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3 - Day Fines in Finland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2021

By
Raimo Lahti
Edited by
Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko  and
Michael Faure
Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko
Affiliation:
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Michael Faure
Affiliation:
Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands
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Summary

In 1921, Finland was the first Nordic country to introduce the day fine system into its system of criminal sanctions. The main reason for adopting the new system was an attempt to introduce a system where fines would have an equal impact on people with varying means.An important objective of the total reform of Finnish criminal law (1980–2003) was to reduce of custodial sentences and, therefore, the increased use of financial sanctions had a preference. In a comparative analysis day fines are imposed to very great extent in Finland.There has been a general satisfaction with the fining system in Finland.The efficiency of the day fine system has been furthered by the detailed provisions on the assessment of the person’s income and the effective enforcement of fines. As for the future of the fining system, there is an urgent need of coordinating various punitive pecuniary sanctions (whether they are criminal in nature or administrative and whether they are day fines or fixed fines).

Keywords

Finalndday finesfixed finesadministrative finesassessing incomeconversion sentencedistribution of penaltiescomparison of the use of fines
Type
Chapter
Information
Day Fines in Europe
Assessing Income-Based Sanctions in Criminal Justice Systems
 , pp. 24 - 43
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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