Possibility to impose imprisonment for violation of entry ban as of 1 January 2019

Today, the President of the Republic approved legislative amendments by which a new provision on a violation of entry ban will be added to the Criminal Code of Finland. Until now, violations of entry ban have usually been punished as violations of the Aliens Act, for which the punishment is a fine. In future, a person violating an entry ban will be sentenced either to a fine or to imprisonment for at most one year.

Under the new provision, an alien who enters Finland despite a valid entry ban imposed on him or her commits an offence. The amendments will enter into force in the beginning of 2019.

The purpose of the amendments is to enable imposition of such a punishment for a violation of entry ban that would better be in line with the reprehensibility of the act. The amendment also aims to have a preventive effect. Moreover, the essential elements of acts punishable as a violation of entry ban will be specified.

Inquiries:
Janne Kanerva, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 2951 50176, [email protected]

Material on the decisions made in the presidential session of 19 December can be here (in Finnish )