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Finland
Summary of Domestic Prohibition
Slavery and slave trade
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Practices similar to slavery
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Servitude
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Forced or compulsory labour
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Human trafficking
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Forced marriage
Provisions related to forced marriage in Finland are found in the 1889 Criminal Code, which addresses deception into a marriage agreement by concealing a legal impediment to a marriage at Article 181, with a potential penalty of imprisonment for up to a year or a fine.
Consent to marriage
There appears to be no legislation in Finland that requires consent to marriage.
Servile marriage
There appears to be no legislation in Finland that prohibits servile matrimonial transactions.
Marriage trafficking
There appears to be no legislation in Finland that prohibits marriage trafficking.
Minimum age for marriage
The minimum age for marriage in Finland is 18, without differentiation by gender, as set out on Article 4 of the 1987 Marriage Act. There are no exceptions allowing marriage below this minimum age.
Region
Western Europe and Others
Regional Court
European Court of Human Rights
Legal System
Civil
International Instruments
International Obligations
- Slavery
- Servitude
- Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery
- Forced Labour
- Human Trafficking
- Marriage Trafficking
- Minimum Age for Marriage
Regional Organisations
- European Court of Human Rights
- Organanisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
- Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
- European Union
- Council of Europe
Legislative Provisions
THE CONSTITUTION OF FINLAND 11 JUNE 1999 (REV. 2011)
Section 7 – The right to life, personal liberty and integrity
Everyone has the right to life, personal liberty, integrity and security. No one shall be sentenced to death, tortured or otherwise treated in a manner violating human dignity. The personal integrity of the individual shall not be violated, nor shall anyone be deprived of liberty arbitrarily or without a reason prescribed by an Act. A penalty involving deprivation of liberty may be imposed only by a court of law. The lawfulness of other cases of deprivation of liberty may be submitted for review by a court of law. The rights of individuals deprived of their liberty shall be guaranteed by an Act.
Section 9 – Freedom of movement
Finnish citizens and foreigners legally resident in Finland have the right to freely move within the country and to choose their place of residence. Everyone has the right to leave the country. Limitations on this right may be provided by an Act, if they are necessary for the purpose of safeguarding legal proceedings or for the enforcement of penalties or for the fulfilment of the duty of national defence. Finnish citizens shall not be prevented from entering Finland or deported or extradited or transferred from Finland to another country against their will. However, it may be laid down by an Act that due to a criminal act, for the purpose of legal proceedings, or in order to enforce a decision concerning the custody or care of a child, a Finnish citizen can be extradited or transferred to a country in which his or her human rights and legal protection are guaranteed. (802/2007) The right of foreigners to enter Finland and to remain in the country is regulated by an Act. A foreigner shall not be deported, extradited or returned to another country, if in consequence he or she is in danger of a death sentence, torture or other treatment violating human dignity.
Section 18 – The right to work and the freedom to engage in commercial activity.
Everyone has the right, as provided by an Act, to earn his or her livelihood by the employment, occupation or commercial activity of his or her choice. The public authorities shall take responsibility for the protection of the labour force. The public authorities shall promote employment and work towards guaranteeing for everyone the right to work. Provisions on the right to receive training that promotes employability are laid down by an Act. No one shall be dismissed from employment without a lawful reason.
Section 22 – Protection of basic rights and liberties
The public authorities shall guarantee the observance of basic rights and liberties and human rights.
THE CRIMINAL CODE OF FINLAND (WITH AMENDMENTS UP TO 2012)
Chapter 11 – War crimes and crimes against humanity
Section 3 – Crime against humanity
A person who, as part of a broad or systematic assault on civilian population,
(1) kills or enslaves another, subjects him or her to trade by offer, purchase, sale or rent, or tortures him or her, or in another manner causes him or her considerable suffering or a serious injury or seriously harms his or her health or destroys a population by subjecting it or a part thereof to destructive living condition or in another manner,
(4) rapes another, subjects him or her to sexual slavery, forces him or her into prostitution, pregnancy or sterilization or commits other
corresponding aggravated sexual violence against him or her,
shall be sentenced for a crime against humanity to imprisonment for at least one year or for life.
