Stricter provisions concerning bribery of members of Finnish Parliament

Minister of Justice believes Parliament will approve amendments

Tuija Brax

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A task force set up by the Ministry of Justice intends to tighten considerably the provisions concerning bribery of members of the Finnish Parliament.
      In the future, the same legislation is to apply to MPs as to civil servants and municipal councillors, if Parliament passes the draft proposal that is being prepared by the committee.
      A proposal for legal amendments is to be completed in the course of the next few weeks.
     
The change will have a great impact on the current situation. Today an MP can be found guilty of accepting a bribe only when he or she distinctly promises to act in a certain way in exchange for a bribe in a matter that is under debate in Parliament.
      In practice, this is almost impossible to prove, many experts say.
      Instead, civil servants and municipal councillors can be convicted of accepting bribes, even though they did not do or promise anything in exchange for such backhanders. It is enough that receiving a bribe is likely to reduce third parties’ confidence in the equality of their activities.
      ”The amendment to legislation is to eliminate the special treatment given to MPs”, says Minister of Justice Tuija Brax (Green League).
     
However, the standing of MPs will continue to be slightly different from that of civil servants even after the proposed amendment to legislation.
      A court can order a civil servant to give up his or her position, but it has no right to dismiss an MP from Parliament.
      ”With regard to the constitutional law, it would be quite an impossible idea. There are specific constitutional directives relating to dismissals of MPs. These directives will not be amended”, Brax reports.
     
In 2002 the Members of Parliament voted themselves a markedly more generous application of the law than that for civil servants, but Brax now believes the MPs will be willing to tighten the reins.
      "Times have changed", the minister observed.
     
The Ministry of Justice began to amend the paragraphs concerning bribery after the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) recommended in December 2007 that Finland should reform its bribery statutes.
      GRECO issued its recommendation already prior to the oubreak of the current furore over election campaign funding that has now been going on for more than one year.
      According to the information gathered by Helsingin Sanomat, the task force intends to propose according to the GRECO recommendation that the abuse of authority should also be criminalised.
      If a person belonging to the immediate circle of an MP promises to exercise influence on his or her decision-making in exchange for a bribe, this person - a relative, a friend or a colleague - could be found guilty of abuse of authoriy.
      The task force has not yet made a decision on the precise wording or the penal scale of this crime.
     
GRECO also advised Finland to specify what kind of benefits an MP can receive and what not. However, the working group decided already at an early stage that it could not give any accurate instructions relating to such benefits.
      In addition, the GRECO recommendations urged Finland to consider whether the severity of the punishment relating to bribery should be increased.
      According to information gathered by Helsingin Sanomat, the task force has discussed the issue of increasing the severity of punishments relating to bribes received by politicians and civil servants.
      Nevertheless, the penal scale is likely to remain the same.
      The minimum penalty for accepting a bribe is fines. If a person is found guilty of aggravated bribery he or she could be sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison.
     


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland given a workover in Transparency International corruption report (28.9.2009)
  Finnish corruption: subtle, but by no means non-existent (4.8.2009)

Links:
  Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)

Helsingin Sanomat