Freedom in the World 2016 - Finland

Freedom Status: Free
Aggregate Score: 100
Freedom Rating: 1.0
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1

Quick Facts

Capital: Helsinki
Population: 5,476,031
GDP/capita: $49,541.30
Press Freedom Status: Free
Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Parliamentary elections in April 2015 resulted in a change of government, as the opposition Center Party (KESK) gained the greatest number of seats and formed a coalition with the incumbent National Coalition Party (KOK) and the controversial anti-immigration Finns Party.

Europe's refugee crisis challenged the new government, with arrivals spiking in the fall and straining available resources and public receptiveness. Meanwhile, the economy continued to shrink, leading to a wide-ranging strike against austerity measures in September that brought much of the transportation system to a standstill for a day. The government and participating unions had not reached an agreement by year's end.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 40 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

The president, whose role is mainly ceremonial, is directly elected for a six-year term. The president appoints the prime minister and deputy prime minister from the majority party or coalition after elections; the selection must be approved by the parliament. Representatives in the 200-seat, unicameral Eduskunta are elected to four-year terms. Elections in Finland are free and fair.

Former finance minister Sauli Niinistö of the KOK handily won the presidency in 2012, defeating the Green League candidate, Pekka Haavisto, with 63 percent of the vote.

In the April 2015 parliamentary elections, the KESK gained 14 seats to become the largest party, with a total of 49. The Finns Party placed second with 38 seats, followed by the moderate conservative KOK with 37 and the Social Democratic Party with 34. The remaining seats were captured by the Green League (15), the Left Alliance (12), the Swedish People's Party (9), and the Christian Democrats (5). A representative of the Åland Islands held one seat. At the end of May, KESK leader and new prime minister Juha Sipilä formed a government with the KOK and the Finns Party. Finns Party leader Timo Soini was appointed foreign minister.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 16 / 16

Finland boasts a robust multiparty system with strong opposition parties.

The position of the Finns Party on the subject of immigration remains a controversial subject, both within and outside the party. While Soini has sought to maintain a more moderate stance, several high-profile party members who serve in the parliament also belong to the nationalist group Suomen Sisu. This faction has expressed fierce disagreement with the party leadership's compromises. Suomen Sisou chairman and Finns Party lawmaker Olli Immonen's anti-immigration statements on social media in July 2015 renewed doubt about whether Soini could maintain control over the party's radical elements. Representative James Hirvisaari was expelled from the party in 2013 for posting pictures online of a friend performing a Nazi salute in the Eduskunta; his expulsion was interpreted by some as an effort to shift the party's image toward the political mainstream. However, more recent incidents have not resulted in similar penalties, including comments by a reserve councilor in Helsinki who called for the forced sterilization of male African immigrants in May 2015. Meanwhile, the Finns Party's participation in the governing coalition apparently cost it some public support, with an October opinion poll showing a drop of 7 percentage points since the elections.

Citizens from minority ethnic groups enjoy full political rights. The Åland Islands – an autonomous region located off the southwestern coast whose inhabitants speak Swedish – have their own 30-seat parliament, as well as a seat in the national legislature. The indigenous Sami of northern Finland have a legislature with limited powers, but they do not have guaranteed representation in the Eduskunta, accounting for less than 0.1 percent of the population.

C. Functioning of Government: 12 / 12

Corruption is not a significant problem in Finland, which was ranked 2 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. A 2009 law was amended the following year to require candidates and parties to report campaign donations of more than €800 ($900) in local elections or €1,500 ($1,700) in parliamentary elections. In a scandal that shocked the country, the former head of Helsinki's police narcotics unit was charged in May 2015 with multiple corruption and drug offenses, including smuggling approximately 1,000 pounds of hashish into Finland. The case was ongoing at year's end.

Civil Liberties: 60 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 16 / 16

Finnish law provides for freedom of speech, which is respected in practice. Finland has a large variety of newspapers and magazines and protects the right to reply to public criticism. Newspapers are privately owned but publicly subsidized. There is also a diverse range of television and radio outlets, and the internet is widely used and unrestricted.

In October 2015, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Finnish authorities had not acted in violation of freedom of expression when they convicted a photographer in 2007 for disobeying the police while covering a 2006 demonstration.