An attempt is punishable.
Section 5 – War crime
(1) A person who in connection with a war or other international or domestic armed conflict or occupation in violation of the Geneva conventions on the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armed forces in the field, the amelioration of the condition of wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea, the treatment of prisoners of war or the protection of civilian persons in time of war (Treaties of Finland 8/1955, Geneva conventions) or the additional amendment protocols done in 1949 to the Geneva Conventions, on the protection of victims of international armed conflicts and the protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts (Treaties of Finland 82/1980, I and II protocols) or other rules and customs of international law on war, armed conflict of occupation,
(2) rapes another, subjects him or her to sexual slavery, forces him or her into prostitution, pregnancy or sterilization or commits other corresponding aggravated sexual violence against him or her.
shall be sentenced for a war crime to imprisonment for at least one year or for life.
(3) An attempt is punishable.
Chapter 25 – Offences against personal liberty (578/1995)
Section 1 – Deprivation of personal liberty (578/1995)
A person who by confinement, bondage, transportation or otherwise unlawfully prevents another from moving or isolates him or her shall be sentenced for deprivation of personal liberty to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years.
Section 2 – Aggravated deprivation of personal liberty (578/1995)
If in the deprivation of personal liberty (1) the loss of personal liberty lasts for longer than 72 hours, (2) a serious danger is caused to the life or health of another, or (3) exceptional cruelty or the threat of severe violence is used and the deprivation of personal liberty is aggravated also when assessed as a whole, the offender shall be sentenced for aggravated deprivation of personal liberty to imprisonment for at least four months and at most four years.
Section 3 – Trafficking in human beings (650/2004)
(1) A person who
(1) by abusing the dependent status or vulnerable state of another person,
(2) by deceiving another person or by abusing a mistake made by that person,
(3) by paying remuneration to a person who has control over another person, or
(4) by accepting such remuneration
takes control over another person, recruits, transfers, transports, receives or harbours another person for purposes of sexual abuse referred to in chapter 20, section 9, sub
section 1(1) or comparable sexual abuse, forced labour or other demeaning circumstances or removal of bodily organs or tissues for financial benefit shall be sentenced for trafficking in human beings to imprisonment for at least four months and at most six years.
(2) Also a person who takes control over another person under 18 years of age or recruits, transfers, transports, receives or harbours that person for the purposes mentioned in sub section 1 shall be sentenced for trafficking in human beings even if none of the means referred to in sub section 1(1) – (4) have been used.
(3) An attempt is punishable.
Section 3a – Aggravated trafficking in human beings (650/2004)
(1) If, in trafficking in human beings, (1) violence, threats or deceitfulness is used instead of or in addition to the means referred to in section 3.
(2) grievous bodily harm, a serious illness or a state of mortal danger or comparable particularly grave suffering is intentionally or through gross negligence inflicted on another person,
(3) the offence has been committed against a child younger than 18 years of age or against a person whose capacity to defend himself or herself has been substantially diminished, or
(4) the offence has been committed within the framework of a criminal organisation referred to in chapter 17, section 1a, sub
section 4 and the offence is aggravated also when considered as whole, the offender shall be sentenced for aggravated trafficking in human beings to imprisonment for at least two years and at most ten years. (2) Also, a person who enslaves or keeps another person in servitude, transports or trades in slaves shall be sentenced for aggravated trafficking in human beings if the act is aggravated when assessed as whole. (3) An attempt is punishable.
Section 3(b) – Unlawful obtaining of consent to adoption (28/2012)
A person who by
(1) promising or providing compensation or
(2) misleading or utilization of an error
gets another to give the consent referred to in section 10, subsection 1, section 11, subsection 1 or section 13, subsection 3 of the Adoption Act to adoption of a child under the age of eighteen, shall be sentenced for unlawful obtaining of consent to adoption to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years.
