Finland
Finland regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Finland's hate crime laws consist of a general penalty enhancement provision. Reported police data include discrimination and defamation offences, which fall outside the OSCE definition of hate crime, although these can be disaggregated. Data on the numbers of prosecutions and sentenced cases are only reported for discrimination cases. Hate crime data are collected by the Police University College of Finland's Research Department, the Interior Ministry, the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice and Statistics Finland. Finland conducts regular victimization surveys to measure unreported hate crime.
OFFICIAL DATA
Year | Hate crimes recorded by police | Prosecuted | Sentenced |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | 1177 | 48 | 42 |
2019 | 900 | 22 | 17 |
2018 | 880 | 55 | 21 |
2017 | 1497 | 63 | 37 |
2016 | 1311 | N/A | N/A |
2015 | 1704 | Not available | Not available |
2014 | 954 | Not available | Not available |
2013 | 904 | Not available | Not available |
2012 | 836 | 38 | 12 |
2011 | 1418 | 29 | 12 |
2010 | 1407 | 38 | Not available |
2009 | 1580 | 41 | Not available |
About 2012 Data
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Unlike in previous years, the 2012 police figures do not include crimes of defamation, other hate speech crimes and crimes of discrimination.
Prosecution and sentencing figures only include crimes of ethnic agitation, aggravated ethnic agitation, discrimination, work discrimination and extortiate discrimination.
Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See
INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Racist and xenophobic hate crime
The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Finland to continue its efforts to ensure racially motivated crimes are promptly identified, investigated and prosecuted.
Anti-LGBTI hate crime
During his visit to Finland, Nils Muižnieks, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, welcomed the specific prohibition on hate crimes based on a bias against sexual orientation and encouraged the inclusion of grounds based on bias against gender identity.
KEY OBSERVATION
ODIHR observes that Finland has not reported information on the numbers of prosecuted or sentenced hate crime cases to ODIHR.