deemed unfit or unable to see to the welfare of animals. A ban on the keeping of animals is imposed at the request of the prosecutor. A ban on the keeping of animals may be imposed for a fixed period of at least one year or permanently. (Criminal Code, Chapter 7, Section 23).
Business prohibition
A business prohibition can be imposed on a private practitioner of trade, whose business involves the accounting obligation decreed in the Accounting Act (655/1973), on a partner in a general partnership, a liable partner in a limited partnership and a member of a European economic interest group and those, who are corporation board members or managing directors or in other comparable positions, similarly as those, who in actual fact direct the activity of the corporation or foundation or a foreign branch or manage its administration. A business prohibition can be imposed on the above-mentioned person if he or she has in his or her business activity essentially neglected his or her statutory duties or has been found guilty of a criminal activity. A business prohibition may also be imposed for the following offences: distribution of a sexually offensive picture (Criminal Code, Chapter 17, Section 18), aggravated distribution of a sexually offensive picture depicting a child (Criminal Code, Chapter 17, Section 18a), possession of a sexually offensive picture depicting a child (Criminal Code, Chapter 17, Section 19), trafficking in human beings (Criminal Code, Chapter 25, Section 3), and aggravated trafficking in human beings (Criminal Code, Chapter 25, Section 3a). A business prohibition may also be imposed for the offences of pandering (Criminal Code, Chapter 20, Section 9) and aggravated pandering (Criminal Code, Chapter 20, Section 9a) if the object is a person aged under 18. A business prohibition may be imposed for at least three years and for at most seven years. (Act on business prohibitions 1059/1985).
Case lapsed
A case lapses when the prosecutor or complainant withdraws the charges. The charges can be withdrawn, for example, if in the light of new evidence, there are no longer grounds for accusing the accused or if the complainant no longer wishes to demand punishment.
Charged dismissed
A charge is dismissed when the court deems that no offence took place or the court considers there was not sufficient evidence of guilt so that the accused could be sentenced.
Community service
Community service is a punishment imposed in place of unconditional sentence of at most eight months. Community service can be sentenced unless unconditional sentences of imprisonment, earlier community service orders or other weighty reasons are to be considered bars to the imposition of the community service order. (Criminal Code, Chapter 7, Section 11). Community service may not be sentenced for the following offences: refusing military service (1438/2007), refusing civil military service (1446/2007), and a civil military service offence (1446/2007). Community service may be imposed for 14 to 240 hours. Community service may also be imposed alongside an over eight-month long conditional punishment of at most 90 hours.
Conditional driving ban
The district court may also issue a driving ban as conditional if the right to drive is necessary for the person for whom the driving ban is imposed due to profession or other weighty reason, and the act did not cause any danger to the safety of others. The term for the conditional driving ban is at least one year and at most three years. (Driving Licence Act 386/2011).
Conditional imprisonment
A sentence of imprisonment of no more than two years can be imposed as a conditional sentence as long as there are no reasons, such as previous offences, on the basis of which the court must impose an unconditional sentence. When the imprisonment is sentenced as conditional, the enforcement of the punishment is postponed for a probationary period. The probationary period for conditional imprisonment is at least one year and at most three years. The probationary period begins at the pronouncement or the issue of the judgment. (Criminal Code, Chapter 2b, Sections 3 to 5). A supplementary fine may also be imposed in connection with conditional imprisonment. If the conditional imprisonment is over one year long, community service may also be imposed.
Confinement to barracks
Confinement to barracks is a disciplinary punishment for a soldier or other person subject to Chapter 45 of the Criminal Code (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 1). Confinement to barracks is ordered or sentenced for one to 15 days or if there are several offences, for at most 25 days (Act on military disciplinary procedure and crime prevention in defence forces 255/2014).
Convertible
Unconditional imprisonment is deemed to be convertible to community service if it is at most eight months long and it has not been passed for the following offences: refusing military service (1438/2007), refusing civil military service (1446/2007), and a civil military service offence (1446/2007).