(2) An attempt is punishable.
Section 3(c) – Unlawful arrangement of adoption (28/2012)
(1) If a person other than the one with care and custody of the child or a person other than the provider of adoption advice referred to in section 22 of the Adoption Act or the service provider referred to in section 32 of the Adoption Act places a child under the age of eighteen years with the intent of adoption in a private home to be raised or in another manner arranges for the possibility than someone else adopts the child, he or she shall be sentenced for unlawful arrangement of adoption to a fine or to imprisonment for at most one year.
(2) Also a person who publicly or otherwise among the public circulates an offer to place a child for adoption or takes a child in his or her care with intent of adoption shall also be sentenced for unlawful arrangement of adoption.
Section 8 – Coercion (578/1995)
A person who unlawfully by violence or threat forces another to do, endure or omit to do something shall be sentenced, unless a more severe penalty for the act is provided elsewhere in the law, for coercion to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years.
Section 10 – Corporate criminal liability (650/2005)
The provisions laid down on corporate criminal liability apply to trafficking in human beings and aggravated trafficking in human beings.
THE CRIMINAL CODE OF FINLAND (WITH AMENDMENTS UP TO 2012)
Chapter 18 – Offences against family rights
Section 1
(1) If someone states that his or her name or station is other than what it actually is and if another person is thus deceived into a marriage agreement, or if someone misleads another into a marriage agreement by concealing a legal impediment to marriage or another circumstance that could cause the marriage to be annulled, he or she shall be sentenced to imprisonment for at most one year or to a fine.
(2) If also a wedding is performed or if the deceiver has sexual intercourse with the woman who was misled into the marriage agreement, he shall be sentenced to imprisonment for at least six months and at most two years or, if the circumstances are very aggravating, to imprisonment for at least six months and at most four years.
(3) The public prosecutor may not bring charges for the offense mentioned here unless the injured party has reported the offense for the bringing of charges or applied in court for the annulment of the marriage agreement or of the marriage. (441/2011)
Chapter 21 – Homicide and bodily injury (578/1995) Section 7 – Petty assault (578/1995)
If the assault, when assessed as a whole and with due consideration to the minor significance of the violence, the violation of physical integrity, the damage to health, or other circumstances connected to the offense, is of minor character, the offender shall be sentenced for petty assault to a fine.
Section 16 – Right to bring charges (441/2011)
The public prosecutor may bring charges for petty assault only if the injured party reports the offense for the bringing of charges or the offense was directed at
(1) a person under the age of eighteen years;
(2) the offender’s spouse or former spouse, sibling or direct ascending or descending relative; or a person who lives or has lived in a joint household with the offender or otherwise is or has been in a corresponding personal relationship with the offender or is close to him or her; or
(3) a person due to his or her employment, and the offender is not part of the personnel at the place of employment.
The public prosecutor may bring charges for the negligent bodily injury only if the injured party reports the offense for the bringing of charges.
Section 8 – Coercion (578/1995)
A person who unlawfully, by violence or threat, forces another to do, endure or omit to do something shall be sentenced, unless a more severe penalty for the act is provided elsewhere in the law, for coercion to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years.
Chapter 28 – Theft, embezzlement and unauthorized use (769/1990)
Section 1 Theft (769/1990)
(1) A person who appropriates movable property from the possession of another shall be sentenced for theft to a fine or to imprisonment for at most one year and six months.
(2) An attempt is punishable.
Section 4: Embezzlement (769/1990)
(1) A person who appropriates the assets or other movable property of another that are in the possession of the perpetrator shall be sentenced for embezzlement to a fine or to imprisonment for at most one year and six months.
(2) Also, a person who appropriates assets or other movable property that he or she has found or that have come into his or her possession through an error shall be sentenced for embezzlement.
(3) Also a person who has received funds on account, under a commission or in a similar manner, and who fails to settle the account at the time agreed or
otherwise required, by using said funds or funds that have taken their place, or by otherwise acting in a similar manner, shall be sentenced for embezzlement.
