Law enforcement in Finland is the responsibility of several agencies. The Police of Finland, a national police agency, is responsible for most tasks. [1] The two other main agencies are the Finnish Border/Coast Guards and the Finnish Customs. Examples of other agencies with limited policing powers are the Finnish Defence Forces, municipal parking inspectors and railway staff.
The Police of Finland is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior and divided into the National Police Board, two national units and 11 local police departments. Within departments, there is a division between uniformed patrol police (järjestyspoliisi, "order police") and criminal investigation (rikospoliisi, "crime police"). The function of each police department is to maintain general law and order, prevent crime, investigate crime and other events that threaten public order and safety, carry out traffic control and surveillance, and promote traffic safety.
The Police University College (Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu, Polamk) is the national university-level unit responsible for general police training, research and development. [2] The National Bureau of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi, KRP) is the national unit tasked with fighting international, organised and serious crime.
The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Suojelupoliisi, Supo) specializes in the prevention of security threats of the State, such as counterintelligence and terrorism. [3] Supo was an agency under police administration, but was transferred under the direct control of the Ministry of the Interior in 2016. [4]
The Finnish Border Guard have police powers in border zones; likewise, Finnish Customs have police powers when dealing with arriving persons and goods. Within their fields of work, the Customs and Border Guard officers have most police powers. In the Customs, the power to arrest is delegated to the level of senior customs inspectors. In the Border Guard, the power to arrest is delegated to the level of border control detachments commander. [5] The Border Guard is also responsible for search and rescue and maritime search and rescue. The Customs may utilize all investigative police powers, with the exception of the use of deep-cover personnel and sting operations. [6] The Border Guard may use almost all investigative powers. The Customs also occasionally enforces laws such as fuel taxes and vehicle traffic-worthiness, without connection to imported goods.
PCB (police, border guard and customs) is a scheme for cooperation between the police, border guard and customs. In a PCB patrol, there is a patrol from two of the agencies: For instance, two officers from customs and two from police – who then get acquainted with each other's tasks and expertise. Another form of PCB cooperation is in criminal intelligence – whereby the different disciplines share the same intelligence and situation centers.
The Finnish Defence Forces have provost duties and jurisdiction within military installations. The Defence Forces also have the right to investigate all military crimes and most crimes committed by service-men against non-civilians. In addition, the Defence Forces have the right to conduct counter-espionage and counter-sabotage activities related to national defence. However, the Finnish Security Intelligence Service conducts actual criminal investigations of state security-related crimes within the Defence Forces. Military unit commanders have jurisdiction of investigations over minor infractions. [7] [8]
The power to arrest is delegated to the company commander level. More serious crimes are investigated by the investigative section of the Finnish Defence Command or by the military attorneys of lower command levels. Security-related military police activities and all technical surveillance activities are carried out by the investigative section of the Defence Command. The Defence Forces do not have the right to conduct wiretaps or other similar measures on Finnish civilian telecommunications. [7] [8]
The police may request assistance in performing their duties from the Defence Forces or other agencies – for example when special equipment or competency is required. The operation itself remains under the command of the police. Military units (brigades) usually keep a company under readiness for assistance at all times; the turn rotates among companies and requires them to forego regular leave. In practice, the Defence Forces have assisted in disposal of explosives, provided Pasi armored vehicles for operations against heavily armed suspects (e.g. the Kauhajoki shooting), and conscript manpower for searching missing persons in terrain and in supporting the 2015 refugee crisis. [9] Finnish military police and investigative command would assume a more extensive set of tasks in wartime.
Games and fisheries wardens (erätarkastaja) are law enforcement officials employed by Metsähallitus ("Forest Administration"), who inspect and enforce permits within state-owned lands managed by Metsähallitus. The wardens have the same police training and powers as regular police. [10]
Nuclear security guards (turvahenkilö) have a special status defined in the Nuclear Energy Act (1987), different from that of regular private security guards or regular police. They are empowered as "personnel temporarily assisting the police", and as such, have the same right to use force as the police, provided that the police is immediately informed of an incident. [11] In practice, nuclear security guards are equipped with firearms such as shotguns and submachine guns, which is not generally permitted for private security guards. Nuclear security guards are employed either by a security company or the power company itself. [12]
Municipal parking inspectors, train conductors and ticket inspectors, and games and fishing inspectors have limited police powers.
The Ministry of the Interior has the authority to grant police powers to any person for a specific task and to the degree necessary.
The Police of Finland is supported by two voluntary organisations: Vapepa, the voluntary rescue service (Finnish : Vapaaehtoinen pelastuspalvelu), and the SRVA, the assistance organisation for large game situations (Finnish : suurriistavirka-apu). Neither organisation uses police powers during assistance missions.