Finns enjoy freedom of religion. The Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church are both state churches and receive public money from the income taxes of members; citizens may exempt themselves from contributing to those funds, but must renounce their membership. Religious communities other than the state churches may also receive state funds. Religious education is part of the curriculum in all secondary public schools, but students may opt out in favor of more general instruction in ethics.

Academic freedom is respected. In March 2015, the parliament voted against ending compulsory teaching of Swedish as a second language in Finland's schools by a large margin. However, legislators approved a motion by the KOK and KESK to allow Russian to be taught instead of Swedish in eastern Finland.

There are no impediments to open and free private discussion.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 12 / 12

Freedoms of association and assembly are upheld in law and in practice. Independence Day celebrations in December 2015 led to unusually violent clashes between right-wing nationalists, anarchist groups, and police in Helsinki. Police temporarily detained 130 people, and 30 had been charged with various offenses by year's end.

Nongovernmental organizations operate without restrictions. Workers have the right to organize and bargain collectively, though public-sector workers who provide services deemed essential may not strike. Approximately 70 percent of workers belong to trade unions. In the country's largest strike in over two decades, tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Helsinki on September 18, 2015, closing down ports, disrupting flights, and stopping train and bus service. The one-day strike was organized to protest the government's recent austerity proposals, which included cutting Sunday and overtime pay and reducing the number of holidays. Negotiations between the government and the unions failed to produce an agreement by the end of 2015.

F. Rule of Law: 16 / 16

The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the courts operate without political interference in practice. The president appoints judges on the recommendation of the justice minister, advised by a Judicial Appointments Board composed mostly of senior judges. The Ministry of the Interior controls police and Border Guard forces.

Ethnic minorities and asylum seekers report occasional police discrimination. The criminal code covers ethnic agitation and penalizes anyone who threatens a racial, national, ethnic, or religious group.

Finland received more than 32,000 asylum applications in 2015. A sudden influx in the fall stretched the country's resources and inflamed political and public resistance to accepting refugees. Authorities struggled to process applications and provide housing for applicants; in September, Prime Minister Sipilä offered up his own home to accommodate some of them. Refugees have been subject to some physical attacks, including attempted arson at an asylum center and an incident in which assailants hurled fireworks and stones at a bus traveling to a reception center, both in September. In the same month, demonstrators in the northern border town of Tornio formed a human chain to stop refugees from entering Finland from Sweden, while pro-immigration demonstrations took place on the Swedish side. Finland abstained from a September vote of European Union interior ministers that approved national quotas for resettling 120,000 refugees currently in Italy and Greece. Under this and other intra-European relocation plans agreed to during 2015, Finland was expected to take in 3,200 asylum seekers over two years.

The constitution guarantees the Sami people cultural autonomy and the right to pursue their traditional livelihoods, which include fishing and reindeer herding. Their language and culture are also protected through public financial support. However, representatives of the community have complained that they cannot exercise their rights in practice and that they do not have the right to self-determination with respect to land use. While Roma also make up a very small percentage of the Finnish population, they are more significantly disadvantaged and marginalized.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 16 / 16

Finland has one of the most expansive legal definitions of "freedom to roam" in the world. Provided the privacy of a private residence is not violated and no environmental damage is incurred, anyone is free to use any land, public and private, for outdoor recreation purposes, without having to seek permission beforehand. Intellectual and physical property rights are upheld in Finland. There are no major obstacles to establishing a business, and the country boasts a well-regulated, transparent, and open economy.

Women enjoy equal rights in Finland. Women hold 41.5 percent of the seats in the Eduskunta. Despite a law stipulating equal pay for equal work, however, women earn only about 85 percent as much as men with the same qualifications. Domestic violence is an ongoing concern.

In late 2014, the parliament passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage after it was submitted by citizens' initiative – a constitutional mechanism whereby petitions with more than 50,000 signatures must be considered by lawmakers. President Niinistö signed the measure in February 2015, but another citizens' initiative to reverse the law gathered the required number of signatures by July. The parliament was expected to debate that proposal in 2016; the same-sex marriage law, if upheld, was scheduled to take effect in 2017.

Finland remains a destination and a transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to sex trafficking and labor exploitation in various industries. According to the U.S. State Department, the government actively prosecutes trafficking offenses, and victims have access to protection and assistance, though victim identification remained a challenge, particularly for child victims.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received
Y = Best Possible Score
Z = Change from Previous Year