(4) An attempt of the appropriation referred to in subsection 1 is punishable.
Section 9(a): Stealing of a motor vehicle for temporary use (614/2002)
(1) A person who, without authorization, uses a motor vehicle of another shall be sentenced for stealing a motor vehicle for temporary use to a fine or to imprisonment for at most one year and six months.
(2) An attempt is punishable.
Section 15 Right to bring charges (614/2002)
(1) The public prosecutor may not bring charges for the offences referred to in sections 3, 6 through 9, 9c or 10 through 12 unless the injured party has reported the offence for the bringing of charges or unless a very important public interest requires that charges be brought. (441/2011)
(2) What is provided in subsection 1 applies also to the offences referred to in sections 1, 4 and 9a if
(1) The offender lives in the same household as the injured party, and the offense is directed against property in said joint household.
(2) the offense is directed against property belonging to the spouse, sibling or direct ascendant or descendant of the offender,
(3) the offender is a party to a decedent’s estate, and the offense is directed against property of said estate.
Finland Criminal Code-English-PDF.
MARRIAGE ACT
Section 2 (411/1987)
(1) The spouses shall be equal. In the marriage, they shall display mutual trust and together work for the good of the family.
(2) Each spouse shall, herself or himself, have the right to decide whether to engage in gainful employment and in societal and other activities outside the family.
Section 3 (411/1987)
Marriage shall dissolve when one of the spouses dies or when the spouses are granted a divorce.
Section 4 (411/1987)
(1) A person under 18 years of age shall not marry.
(2) The Ministry of Justice may, however, for special reasons grant a person under 18 years of age a dispensation to marry. Before the matter is decided, the custodian of the applicant shall be reserved an opportunity to be heard if his or her whereabouts can be determined with reasonable measures.
Section 18 (411/1987)
(1) A marriage ceremony shall not be performed if the officiator is aware of a fact that forms an impediment to the marriage or if the officiator deems that an engaged person is evidently unable to understand the significance of marriage due to his or her disturbed state of mind.
(2) Before performing the marriage ceremony, the officiator shall make sure that the examination of impediments to marriage has been carried out in accordance with the provisions in sections 11—13. If the certificate referred to in section 13 has been issued more than four months before, the marriage ceremony shall not be performed on the basis thereof.
Section 24 (411/1987)
(1) Upon the joint petition of the spouses or upon the petition of one of the spouses, a court of law may:
(1) order that the spouse who is in greater need of a residence shall have the right to continue to live in the common home;
(2) order the other spouse to vacate the common home; and
(3) give a spouse the right to use movables that belong to the other spouse and which form part of the household goods meant for common use or a tool of the other spouse or which are meant for the personal use of the other spouse or the children; this right of use shall not be restricted by an agreement
concerning the said goods entered into by the owner and a third party.
(2) Paragraph has been repealed.
(3) The court order shall be immediately enforceable, even if it is not yet final, unless otherwise provided in the order.
(4) The court order shall be in force until further notice. Upon the request of a spouse the order may be changed or revoked through a new court order, if the circumstances have changed after the order was issued. The orders referred to in paragraph (1) shall lapse when the distribution of matrimonial property or a separation of property has taken place between the spouses and it has become final. The orders shall in any event lapse two years from the date of the order even if no distribution or separation of property has taken place.
Section 25 (411/1987)
(1) The spouses shall have the right to a divorce after a reconsideration period.
(2) However, the spouses shall have the right to a divorce without a reconsideration period if they have lived separated for the past two years without interruption.
Section 31 (411/1987)
(1) In connection with proceedings relating to divorce or the end of cohabitation, the spouse(s) may request an order on maintenance and child custody and right of access, as well as make other requests pertaining to the divorce or end of cohabitation.
(2) In proceedings relating to divorce or the end of cohabitation, the court may issue an interim order regarding a request referred to in paragraph (1) or an order to end cohabitation.
(3) The interim order shall not be subject to appeal.
