Finnish courts could reduce sentences for guilty pleas

A working group has been established in Finland to investigate the possibility of reducing sentences for the exchange of an admission of guilt.

The Green League’s Justice Minister Tuija Brax has set up the group to determine whether such a scheme, used most notably in the United Kingdom, could be appropriate in Finland. Brax suggested that the practice could be beneficial in complicated economic crimes, adding that some lengthy legal proceedings would be greatly sped up by confession, as reported in Helsingin Sanomat.

The initiative comes as Finland seeks to improve its poor track record surrounding excessively long trial proceedings, something which has come under constant scrutiny from both the Prosecutor General and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR has itself issued Finland some 40 condemnatory decisions over European Human Rights Treaty violations in relation to delays in fair trials.

Brax has stressed that although the matter is under consideration no decisions have yet been made. “It is a noteworthy alternative. Otherwise we would not use our limited resources for such examinations,” Brax claimed. “The overall benefit for society would be that a confession would lead to a slightly reduced sentence,” Brax added.

Under the scheme, a perpetrator could have his prison sentence automatically reduced by one-fifth by providing a confession. The sentence reduction would be subjected to court ruling to determine its credibility.

The Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE has also implied that the government may introduce reduced sentences for the payment of pecuniary compensation as used in Germany. However, Brax dismissed these claims saying that such practices do not comply with Finnish law. ”Such a practice would lead to inequality between rich and poor people,” Brax concluded.