Corporate fine
A corporation may be sentenced to a corporate fine if a person who is part of its statutory organ or other management or who exercises actual decision-making authority therein has been an accomplice in an offence or allowed the commission of the offence or if the care and diligence necessary for the prevention of the offence have not been observed in the operations of the corporation. A corporate fine is imposed as a lump sum. The corporate fine is at least EUR 850 and at most EUR 850,000. More details on corporate criminal liability are provided in Chapter 9 of the Criminal Code.
Detention
Detention is a disciplinary punishment for a soldier or other person subject to Chapter 45 of the Criminal Code (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 1). Detention can be passed only by a court in a procedure as intended in Sections 5 and 6 of the Military Court Procedure Act and it is sentenced for at least one and at most 30 days (Act on military disciplinary procedure and crime prevention in defence forces 255/2014).
Disciplinary fine
A disciplinary fine is a disciplinary punishment for a soldier or other person subject to Chapter 45 of the Criminal Code (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 1). A disciplinary fine is imposed for at least one day and for at most thirty days. The monetary amount of the disciplinary fine is one-fifth of the average daily earnings of the person being fined, however at least equal to the highest daily allowance of a person performing military duty under the Conscription Act. (Act on military discipline procedure and crime prevention in defence forces 255/2014).
Discipliniary punishments
Disciplinary punishments for soldiers and other persons subject to Chapter 45 of the Criminal Code are reprimand, extra duties, warning, confinement to barracks, disciplinary fine and detention. When applying to other persons not subject to Chapter 45 of the Criminal Code the provision decreeing as sanction a disciplinary punishment, they are sentenced to a fine instead of a disciplinary punishment.
Dismissal from office
Dismissal from office is a special penalty for a public official. A public official can be dismissed from office if he or she is sentenced to life imprisonment or to imprisonment for a fixed period of at least two years and the offence demonstrates that the sentenced person is unsuitable to serve as a public official. A public official sentenced to imprisonment for a period of less than two years can be dismissed from office if the offence indicates that he or she is particularly unsuitable to serve as a public official. The dismissal comprises the office or functions the sentenced person holds at the time when the sentence was passed. Dismissal from office intended in the penal provisions of Chapter 11 or 40 of the Criminal Code comprises the office in which the offence was committed. (Criminal Code, Chapter 2, Sections 7 and 10).
Fine
A fine is passed as day fines, the minimum number of which is one and the maximum number is 120. (Criminal Code, Chapter 2a, Section 1). A joint fine may be at most 240 day fines. (Criminal Code, Chapter 7, Section 3). One sixtieth of the average monthly income of the person fined, less the taxes and fees defined by a Government Decree and a fixed deduction for basic consumption, is deemed to be a reasonable amount of a day fine. The maintenance liability of the person fined may decrease the day fine. (Criminal Code, Chapter 2a, Section 2). The total amount of the fine is equal to the number of day fines times the amount of a day fine, but a fine for speeding must always equal at least the highest possible summary penal fee passed for speeding. However, a joint fine may not be greater than the sum of the maximum punishments for separate offences.
Fixed-term imprisonment
Fixed-term imprisonment refers to unconditional or conditional imprisonment, a monitoring sentence and community service.
Hunting prohibition
A hunting prohibition is imposed on a person convicted of an aggravated hunting offence (Criminal Code, Chapter 48a, Section 1a) for at least three years and at most ten years. A hunting prohibition can be issued for a person convicted of a hunting offence (Criminal Code, Chapter 48a, Section 1) who with his or her action has demonstrated manifest heedlessness of the provisions on hunting. A hunting prohibition is ordered on the request of the prosecutor. (Criminal Code, Chapter 48a, Section 6).
Juvenile punishment
A person aged under 18 can be sentenced to a juvenile punishment if a fine is considered to be insufficient punishment and there are no weighty reasons requiring the imposing of an unconditional sentence of imprisonment, and conditional imprisonment with supervision is not deemed to promote sufficiently social adaptation or prevent further offences. A juvenile punishment may also be imposed on such offences of which only part have been committed under the age of 18 years. (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 10). A juvenile punishment includes functions promoting social capacity and orientation to working life.
