European Anti-Discrimination Law Review Issue No. 1 | April 2005
Introduction
The information contained on this page represents the situation as of 31 December 2009 and is a summary of the country report produced by the country expert from the network. The summary can be downloaded here as well.
Finland has been until the end of 1980s one of the most culturally homogeneous countries in Europe. The amount of immigrants was minimal due to restrictive immigrant policy and scarce job opportunities. Finland was until the 1980's a country producing immigrants mainly to Sweden.
The principle of equal treatment is strongly anchored in the domestic law, and has been so for quite some time. However, the approach of the more recent legislation, in particular the Non-Discrimination Act, is different from that of the older parts of the legislation, and in this respect Finnish anti-discrimination law is characterised by certain dualism.
If a discriminatory decision is made in the exercise of public powers, the victim of discrimination may make use of the rectification procedure or some other ordinary channel of appeal. He or she may also turn to the Parliamentary Ombudsman or the Chancellor of Justice in order to file a complaint.
The main provisions pertaining to discrimination have been laid down in the Constitution, the Non-Discrimination Act and the Penal Code. In addition to these, there are more than a dozen individual statutory acts which deal with particular areas of life such as different types of employment and which prohibit discrimination in their respective spheres of application.
The Finnish anti-discrimination law covers a wide area and is in general applicable in private and public sector. The primary thrust of the Constitutional prohibition of discrimination is to ensure equal treatment in the exercise of public powers. The Constitution nevertheless has a bearing on legal relationships between private parties as well and may for instance provide legal grounds for amending or nullifying discriminatory provisions of a contract. However, the scope of application the Non-Discrimination Act is more limited in the private sector.
The office of the Ombudsman for Minorities was established in 2001 in order to promote the realisation of equal treatment irrespective of ethnic origin. The Ombudsman functions mainly as an expert body, providing advice and instructions to victims of ethnic discrimination.
This initiative is financed by the EC Programme Progress. But the views expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect the official views of the EU institutions.
