Finland
| Author | Clifford Jandal, Rene Calderon, Nathan Moran, Robert Hanser |
| Pages | 386-394 |
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Official country name: Republic of Finland
Capital: Helsinki
Geographic description: On the Scandinavian Peninsula in northern Europe, between Sweden and Norway on the west and Russia on the east
Population: 5,223,442 (est. 2005)
How the Finnish people came to live in the area known as Finland is debated. Some scholars believe that the original home of the Finnish people was in what is now known as west central Siberia. It is a recognized fact that the Finnish people came to the region they call Finland several thousand years ago.
It is known with the introduction of Christianity by King Eric of Sweden that a relationship between the Swedish people and Finnish people began around 1154. The Finnish people became incorporated into Sweden's political and military systems after the 1362 election of the Swedish king. Around the twelfth century the Swedish language became the dominant language of the people. Though Finland belonged to the dual kingdom of Sweden-Finland, its inhabitants were allowed to manage local affairs themselves. In 1432 Finland was able to have representation in the Kingdom of Sweden's governing body known as the Riksdag (Diet of the Four Estates). In 1809 the Russian Army under the command of Alexander I conquered the Finnish region and Finland was ceded by Sweden to Russia. Finland became a grand duchy of the Russian Empire and remained so until the end of 1917.
When the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia erupted on December 6, 1917, Finland declared its independence. In 1918 Finland erupted into a catastrophic civil war between the Whites and the Reds. In only a few months about 30,000 Finns perished. Most of the casualties were a result of summary executions and deaths of individuals in detention camps. This civil war resulted in the deaths of 1 percent of the population.
World War II again brought war to the Finnish people. The Finnish Army fought the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939–1940 and again in the Continuation War of 1941–1944. The Lapland War of 1944–1945 had the Finnish Army fighting the retreating Germans who were fleeing northern Finland. In 1947 Finland signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union. Finland had to reduce its defense forces and concede
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territories. It also agreed to pay $300 million gold for war reparations to the Soviet Union. In 1948 Finland signed an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union. This treaty obligated Finland and the Soviet Union to come to each others aid in time of war.
In 1991 the dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred and Finland began to seek greater participation in Western political and economic structures. In 1995 Finland became a member of the European Union.
Concerning the development of Finnish police, in 1816 in the town of Turku, the Chambers of Police were established to keep order, prevent crimes and breaches of the peace, and act as courts for minor offenses. These Chambers of Police became officially known as police departments in 1861. In 1903 all the different town police departments became part of the state administration. The Police Act of 1925 brought the rural police with the town police under the same set of regulations. The Police Act of 1967 superseded all previous legislation and regulations pertaining to the police. In 1973 amendments were made to the Police Act of 1967 in an effort to improve relations between the police and the public.
Per the 1973 amendment, the Finnish police were organized under the direction of the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for local and regional administration and for internal security in Finland. Under the minister of the interior's authority are the Police Department, Department for Rescue Services, Immigration Department, and the Frontier Guard Department. The Ministry of the Interior's Police Department is the Supreme Police Command of Finland. The Police Department is responsible for managing and developing police activities and for making decisions on national strategies. The Supreme Police Command creates procedures for all other police departments. The Police Department also provides expertise for internal security matters and attends to matters related to private security, money collection, lotteries, firearms, and amusement machines. The national police commissioner is in charge of the operations of the Police Department and makes decisions on police strategies and priorities. The national police commissioner is also responsible for public relations, cooperation with interest groups, and strategies concerning international operations.
The national police units in Finland consist of the National Bureau of Investigation, the National Traffic Police, and the Security Police.
The government of Finland is a constitutional republic, with the current constitution taking effect on July 17, 1919. To ensure a system of checks and balances, the government is divided into three overlapping branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive branch includes the president, the prime minister, and the Council of State.
The president is elected for a six-year term. The president's primary responsibility is national security and foreign affairs. The president is the chief of the armed forces but does not make decisions related to war. The president has the power to initiate legislation, pocket veto, and the right to call Eduskunta (Parliament) to session. The Council of State executes the president's executive decisions, and his legislative powers are implemented by the Eduskunta. The president determines what legislative proposals are sent to the Eduskunta after the Council of State drafts the government bills and he or she approves them. It is important that the president works well with the members of the Eduskunta if he or she wishes to accomplish his or her goals. The president has the power to nominate ministers, but his or her choices have to be accepted by the Eduskunta. He or she can be removed from office and tried by the Supreme Court if the Eduskunta decides by a three-quarters majority that he or she has committed treason.
The prime minister heads the Council of State and Prime Minister's Office. The Prime Minister's Office is responsible for monitoring implementation of the different governmental programs and assisting the prime minister in the general management of government functions. The Prime Minister's Office also coordinates Finland's European Union policy. The prime minister is the political leader of the government and is responsible for mediating the different views on government policy by the various groups represented in the government. The Finnish constitution was rewritten in March 2000 and increased the prime minister's authority. The president can dissolve the Eduskunta and call fresh elections only with the authority of the prime minister. The prime minister chairs sessions of the government and has the right to decide the order of business in these sessions. The prime minister will also stand in for the president in cases where it is known in advance that the president will be abroad during decision-making times in sessions of the government.
The Council of State shares executive power with the president and is responsible for managing the governmental machinery. This branch writes and prepares most legislation and bills presented to the Eduskunta. There are thirteen ministries in Finland. All matters to be decided by the government are prepared in these ministries. Each ministry has an area of responsibility with an appointed minister. Any matter in the government that does not fall within the scope of one of these ministries is handled by the Prime Minister's Office. One important member of the Council of State is the chancellor of justice. The president appoints this position for life. He or she is not a minister but is obliged to attend all
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meetings of the council to review its proceedings for legality. He or she also reviews the actions of the president and reports infractions to the Council of State. The Responsibility of Ministers Act of 1922 is a constitutional act and was set up as an indirect way of controlling the president's actions. Since many of the president's decisions are approved by the Council of State, ministers can be held liable for approving an illegal act.
Finland's legislative body consists of a 200-member parliament known as the Eduskunta. The Eduskunta was formed in 1906 after a military defeat in East Asia weakened the Russian Empire. The Parliament Act of 1928 decided that members of the Eduskunta were to be elected for four-year terms. All citizens who are twenty years of age or older and are not in the professional military may serve in the Eduskunta. The Eduskunta is the country's highest governing body because it represents the people and the people have sovereign power. The Eduskunta is closely tied to the president and the Council of State. "Neither the President nor the Council of State is able to carry out many executive functions without the support of the Eduskunta" (Solsten and Meditz 1990). The Eduskunta approves the government's...
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