(4) The interim order shall be in effect until the court decides on the matter unless the order is changed or revoked prior to that.
Section 32 (411/1987)
(1) In proceedings relating to divorce or the end of cohabitation, the court shall, upon its own initiative, consider how child custody and right of access should be arranged between the spouses, in the best interests of the child.
(2) When considering child custody and right of access, the court shall pay special attention to the fact that the purpose of child custody and right of access is to ensure for the child a positive and close relationship to both parents.
(3) On the request of a parent or the Municipal Board of Social Welfare, the court shall issue an order regarding child custody and right of access, in accordance with the provisions of the Act on Child Custody and Right of Access (361/1983).
Section 33
(1) Marriage shall not restrict the right of a spouse to enter into transactions unless otherwise provided in chapter 2, nor his or her right to sue and be sued.
(2) Spouses may enter also into mutual transactions, taking into account the
provisions in chapter 3.
Section 34
The property that a spouse has when concluding marriage shall remain his or hers.
He or she shall also own what he or she acquires during the marriage.
Section 35
(1) Each spouse shall have a marital right to the property of the other spouse. Under this right, the surviving spouse and the heirs of the deceased spouse, or each of the spouses, shall acquire half of the net property of the spouses at the distribution of matrimonial property, as further provided in Part IV.
(2) A spouse shall, however, not have a marital right to property excluded from the scope of the marital right by a marriage settlement, a gift deed or a will, nor to property acquired in lieu of such property. If it has further been stipulated that no marital right shall exist as to the proceeds of such property, the said stipulation shall be observed.
(3) The provisions on marital right shall apply to a right which cannot be conveyed or which otherwise is of a personal nature only when this is not in contradiction with any specific provisions on such a right.
(4) If the property of a spouse has been surrendered in bankruptcy, neither spouse shall have a marital right to the other spouse’s property if the other spouse so requests in writing from the court referred to in section 43 within a year from the beginning of the bankruptcy. The provisions in section 43(2) on a marriage settlement apply to a written request referred to herein.
Section 37
Property subject to the marital right of the other spouse shall be administered so that it will not unnecessarily decrease to the detriment of the other spouse.
Section 38 (542/1995)
(1) A spouse shall not convey real property intended for use as the common home of the spouses, unless the other spouse consents to the same in writing. However, the consent of the other spouse shall not be necessary, if the property to be conveyed is mainly intended for some other use and if the home and the property on which it stands cannot be excluded from the conveyance without causing a considerable reduction in the value of the real property. The provisions in this paragraph on real property apply also to a building located on the land of another and to the right of use of the land. The establishment of a leasehold over the real property or of another right of use thereof shall be deemed corresponding to a conveyance.
(2) A transaction entered into by one spouse in violation of the provisions in paragraph (1) shall be declared void, if the other spouse brings an action to this effect within three months of becoming aware of the transaction. However, a conveyance of real property shall gain validity, if the title of the acquirer has been registered, and the aquifer did not know nor should have known at the material time that the conveyer was not entitled to convey the property in question. The provisions in this paragraph on the registration of title apply, in so far as appropriate, to the effects of the registration of a leasehold or of another right of use of the real property.
Section 39 (411/1987)
(1) Without the consent of the other spouse, a spouse shall not convey or transfer:
(1) Subparagraph has been repealed.
(2) Stock, a leasehold or other rights entitling to the possession of an apartment which is intended solely or mainly to be used as the common home of the spouses;
(3) movable property which forms part of the common household goods used by both spouses;
(4) any necessary tools used by the other spouse; or
(5) movable property which is meant for the personal use of the other spouse or the children.
(2) Consent of the other spouse is, however, not necessary with regard to property referred to in paragraph (1)(3)—(1)(5) if obtaining the consent would cause unreasonable inconvenience and delay due to the absence of the other spouse or other comparable reason.