Monitoring sentence
A monitoring sentence is a punishment of at most six months imposed in place of unconditional imprisonment. A monitoring sentence can be imposed if the offender cannot be sentenced to community service, no bar arises from the nature of previous offences and punishments and a monitoring sentence is deemed to be justified for the maintenance of promotion of the social adaptation of the offender. (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 11a). Those sentenced to a monitoring sentence live at their home but they are monitored during the punishment with technical devices and in other ways. A monitoring sentence is converted back to unconditional imprisonment if the conditions of punishment are breached.
Penal order
A penal order refers to a decision by which the public prosecutor imposes a fine and forfeiture on the basis of an order for a fine or punishment. An order for a fine or punishment is issued by a police officer. An order for a fine refers to an order given to the suspect by which a fine and forfeiture are demanded of him or her for the violation. An order for punishment refers to a fine or summary penal fee served to the suspect and an order concerning a forfeiture in a situation where the suspect is not willing to process the matter in proceedings according to the Act on the imposition of a fine and summary penal fee (754/2010). A police officer can also issue a fine. A fine refers to a pecuniary penalty imposed by a police officer. A fine can be a pecuniary penalty or a forfeiture of at most 20 day fines and it can be imposed for infractions of the acts and regulations listed in Chapter 1, Section 3, Sub-paragraphs 1 to 13 of the Act on the imposition of a fine and summary penal fee (754/2010). A fine can be ordered for infractions for which not a more severe penalty is provided than a fine or imprisonment for at most six months. In addition to a fine, a forfeiture of EUR 1,000 can be ordered. Processing the matter in the procedure according to the imposition of a fine and summary penal fee (754/2010) requires the assent of the injured party and the meaning of the assent has to be explained to the injured party when requesting the assent.
Penalty payment
A penalty payment is set by imposing the primary obligation to be abided by the complainant at risk of a fine. A different penalty payment must be imposed to reinforce each primary obligation. An official having imposed the penalty payment may sentence the penalty payment to be paid if the primary obligation has not been abided by and no valid reason is given for not abiding by it. (Act on penalty payments 1113/1990). In the statistics, a person sentenced to a penalty payment is included in the group “found guilty”.
Persons sentenced in court
The statistics include data on those convicted in courts of first instance. Courts of first instance are generally district courts and in some cases courts of appeal are also courts of first instance.
Previous sentence a suffient sanction
If a person sentenced to unconditional imprisonment, a monitoring sentence or community service is charged with another offence committed before the sentence was passed, the court may deem that the previous sentence is a sufficient sanction also for the act which was later taken up for a hearing. (Criminal Code, Chapter 7, Sections 6 to 7).
Principal offence on which the sentence is based
In the statistics, data are presented on the principal offence on which the sentence is based. According to the rule, each person accused, convicted or fined with a summary penal judgment is most often described by the most serious offence under the severest punishment decision category of the court. The concept of a principal offence is defined in detail in the quality description of the statistics.
Prison term
A sentence of imprisonment is passed either for a fixed period or for life. A sentence of fixed-term imprisonment is imposed for at least fourteen days and at most twelve years or, when imposing a joint sentence pursuant to Chapter 7, for fifteen years. A court of justice will impose a punishment within the sentence scale set by the legislator for each offence. When imposing a sentence of imprisonment, years, months and days are used as the units of time. Sentences of less than three months are imposed in days. A year includes 365 days and a month 30 days. (Criminal Code, Chapter 2c). In the tables, average prison terms are given in months, except for community service which is also given in hours.
Punishment
The general punishments (which can be imposed on anyone subject to the Criminal Code) are summary penal fine, fine, conditional imprisonment, community service, monitoring sentence and unconditional imprisonment. Juvenile punishment is a specific sentence for offenders under the age of 18. Special punishments for public officials are warning and dismissal from office. Disciplinary punishments for soldiers are warning, confinement to barracks, disciplinary fine, extra duties and detention. A corporation, foundation or other legal entity may be sentenced to a corporate fine.
Sentenced to supervision for a probationary period in addition to imprisonment
A person who has committed an offence when under 21 years of age may be subjected to supervision for one year and three months in order to reinforce conditional imprisonment, where this is to be deemed justified in view of the promotion of the social adaptation of the perpetrator and the prevention of further offences. (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 10, Sub-section 2).
