Chapter 2
Punishments

Section 3 (613/1974)

A sentence of life imprisonment shall be imposed instead of imprisonment in the penitentiary for life. A sentence of imprisonment shall be imposed instead of imprisonment in the penitentiary for a fixed term in accordance with the penal scale specified for imprisonment in the penitentiary in the appropriate penal provision. If no specific minimum and maximum terms have been determined in the penal provision, a sentence of imprisonment of at least six months and at most twelve years shall be imposed instead of imprisonment in the penitentiary.

Chapter 2
Punishments

Section 3 (613/1974)

The provisions on imprisonment in the penitentiary for life also apply to life imprisonment.

Chapter 2
Punishments

Section 10 (604/2002)

A public official, a person holding a public position of trust or a person exercising public authority who is sentenced to life imprisonment shall also be sentenced to be removed from office. A person shall also be sentenced to be removed from office if he or she is sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term of at least two years, unless the court deems that the offence does not demonstrate that the sentenced person is unsuitable to serve as a public official or attend to a public function.

Chapter 2c (780/2005)
Imprisonment and combination sentence (800/2017)

General provisions

Section 2 (780/2005)
Length of imprisonment

A sentence of imprisonment is imposed for a fixed term or for life.

A fixed-term sentence of imprisonment is imposed for at least fourteen days and at most twelve years or, when imposing a joint sentence under chapter 7, for at most fifteen years.

Chapter 2c (780/2005)
Imprisonment and combination sentence (800/2017)

Conditional release

Section 10 (1099/2010)
Conditional release from life imprisonment

A person sentenced to life imprisonment may be conditionally released at the earliest once he or she has served twelve years in prison. A person sentenced to life imprisonment for an offence committed below the age of 21 may be conditionally released at the earliest once he or she has served ten years in prison.

When considering conditional release, attention shall be paid to the nature of the offence or offences that had led to the sentence of life imprisonment, other punishments that were incorporated into the sentence of life imprisonment or that have been served during the period to be served in prison referred to in section 10a, other possible subsequent criminality of the sentenced person, and the circumstances referred to in section 9, subsection 2. When considering the release, account shall be taken of the implementation of the sentence plan referred to in chapter 4, section 6 of the Imprisonment Act and of the behaviour of the prisoner while in prison also in other respects. The commitment of the prisoner to complying with the conditions of medical treatment referred to in section 4 of the Act on Probationary Liberty under Supervision (629/2013) and of other possible related treatment and support may also be taken into account in the consideration. (628/2013)

Before a person sentenced to life imprisonment is conditionally released, he or she may be placed in probationary liberty under supervision. If the Central Administration of the Criminal Sanctions Agency considers that conditional release of a prisoner shall be reconsidered because he or she is found to have committed an offence before the conditional release, because the consent referred to in section 23, subsection 1 of the Act on Probationary Liberty under Supervision has been revoked, or because probationary liberty referred to in section 26, subsection 1 of the said Act has been revoked, it shall refer the matter for reconsideration to the Helsinki Court of Appeal. The same procedure shall be followed in matters concerning time counted as part of the term of sentence as referred to in section 28 of the Act on Probationary Liberty under Supervision and in chapter 3, section 7 of the Imprisonment Act. (628/2013)

Provisions on the consideration of such a matter at the Helsinki Court of Appeal are laid down in the Act on the Procedure for the Release of Life Prisoners (781/2005). (800/2017)

Chapter 11 (212/2008)
War crimes and crimes against humanity

Section 1 (212/2008)
Genocide

A person who, for the purpose of entirely or partially destroying a national, ethnical, racial or religious group or another comparable group,

1) kills members of the group,
2) causes serious bodily or mental illness or injuries to members of the group,
3) inflicts on the group conditions of life that can bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,
4) imposes forcible measures intended to prevent births within the group, or
5) forcibly transfers children from one group to another shall be sentenced for genocide to imprisonment for at least four years or for life.

An attempt is punishable.

Chapter 11 (212/2008)
War crimes and crimes against humanity

Section 3 (212/2008)
Crime against humanity

A person who, as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population,

1) kills or enslaves another person, subjects him or her to trade by making an offer, purchasing, selling or renting, or tortures him or her, or in some other manner causes him or her great suffering or a serious injury or seriously harms his or her health, or destroys people by inflicting on a population or part of it destructive conditions of life or in some other manner,
2) deports or forcibly transfers population lawfully residing in an area,
3) imprisons a person or otherwise deprives him or her of his or her liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law or causes the enforced disappearance of a person who has been deprived of his or her liberty,
4) rapes another person, subjects him or her to sexual slavery, forces him or her into prostitution, pregnancy or sterilisation or commits other sexual violence of comparable gravity against him or her, or
5) engages in racial discrimination or persecutes an identifiable group or collectivity on the basis of political opinion, race, nationality, ethnic origin, culture, religion or gender or on other comparable grounds

shall be sentenced for a crime against humanity to imprisonment for at least one year or for life.

An attempt is punishable.

Chapter 11 (212/2008)
War crimes and crimes against humanity

Section 4a (1718/2015)
Crime of aggression

If a person in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military action of a state commits an act of aggression which, by its character, gravity and scale, constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations (Finnish Treaty Series 1/1956), the person shall be sentenced for a crime of aggression to imprisonment for at least four years or for life.

An attempt is punishable.

An act of aggression means the use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations.

The following acts committed by a state or the armed forces of a state, regardless of a declaration of war, shall, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974, qualify as acts of aggression:

1) the invasion or attack of the territory of another state, any military occupation resulting from such invasion or attack, and any annexation of the territory of another state or part of it,
2) bombardment against the territory of another state and the use of any weapons against the territory of another state,
3) the blockade of the ports or coast of another state,
4) an attack on the land, sea or air forces, or marine and air fleets of another state,
5) the use of armed forces of one state which are within the territory of another state with the agreement of the receiving state, in contravention of the conditions provided for in the agreement or any extension of their presence in such territory beyond the termination of the agreement,
6) the action of a state in allowing its territory, which it has placed at the disposal of another state, to be used by that other state for perpetrating an act of aggression against a third state,
7) the sending by or on behalf of a state of armed bands, groups, irregulars or mercenaries, which carry out acts against another state of such gravity as to be comparable to the acts referred to in paragraphs 1–6, or its substantial involvement in the sending of these.