(3) A transaction concluded without complying with the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be declared void and the acquirer of the property or right shall be ordered to restore the property or right if the other spouse brings an action thereon within three months after becoming aware of the transaction. The transaction shall, however, gain validity if the acquirer of the property or right has obtained possession of the apartment or other movable property and if he or she at the material time had reason to assume that:
(1) the other spouse had given his or her consent to the transaction or had
approved it;
(2) the spouse was, under paragraph (2), entitled alone to dispose of the property;
or (3) the property in question was not property referred to in paragraph (1).
(4) The above provisions on conveyance shall apply also to a transaction conveying the common home referred to in paragraph (1)(1)—(1)(2) as well as to a transfer of a right of usufruct or possession of property referred to in paragraph (1)(3)—(1)(5) to a third party. The right of a spouse to give notice on a residential lease shall be governed by the provisions of the Act on Residential Leases.
Section 40a (139/1964)
(1) If a spouse, without due regard to the marital right of the other spouse, by donating property other than that referred to in section 38, has caused his or her property essentially to decrease and if, in the distribution of matrimonial property referred to in section 85, the other spouse cannot get full compensation therefor, and if the donee knew or should have known that the gift violated the right of the other spouse, the gift or its value shall be restored in so far as necessary to satisfy the right of the other spouse. The value of the gift shall be determined as of the date when it was fulfilled unless the circumstances require otherwise.
(2) The action for restitution shall be brought within one year of the distribution of matrimonial property; however, no later than within ten years from the fulfilment of the gift.
(3) If an obligation given in the form of a promise of a gift has not been fulfilled at the time of the distribution of matrimonial property, it shall not be fulfilled in so far as it violates the rights of the other spouse.
Section 41
(1) In a marriage settlement concluded before or during the marriage, the engaged persons or spouses may exclude from the marital right any property owned or later acquired by a spouse. Likewise they may agree to restore the marital right of a spouse to property previously excluded from the said right by way of a prior marriage settlement.
(2) Agreements between engaged persons or spouses may not effect other than the above exceptions to the provisions on the property relations between the spouses.
Section 46 (411/1987)
(1) Each spouse shall participate in the common household of the family and the maintenance of the spouses to the best of his or her abilities. The maintenance of the spouses means the fulfilment of the common needs of the spouses as well as the personal needs of each spouse.
(2) The amount of maintenance payable to a spouse and the manner of its payment may be confirmed by agreement or by court order.
(3) The right of a child to receive maintenance from his or her parents shall be governed by the Act on Child Maintenance (704/1975).
Section 47 (411/1987)
If a spouse neglects his or her maintenance obligation or if the spouses are
separated, the court may order a spouse to pay maintenance to the other spouse in accordance with the principles laid down in section 46.
Section 48 (411/1987)
(1) When the spouses are granted a divorce and a spouse is deemed to be in need of maintenance, the court may order the other spouse to pay him or her maintenance deemed reasonable with a view to his or her ability and other circumstances.
(2) Maintenance may be ordered to be paid until further notice or until the end of a period determined in the order. The maintenance may, however, be ordered to be paid as a lump sum if necessary with a view to the financial and other circumstances of the spouse ordered to pay it.
(3) The obligation to pay maintenance in periodic instalments shall lapse if the spouse to whom the maintenance is granted remarries.
Section 64
(1) If a spouse assists the other spouse in the latter’s business and wants to receive compensation therefor, he or she shall prove that compensation was agreed upon or meant to be paid, or that its payment, with a view to the nature of the work and the other circumstances, is to be deemed reasonable.
(2) If no compensation was agreed upon, action therefor shall be brought within a year from the end of the calendar year during which the work was performed. Compensation paid thereafter shall be deemed a gift.
Section 85 (411/1987)
(1) When proceedings relating to divorce are pending or when the marriage has been dissolved, a distribution of matrimonial property shall be carried out if a spouse or an heir of the deceased spouse so demands.
(2) If neither s- ouse has a marital right to the property of the other spouse, a separation of the property of the spouses shall be carried out instead of the distribution.
(3) If the spouses have joint property, the said property shall be divided upon request when the matrimonial property is being distributed or the property of the spouses separated.