Summary penal fee
A summary penal fee or petty fine is a pecuniary penalty of a fixed amount and less severe than a fine. The summary penal fee may have a size of EUR 20, 40, 70, 100, 120, 140, 170 or 200 and since 1.9.2015 size of EUR 20, 40, 70, 100, 120, 140, 170 or 200. If the person commits two or more infractions at the same time, the summary penal fee is imposed for the offence for which the summary penal fee provided is the highest. A joint punishment must not be passed for a summary penal fee and a fine or a sentence of imprisonment for a fixed period. An unpaid summary penal fee must not be converted into imprisonment. A summary penal fee is imposed by a police officer or another official carrying out a statutory supervision function. Those sentenced to a summary penal fee may submit the matter to the district court. The imposition of a summary penal fee is decreed in the Act on the imposition of a fine and summary penal fee (754/2010). The scope of the summary penal fee is decreed in Chapter 2, Sections 8 to 11 of the Criminal Code and in the Act on summary penal fee infractions (756/2010) and Government Decree of the summary penal fee offences (1081/2015).
Supervised right to drive
The district court must impose a supervised right to drive on those guilty of drunken driving (Criminal Code, Chapter 23, Section 3) or aggravated drunken driving (Criminal Code, Chapter 23, Section 4) intended in the Act on driving right monitored with a alcohol interlock if requested by the person for whom the driving ban is issued. The driving ban must be issued as conditional. (Driving Licence Act 386/2011).
Supplementary fine
A supplementary fine imposed as day fines may be sentenced in addition to conditional imprisonment.
Unconditional imprisonment
Unconditional imprisonment refers to a sentence served in prison.
Waiving of punishment
Under certain conditions, a court may waive punishment for the suspect even if it deemed the suspect to be guilty of an offence. A court may waive punishment if the offence, when assessed as a whole, taking into account its harmfulness or the culpability of the perpetrator manifested in it, is to be deemed of minor significance, the perpetrator has committed the offence under the age of 18 years and the act is deemed to be the result of lack of understanding or of imprudence, the act is excusable due to special reasons, or punishment is to be deemed unreasonable or the offence would not have an essential effect on the total sentence. (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 1/Sections 1 to 5). In the statistics, waiving of punishment mainly comprises the cases in which a court of justice has imposed the sanction that "punishment for the offence is waived".
Warning to a public official
Warning is a special punishment for a public official (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 1). A written warning can be issued to a public official who acts against his or her official duties or neglects them (State Civil Servants Act 750/1994).
Warning to a soldier
Warning is a disciplinary punishment for a soldier or other person subject to Chapter 45 of the Criminal Code (Criminal Code, Chapter 6, Section 1).
Institutional mandate (SIMS 6)
The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. The Statistics Act contains provisions on collection of data, processing of data and the obligation to provide data. Besides the Statistics Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities are applied to processing of data when producing statistics.
Statistics Finland compiles statistics in line with the EU’s regulations applicable to statistics, which steer the statistical agencies of all EU Member States.
Further information: Statistical legislation
Data sharing (SIMS 6.2)
The data sets are not shared between other statistical offices or units. This means that there are no well-established procedures or arrangements for sharing data contained in the statistics.
Source data (SIMS 18.1)
The data are obtained from different registers:
The decisions issued by district courts and courts of appeal are obtained from the criminal matters application (RITU) and AIPA system. RITU was introduced on 20 May 2013 and it replaced the sentence matter system (TL) of the district courts and courts of appeal. The national introduction of the AIPA system in the processing of criminal cases took place in May 2024.
The new procedure for issuing fines was introduced on 1 December 2016, and after this date, summary penal orders issued by prosecutors have been obtained from the AIPA system of the Ministry of Justice, and the fine orders and petty fines issued by the police from the PATJA system of the police. The data on summary penal orders issued in 2016 have been obtained from the old registers (January to November) and from the new systems (December).
Before the new fine procedure, summary penal orders were obtained from the penal order register and petty fines from the petty fines register.
Between 1990 and summer 2017, Statistics Finland used the sentence matter system for Statistics Finland (TUTI). The TUTI application was used in the processing of summary penal orders and sentence documents. The application was withdrawn from use in summer 2017 after which the data on all summary penal orders have been obtained from the AIPA system.
Frequency of data collection (SIMS 18.2)
The data are drawn once a year.