The most typical support mission for the Vapepa is a search mission. The organisation is composed of volunteers trained in the search of missing persons, who can be alerted by the local police for a search with a reasonably short response time. [13] For example, in a recent case, the person was reported missing at 4 PM, the Vapepa search operation started with 42 volunteers at 7 PM, and continued at 7 AM the following morning, after being stopped at 4 AM, with more than 100 volunteers. [14] [15] In addition, the Vapepa may support police in communications or first-response logistics and psychological care. [16]
The SRVA is a voluntary activity organised by the semi-governmental hunting district associations (Finnish : riistanhoitoyhdistys). The SRVA personnel are experienced hunters trained for police assistance, and they provide hounds and armed hunters to track and euthanise large game that has been wounded in a traffic accident or that police has decided to euthanise to prevent danger to human safety. [17]
The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) (Finnish: Puolustusvoimat, Swedish: Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy, and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime, the Finnish Border Guard becomes part of the Finnish Defence Forces.
In Finland a rekisteröity yhdistys or registrerad förening (Swedish) is a registered, non-profit organization. The abbreviations ry (Finnish), rf (Swedish) or rs are used as a suffix ending of the association's name, added when the association is officially registered. Registration is not mandatory, but is required in order for the association to become a juridical person, which confers various benefits. Registration requires the association to create a legally sound constitution, which must be approved by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
The Finnish Border Guard is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. It is a military organisation, subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior in administrative issues and to the president of Finland in issues pertaining to his authority as Commander-in-Chief. The agency has police and investigative powers in immigration matters and can independently investigate immigration violations. The Finnish Coast Guard has search and rescue (SAR) duties, both maritime and inland. Missions inland are often carried out in co-operation with local fire and rescue departments or other authorities.
The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French maître de conférences (MCF), and equal to or above the title of assistant professor. In Southeast European countries, it is the first position that people achieve once they enter the University, and after the completion of their PhD degree.
Security police usually describes a law enforcement agency which focuses primarily on providing security and law enforcement services to particular areas or specific properties. They may be employed by governmental, public, or private institutions. Security police are generally considered distinct from security guards as security police personnel typically hold some level of law enforcement authority. The exact powers held by security police vary widely between jurisdictions. Examples of these types of agencies include the United States' DoD Police and FBI Police, the Indian Central Industrial Security Force, and the British Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
The Finnish Government is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility and represents Finland in the Council of the European Union. In the incumbent Orpo Cabinet, the Government comprises 19 ministers leading 12 ministries.
The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, formerly the Finnish Security Police and Finnish Security Intelligence Service, is the security and intelligence agency of Finland in charge of national security, such as counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. The agency had a distinct role during the Cold War in monitoring communists as well as in the balance between Finnish independence and Soviet appeasement. After the 1990s, Supo has focused more on countering terrorism and in the 2010s, on preventing hybrid operations.
Human rights in Finland are freedom of speech, religion, association, and assembly as upheld in law and in practice. Individuals are guaranteed basic rights under the constitution, by legislative acts, and in treaties relating to human rights ratified by the Finnish government. The constitution provides for an independent judiciary.
A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard and rescue service duties.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is a national law enforcement agency of the Finnish Police and the principal criminal investigation and criminal intelligence organization of Finland. The Bureau's main tasks are to counter and investigate organized crime, provide expert services, and develop methods for criminal investigation. NBI is also responsible for financial intelligence (FININT), such as preventing money laundering and terrorism financing. NBI headquarters has been situated in the city of Vantaa within the Capital Region since 1994 with field offices in Tampere, Turku, Mariehamn, Joensuu, Oulu and Rovaniemi. It is subordinate to the National Police Board under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry.
Law enforcement in Albania is the responsibility of several agencies. The responsibility for most tasks lies with the Albanian State Police, a national police agency, which is under the authority of Ministry of Internal Affairs. Examples of other agencies with limited policing powers are the Municipal Police, which has administrative functions and operates in the local level. They are controlled by mayors.
In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several law enforcement agencies, police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the applicable law.
The federal government of the United States empowers a wide range of federal law enforcement agencies to maintain law and public order related to matters affecting the country as a whole.
Law enforcement in Poland consists of the Police (Policja), City Guards, and several smaller specialised agencies. The Prokuratura Krajowa and an independent judiciary also play an important role in the maintenance of law and order.
The law of Finland is based on the civil law tradition, consisting mostly of statutory law promulgated by the Parliament of Finland. The constitution of Finland, originally approved in 1919 and rewritten in 2000, has supreme authority and sets the most important procedures for enacting and applying legislation. As in civil law systems in general, judicial decisions are not generally authoritative and there is little precedent. Supreme Court decisions can be cited, but the courts are not required to adhere to previous decisions.
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The Police of Finland is a national government agency responsible for general police and law enforcement matters in the Republic of Finland. The Police of Finland is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior and consists of the National Police Board, two national police units and 11 local police departments.
