Nordic cooperation Judicial cooperation supports the Nordic countries in advancing the common basic principles laid down in Nordic legislation in accordance with the shared Nordic values. Nordic judicial cooperation helps politicians and public of...

OM028:00/2015 Development This can only be partial information. If you want all project information, please open the page in Finnish or Swedish. Basic information Completed Project number OM028:00/2015 Case numbers OM 24/021/2015, VN/868/2018 , VN...

Democracy and participation Under the Constitution, the powers of the State in Finland are vested in the people, who are represented by the Parliament. Democracy entails the right of the individual to participate in and influence the development o...

In accordance with the programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government, the Government will draw up a revised Strategy for the National Languages of Finland to ensure that everyone has the right to receive services in the national languages and to improve the language climate. This project is aimed at improving the language climate.

We will develop the operating conditions of CSOs in cross-administrative cooperation. The implementation of the strategy includes legislative projects, studies and reports and other development measures. The aim is, for example, to extend the right to tax deductions on donations to CSOs, to reform government grant practices and to form a vision of civil society.

In accordance with the Language Act (423/2003), the Government submits a report to Parliament each parliamentary term on the application of language legislation and the realisation of linguistic rights as well as, where necessary, on other linguistic conditions. In addition to Finnish and Swedish, the report discusses at least the Sámi, Romani and sign languages.

Consultation Consultation refers to a stage of the law drafting process where the key stakeholders' views, knowledge and experiences of the matter under preparation are obtained. Stakeholders may participate in the actual law drafting or they may ...

The Ministry of Justice has appointed a cooperation group for the development of law drafting for the term from 15 October 2019 to 30 September 2023.

Female genital mutilation will be more explicitly criminalised in the Criminal Code. Taking a minor girl abroad to undergo female genital mutilation will also be criminalised. In the same context, Chapter 21, section 4 of the Criminal Code (infanticide) will be repealed as unnecessary.

According to the Government Programme of Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the Government will draw up a comprehensive action plan for better regulation. The objective of the Action Plan is to improve the quality, planning and transparency of legislative drafting within the Government through various measures.

The Government Programme states that preparation of a cross-administrative democracy programme shall be launched. The National Democracy Programme 2025 covers the numerous measures related to civil society and participation outlined in the Government Programme of Prime Minister Marin. It will function as an umbrella for democracy-related projects to be carried out by different ministries.

Strengthening the Fight against Corruption project, co-funded by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund (ISF).

The Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations (Etno) serves as a national forum for dialogue. The Board brings together migration experts from national, regional and local levels ranging from public officials to civil society representatives. Besides the national Advisory Board, there are seven regional advisory boards for ethnic relations.

From 1 December 2020 to 30 November 2021, the Ministry of Justice will implement the Election Pool project, which will support elections and cooperation between authorities. The project is funded by the European Commission’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme. The objective of the project is to strengthen cooperation among authorities and cooperation with social media in addressing election interference and improving election preparedness.

The project providing Whistleblower Act (1171/2022) training aims to increase awareness of this Act, which will transpose the Whistleblower Directive (2019/1937/EU) into national legislation, among private and public sector organisations and among employees and citizens. The project will disseminate information through communications and training.

Strengthening the Fight against Corruption project, co-funded by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund (ISF).

One of the objectives set out in the Government Programme is to promote democracy and human rights education and the participation of young people and to reinforce the obligation to consult young people. The task of the coordination group is to monitor and support the planning and implementation of the measures.

The Government Programme outlines the preparation of the CSO strategy and its implementation plan. The strategy was adopted as a government resolution in June 2024, and implementation will proceed as planned through legislative projects, reports and other development measures. Implementation will continue until April 2027.

The aim of the Well Planned project is to combat structural discrimination and racism in Finland by boosting practical and professional skills of equality planning. The project is co-funded by the European Union’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme (CERV).

The Ministry of Justice has appointed a cross-administrative working group to prepare the National Programme to Promote Democracy and Participation outlined in Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Government Programme and to coordinate the implementation of the programme within the Government ministries.