Data collection (SIMS 18.3)
The data are obtained from registers (RITU, AIPA and PATJA). They are transferred to the transfer server of Statistics Finland.
Data validation (SIMS 18.4)
The data are compared against the data on the previous year and check runs are carried out after the data have been received.
Data compilation (SIMS 18.5)
Personal data from Statistics Finland’s personal data warehouse are combined with the data. New variables are calculated for the data for the compilation of tables.
User needs (SIMS 12.1)
Based on user monitoring, the main user groups of the statistics are other authorities, regional and municipal actors and the media. The changing information needs of users are actively monitored and considered in the development of the data content of the statistics.
Overall accuracy (SIMS 13.1)
The coverage of the statistics is good because the same source registers are used by register authorities. The quality of the statistics is closely linked with the quality of the source registers. The data contained in the statistics can be considered reliable because errors and inadequacies in the registers are corrected by checking the data.
Quality assurance (SIMS 11.1)
Quality management requires comprehensive guidance of activities. The European Statistics Code of Practice forms the basis for the common quality system of the European Statistical System.
The Code of Practice is based on 16 principles that concern statistical authorities' independence, accountability and the quality of the processes and data to be published.
The principles are in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics approved by the United Nations Statistics Commission and are supplementary to them. The quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Further information: European Statistics Code of Practice | Statistics Finland and Recommendations of the Advisory Board of Official Statistics of Finland | Statistics Finland
Timeliness (SIMS 14.1)
The statistics on prosecutions, sentences and punishments are produced annually and the work on them is completed in September in the year following the statistical year. The data are final and describe the sentences issued and other criminal sanctions imposed during the preceding calendar year.
Comparability - geographical (SIMS 15.1)
District courts are used as area classification in the statistics. The boundaries of judicial districts of the district courts were redrawn on 1 January 2010. On that date, the number of district courts was reduced from 51 to 27. Some of the district courts remained unchanged but for most of them, both the name and the judicial district changed. The boundaries of the new judicial districts are mostly in accordance with regional division. The new district courts are listed in the Act amending the Act on District Courts (1751/2009). The database tables on the website of the statistics on prosecutions, sentences and punishments contain data based on the new district court division from 2009 onwards.
Comparability - over time (SIMS 15.2)
Legislative changes make year-to-year offence-specific comparisons difficult. Provisions on offences contained in the Criminal Code of Finland have been updated in stages starting in 1991. Provisions on issuing a prison sentence and fines for a series of offences were changed on 1 April 1992.
As a rule, under the existing legislation, a single punishment (imprisonment or fine) is issued for a series of offences. In the past, if the offences were not committed in a single act and did not involve the continuation of the same offence, a separate punishment was issued for each offence (unit sentence). If two or more fixed-term prison sentences had been issued for different offences they were combined by adding a maximum of half of the other sentences to the most severe unit sentence or, if an identical punishment of the most severe variety had been issued for two or more offences, to any of them. If two or more fines were imposed on an individual the fines were fully added up.
The practice of issuing a single prison sentence retroactively ended on 1 October 1997. Under the old legislation, if a person sentenced to unconditional imprisonment was charged with another offence that the person in question had committed before being sentenced for the first offence, the punishment had to be imposed as if all these offences had been submitted to the court for consideration as a single case.
Under the new provisions, in the above-mentioned case, the earlier decision (including the punishment) would no longer be revoked. Instead, when issuing a new sentence for a new offence, the court could take the earlier unconditional prison sentence into consideration to a reasonable degree as a mitigating circumstance.
Correspondingly, the court can take an earlier community service sentence into consideration when issuing the new sentence. Under the new provisions, a court may also issue a prison sentence that is shorter than the minimum provided for the offence in question. However, as in the past, the earlier sentence can also be considered a sufficient punishment for the offence to be considered later.
Revised chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the Criminal Code of Finland entered into force on 1 January 2004. The reform concerned all provisions common to all offences, or the general rules of criminal law on the principles influencing the severity and type of punishment. The new provisions are largely based on existing case law.
