Current Version
| Region | Finland |
| Issue | Hate crime protections |
| Status | Sexual orientation and gender identity |
| Start Date | May 20, 2011 |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | Making available to the public, or otherwise disseminating among the public, or keeping available to the public, information, an opinion or other message which threatens, defames or insults a group based on the grounds of sexual orientation or any other comparable grounds is criminalised, and punishable by a fine or imprisonment up to two years under Chapter 11, article 10§ of the Criminal Law. Gender and sexual orientation as a motive for any criminal offense are grounds for increasing the punishment according to Criminal Law's Chapter 6, article 5§ subsection 4). |
| Sources | https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/1889/39-001#chp_11__sec_10 https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/1889/39-001#chp_6__sec_5 |
Revision History (2)
edited by Katti. Sources are out of date and severely unreliable, the quoted law was also misinterpreted and misunderstood.
Helpful?
0 | Old Value (Original) | New Value (Current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Value | Sexual orientation only | Sexual orientation and gender identity |
| Start Date | Jan 1, 2011 | May 20, 2011 |
| Description | There is legal protection from hate crimes based on sexual orientation under Section 5(4) of the Criminal Code of Finland. | Making available to the public, or otherwise disseminating among the public, or keeping available to the public, information, an opinion or other message which threatens, defames or insults a group based on the grounds of sexual orientation or any other comparable grounds is criminalised, and punishable by a fine or imprisonment up to two years under Chapter 11, article 10§ of the Criminal Law. Gender and sexual orientation as a motive for any criminal offense are grounds for increasing the punishment according to Criminal Law's Chapter 6, article 5§ subsection 4). |
Show Difference | ||
| Sources | https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/uploads/res/document/fin/the-criminal-code-of-finland_html/Criminal_code_of_Finland.pdf https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2013-08/js2uprfins132012jointsubmission2e.pdf | https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/1889/39-001#chp_11__sec_10 https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/1889/39-001#chp_6__sec_5 |
Show Difference | ||
| Original entry | |
|---|---|
| Status | Sexual orientation only |
| Start Date | Jan 1, 2011 |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | There is legal protection from hate crimes based on sexual orientation under Section 5(4) of the Criminal Code of Finland. |
| Sources | https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/uploads/res/document/fin/the-criminal-code-of-finland_html/Criminal_code_of_Finland.pdf https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2013-08/js2uprfins132012jointsubmission2e.pdf |
Reports (1)
- Note field is incorrect "Sited law, which was changed in 25.4.2025 (https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/saadoskokoelma/2025/178#OT0), is not a law meant for protection against hate crimes. Instead, that specific law states the legal grounds for increasing the punishment for any sentenced crime. Nowadays that also includes the victim's gender for the offence motive.
Hate speech was criminalized in 2011 under criminal law chapter 11, 10§: "Anyone who makes available to the public, or otherwise disseminates among the public, or keeps available to the public, information, an opinion or other message which threatens, defames or insults a group on the grounds of race, skin colour, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation or disability, or any other comparable ground, shall be convicted of incitement against a population group and punished by a fine or by imprisonment for up to two years." (https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/saadoskokoelma/2011/511)
The quoted sources are questionable for reliable information. Instead, the official website of the Finnish law, created and maintained by the Finnish government should be used: Finlex.fi .
It also should be noted, that in both laws, gender or gender indentity is applicable when it comes to "any other comparable ground" which is mentioned in the criminal law."