The Juvenile Justice and Restorative Approaches in Finland The Annual Conference of Estonian Union for Child Welfare Mektory, Tallinn, 24th November, 2017 Aarne Kinnunen Department of Criminal Policy Ministry of Justice, Finland

Legal framework Juvenile Justice in Finland has one foot in the adult criminal justice system and another foot in the child welfare system System of child protection legislation which grant municipal authorities the right to intervene in children´s behavior No specific juvenile courts or codes for young offenders only Still: young offenders are treated differently to adults due to limiting rules for the full application of penal provisions Finland follows the principle of legality in prosecution Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

Sanctioning of juveniles in Finland Fines are the most widely used sanction A day-fine system is applied Conditional imprisonment Offenders under the age of 21 years may be placed under supervision Community service Juvenile Punishment Order Imprisonment Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

Prison rate development 1977-2013

The history of mediation in Finland Most important Restorative Justice Practise The first experiments started in the beginning of the 1980’s Grassroots-level approach Actual mediation is done by volunteers Emphasis on social work and on youth work Municipalities or NGO´s as service providers: let the thousand flowers bloom In 2003 the Advisory Board under the Ministry of Social Affairs and health

The history of mediation in Finland Before 2006 the mediation was guided by the manual developed in National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health The Act on Mediation in Criminal and Certain Civil Cases came into force in the beginning of 2006 Mediation available throughout the country June 1st 2006 State financing: 6,3 million € Generally administered and monitored by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

Victim-offender mediation in Finland VOM does not constitute a part of the criminal justice system, but it has frequent interrelations with that system as far as referral of cases and their further processing is concerned The Criminal Code mentions an agreement or settlement between the offender and the victim as a possible justification for prosecutors to waive charges, for courts to waive punishment and as grounds for sentence mitigation Mediation as defined in the law, refers to “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”. Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

VOM: important concepts Voluntariness: personal consent => can be withdrawn Available for all age groups, but its principle relevance lies in younger age groups Mediation is informal by its nature, and not defined as criminal punishment It may be applied also for offences committed by children below the age of criminal responsibility (= 15 years of age) No formal requirements related to the admission of guilt However, the case has to be “clear” in the sense that the offender admits his/her guilt Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

VOM: important concepts There can be no dispute whether the crime has occurred and who was the perpetrator Confidentiality In principle any type of crime can be dealt with through mediation Law defines which types of cases are “more suitable”, and which types of cases are “less suitable” Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

VOM: limitations Violence in close relations should be mediated only in cases referred by the police and the prosecutor Mediation of violence in close relationships should be excluded if violence was repeated or there had been earlier, unsuccessful mediation processes; Mediation is forbidden if the victim is below the age of 18 and he/she is in a specific need of protection due to his/her young age Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

The effects of mediation in the criminal justice proceedings In complainant offences, successful mediation automatically means that the police will close the investigations or prosecutor will drop the prosecution In non-complainant offences it is at the discretion of the prosecutor whether or not the process is continued Unlike in some other countries, mediation does not automatically divert the case from the criminal justice system This may narrow its diversionary effect, but on the other hand, it also prevents mediation from becoming restricted to trivial cases Should the prosecutor take the case to the court, the court may also waive from penal measures, or mitigate the sentence according to general sentencing rules Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

Statistical data on mediation

STREET Mediation

A broad definition of criminal policy in Finland Criminal policy is defined as societal decision making in a broad sense with following aims: Prevention of crimes and risks of criminality Early intervention Reducing of re-offending Situational crime prevention Maintaining a predictable and fair criminal justice system Ensuring a credible, rational and cost-effective execution of sentences aiming to preventing recidivism

Rational criminal policy in Finland Avoiding increase of the prison rate The number of prisoners in Finnish prisons is almost half of that in the EU countries typically Good understanding of the effects of different types of sanctions Aim at cost-effectiveness in criminal policy Understanding the importance of research and use of research in decision making A good balance between political decision making and stable work of civil servants Moderate tone when crime is discussed in media (public opinion)

Rational criminal policy in Finland The security in Finland has been achieved with a reasonably low level of repression The number of police officers in relation to the population is the lowest in Europe Experience from Finland: it is possible to decrease prison rate without increase in criminality Restorative Justice and VOM are an integrated part of Finnish criminal policy

Current issues in Finland Current Government Programme (2015) puts pressure on adjusting sentences according the public’s sense on justice -> harsher sentences for violent crimes and sexual crimes Internal Security Strategy 2017: Prevention of social exclusion focusing on youths committing crimes Tilaisuuden nimi tulee tähän 20.3.2014 Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

Oh no, they´ve been to mediation Are they newly married ? University of Copenhagen Oh no, they´ve been to mediation Are they newly married ?