2.9.2025 | The Government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has reached a decision on its budget proposal for 2026. The Government’s decisions aim to support economic growth, which is picking up. Supporting economic growth and continuing responsible fiscal management is necessary to ensure the security of people in Finland and safeguard their access to important services going forward.

Ministry of Justice in social media The Ministry of Justice uses social media to share information, such as news and information about current events, and to encourage discussion. Private matters cannot be instituted on our social media sites. If ...

Advisory Board on Civil Society Policy (KANE) The Government has appointed a new Advisory Board on Civil Society Policy (KANE) for a four-year term from 27 January 2022 to 26 January 2026. The Advisory Board on Civil Society Policy works under the...

Feedback and additional information On this page, you can only give feedback on the contents and functioning of the website of the Ministry of Justice (www.oikeusministerio.fi). For all other matters or inquiries, please contact the Ministry's reg...

Cooperative working group for improving law drafting The cooperative working group for improving law drafting continues cross-administrative cooperation between Ministries to develop law drafting. The working group monitors the implementation of t...

Other Legal Assistance in Civil Matters Information on foreign law It is sometimes necessary to acquire information on the legislation of a foreign country in a matter pending in a court or before another judicial authority. In such a case, the au...

Organising and securing the exercise of rights of access under the hague convention on international child abduction A child has the right to keep in touch and spend time with the parent with whom he or she does not reside also when the parent res...

Taking of evidence Taking of evidence through international legal assistance is required when a witness to be heard or a document to be used as evidence in judicial proceedings is located abroad. As a rule, courts have three options if they wish t...

Extradition General Extradition deals with handing over of suspects or sentenced persons to a foreign country for legal proceedings or service of sentence. Extradition from Finland is regulated in the Act on Extradition. The Act contains only a fe...

Transfer of Sentenced Persons General The purpose of transferring sentenced persons to their home countries is advancing their rehabilitation into society. Accordingly, a sentenced person is offered a possibility to continue serving his sentence i...

International Legal Assistance In Criminal Matters International legal assistance in criminal matters encompasses cooperation between countries on account of crime. In a broad sense cooperation covers mutual legal assistance, extradition and trans...

Mutual Legal Assistance Whenever evidence is available in a foreign country or a party to criminal proceedings or witness is located there, mutual legal assistance is required. The most important categories of mutual legal assistance are procuring...

International child abduction A case usually concerns international child abduction if the following criteria are met: A child is taken to or retained in a foreign country without the consent of the person who has custody of the child , the child ...

Child Welfare In Cross-Border Situations This section contains information on the procedures, legislation and agreements related to cross-border situations concerning child welfare. Child welfare falls within the mandate of the Ministry of Social ...

8.6.2026 | The Ministry of the Interior has today sent out for comments a draft government proposal to supplement an earlier legislative proposal on criminal intelligence. The aim of the proposal is to ensure that the Police Act provides sufficient support for combating crime and that threat‑informed criminal intelligence can be used effectively to intervene in criminal activity such as serious gang crime and organised crime. The deadline for submitting comments is 3 August 2026.

Service of Documents In connection with judicial proceedings, courts sometimes need to serve documents, such as summonses and invitations to appear in court, on persons residing or companies located in another country. When the service of document...

Processing of personal data in the services of the Ministry of Justice The Ministry of Justice processes personal data in order to comply with a legal obligation or, in certain situations, to perform a task carried out in the public interest or ba...

About the website The website of the Ministry of Justice, www.ministryofjustice.fi, provides information on, i.a., the Ministry, its work and duties and on ongoing legislation and development projects at the Ministry. Finnish and Swedish pages are...

Recognition And Enforcement Of Decisions On Child Custody And Right Of Access The enforcement of a decision on child custody and/or right of access in a foreign country requires usually the existence of an international treaty. If a decision canno...

25.5.2026 | Some 17,000 children and young people shared their views on issues such as safety and security, trust and wellbeing in a pilot project aimed at strengthening the inclusion of children and young people in society and taking into account their perspectives in preparation work at the state level.