NCJ Number
138793
Date Published
1991
Length
173 pages
Annotation
Official police and court statistics were used to compile this 17th annual review of crime and criminal justice in Finland.
Abstract
In 1990, crimes against the Finnish Criminal Code accounted for 51 percent of all known crimes; traffic crimes represented 43 percent of all known crimes, while property crimes accounted for 81 percent of crimes against the criminal code. The offenses illustrated in this report include homicide, assault, robbery, theft, motor vehicle theft, embezzlement, fraud, property damage, drunken driving and other traffic law violations. Statistics on crime against labor protection laws, tax crimes, and drug law offenses are also presented. In comparison to other Scandinavian countries, Finland has the lowest rates of check forgeries and fraud, burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts; Finland and Norway are ranked lower than Sweden and Denmark in terms of total property offenses. In Finland, the number of persons prosecuted increased by 13 percent between 1982 and 1987, while the number of offenders sentenced increased by 14 percent. Most offenders were fined, while only 7 percent were imprisoned. While the daily average prison population has declined in Finland since the 1970's, the prisoner rate is high in relation to other Nordic countries because of the high clearance rate, extensive use of unconditional prison sentences, and long imprisonment terms.