Country

Finland

Detention issue

FRA research findings

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Legal instruments & key provisions

Legal instrument Key provision
Imprisonment Act (vankeuslaki/fängelselag)The objective of the enforcement of imprisonment is to increase the readiness of a prisoner to lead a life without crime by promoting the prisoner’s ability to manage his or her life and by promoting his or her reintegration into society, and to prevent the commission of offences during the term of sentence.
Imprisonment Act (vankeuslaki/fängelselag)Firstly the prison conditions shall, to the extent possible, be arranged so that they correspond to the living conditions prevailing in society. Secondly, the possibilities of a prisoner to maintain his or her health and functional capacity shall be supported and efforts be made to prevent any harmful effects caused by the loss of liberty. Social integration can also be supported, for instance, by providing the prisoner with suitable work, education and other activities that are defined for each prisoner in their individual sentence plan.

NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM RECOMMENDATIONS

Year Recommendation Report
2021In connection with the visit, the Deputy-Ombudsman drew attention to a recent international recommendation that was included in the reformed European Prison Rules. According to it, prisoners who are separated shall be offered at least two hours of meaningful human contact a day. On the NPM visit, it was found that this recommendation was not realised with segregated prisoners — of whom a clear majority were remand prisoners. […] In the NPM visit report, the Deputy Ombudsman stated that, like the CPT, he was also concerned about the mental and physical wellbeing of segregated prisoners. He was particularly concerned about those remand prisoners who, under the Coercive Measures Act, are subject to strict long-term restrictions imposed by a court. Report details