Monitoring sentence was introduced on 1 November 2011. Under certain conditions, a person sentenced to an unconditional imprisonment of at most six months can instead receive a monitoring sentence of similar length of time. Thus, in terms of severity, the monitoring sentence is between community service and unconditional imprisonment. More detailed provisions on the monitoring sentence are contained in the Act on the Monitoring Sentence (330/2011). Repeated or serious violations of the terms of the monitoring sentence leads to the conversion of the punishment into unconditional imprisonment.
The new Act on Imposing Fines and Petty Fines (754/2010) entered into force on 1 December 2016. This act repealed the Act on Summary Penal Orders (692/1993) and the Act on Petty Fines (66/1983). Under the new procedure, a police officer, a customs official or a border guard may issue a fine of a maximum of 20 unit fines (fine order) or a forfeiture of a maximum of EUR 1,000 for a traffic offence or a petty theft.
In other cases, the prosecutor is responsible for approving the punishment. The consent of the suspect is required. From 2016 onwards, the summary penal orders issued by prosecutors and the fine orders issued by the police under the new legislation are listed separately in the tables.
A new type of punishment, combination sentence was introduced on 1 January 2018. Combination sentence is a new type of sentence specifically intended for recidivists committing serious offences, which comprises unconditional imprisonment and a one-year monitoring period immediately following the imprisonment. Thus, in terms of severity, combination sentence is the second harshest punishment after life imprisonment. More detailed provisions on combination sentences are contained in the Act on the Enforcement of Combination Sentences (801/2017).
The category ‘Persons sentenced in a court’ only comprises natural persons. In 2018, one legal person was ordered to pay a penalty payment. As a result, the category of penalty payment does not sum up with the level of persons sentenced in a court in the same manner as in earlier years but differs by one case.
Driving bans: A driving ban was issued by the police or district court until 31 May 2019. From 1 June 2019, district courts no longer issue driving bans (96/2018), and driving bans are not included in the statistics.
When amendments are made, the rule is mainly followed in which offences are recorded according to the legislation in force in the latest statistical reference year, in which case, e.g. discontinued or changed offences may be placed under some valid criminal code.
Chapter 20 of the Criminal Code on sexual offences was reviewed on 1 January 2023. It was a significant review in which the headings of the old and new acts do not correspond sufficiently to enable compilation of statistics on previous years with the legislation in force in 2023. As regards Chapter 20 of the Criminal Code, database tables exceptionally present the offence headings according to both the old and new acts.
The principal offence for which a sentence is issued has been used as the key statistical unit since 1971.
Coherence – cross domain (SIMS 15.3)
The statistics on prosecutions, sentences and punishments are the only comprehensive and regularly compiled statistics on punishments for different offences, other sanctions and their total numbers in Finland.
Release calendar (SIMS 8.1)
Statistics Finland publishes new statistical data at 8 am on weekdays in its web service. The release times of statistics are given in advance in the release calendar available in the web service. The data become public after they have been updated in the web service.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics at Statistics Finland
Release calendar access (SIMS 8.2)
Future publications of the statistics can be found on the page of the statistics: Future publications of the statistics
User access (SIMS 8.3)
The data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may be processed at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
Unless otherwise specifically stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer and copyright owner of the data. The terms of use for statistical data.
Frequency of dissemination (SIMS 9)
The statistics are published annually.
News release (SIMS 10.1)
The release is published annually on the home page of the statistics.
Online database (SIMS 10.3)
The database tables of the statistics can be found in the StatFin database.
Older time series can be found in the archive database.
Confidentiality - policy (SIMS 7.1)
The data protection of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed. The compilation of statistics is guided by the Statistics Act. Alongside the Statistics Act, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the Finnish Data Protection Act are applied to the processing of personal data. Provisions on the confidentiality of data collected for statistical purposes are laid down in the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
The data are processed only by persons who need the data in their work. The use of data is restricted by usage rights. All persons employed by Statistics Finland have signed a pledge of secrecy, where they have obliged to keep secret the data prescribed as confidential by virtue of the Statistics Act or the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.
Further information: Data protection | Statistics Finland (stat.fi)
Confidentiality - data treatment (SIMS 7.2)
Access to statistical data is limited to persons who need them in their work. The classifications of the tables contained in the statistics are broken down.
The research data are created in cooperation with Statistics Finland’s research services.