1. 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

2. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

3. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

4. Prison rate development 1977-2013

6. 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

7. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

8. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

9. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

10. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

11. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

12. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

13. Statistical data on mediation

18. STREET Mediation

19. 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

20. 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)

21. 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

22. 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
Raija-Liisa Meikäläinen

23. 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 ?