Implementation of the National action plan on fundamental and human rights
An evaluation of the preparation, contents and implementation of Finland's first national action plan on fundamental and human rights has been carried out. The evaluation report contains recommendations on how the preparation process of a similar action plan could be improved in future.
Finland's first national action plan on fundamental and human rights was adopted by the Government in March 2012. The action plan was drawn up on the basis of the Government Programme of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen's Government. The cross-administrative action plan translates into concrete terms the duty to guarantee the observance of fundamental rights and human rights imposed on the public authorities in the Constitution of Finland. The action plan encompasses 67 separate projects in the administrative branches of different ministries.
After a competitive bidding process, the Ministry of Justice appointed the Public Law Research Group at the University of Tampere to carry out the evaluation. The evaluation report was published at a seminar held in the Little Parliament today.
It is stated in the evaluation report that the action plan constitutes a significant step in the development of the national human rights architecture. The evaluation group recommends that work within the framework of an action plan be continued also during the next Government's term of office.
According to the report, the practice of preparing the national human rights policy in cooperation between a government network and a panel representing the civil society proved to be a significant administrative innovation. This cooperative model is proposed to be used also in the preparation of the next action plan. It is stated in the report that placing a stronger focus on certain important human rights themes would have been a better approach than the one chosen in this action plan.
The Government will submit a report on human rights policy to the Parliament in the autumn 2014, and the implementation of the action plan is one of the topics to be covered in the report. The evaluation report serves as background material and provides development ideas for the preparation of the Government report.
Further information:
Kaisa Tiusanen, Ministerial Adviser, tel. 02951 50454