NCJ Number
131197
Date Published
1990
Length
155 pages
Annotation
This report is part of the first wave of field reports prepared to assess the major effects of Finland's 1989 Pretrial Investigation Act.
Abstract
The law systematizes the norms for pretrial investigation, many of which had previously been based on Ministry of the Interior circulars or common police practice. The first wave of reports on the law's effects covers seven police districts that range from a small rural district to the national capital. The reports describe police practice in pretrial investigation prior to the new legislation. The field work was conducted during the second half of 1988 and consisted of thematic interviews with police officers, chiefs of police, and numerous other civil servants as well as pretrial detainees. All of the parties interviewed had direct knowledge and experience of pretrial investigative practice. The new law is designed to enhance the defendant's protection against investigative practices injurious to a proper defense. The availability of counsel, the defendant's freedom from undue inconvenience, and the involvement of social welfare authorities in the pretrial stages of cases involving juveniles are all mandated in the new law. Suspects must also be notified of the offense of which they are suspected, even if no charge has yet been specified. The findings indicate that even prior to the new law, police were cautious in using coercion in pretrial investigations. Overall police pretrial investigations prior to the law reform were in accordance with the dictates of the new law.