Initiative
A legislative project may be initiated in many ways. The starting point for a legislative drafting project may be the Government Programme, decisions-in-principle of the Cabinet, expressions of opinion by the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Chancellor of Justice or the State Auditors, any Member of Parliament or a need to implement requirements of an international convention. Initiatives may also have their roots in the broader social debate and come in the first instance from citizens. A specific legislative proposal usually comes from the responsible ministry itself, with the minister, the ministry's leading officials or a law drafter taking the initiative.

Further information
• The Government Programme


Preliminary preparation
The preliminary preparation involves an assessment of the need for the project in the first place, the choice of the organisational form, and the writing of the terms of reference. As early as at this stage, the possible earlier positions and proposals should be collected, and a brief survey of the international developments and the current situation, the problems with the current situation, the possible need for change, as well as the impact of the proposed change must be drawn up. If it is considered necessary to launch a reform, the planning of a drafting process must be started.

For a legislative project, the Government or the ministries may appoint a temporary preparatory body, which can consist of stakeholders, representatives from other relevant ministries, experts in the field in question, and political decision-makers. The preparatory body can be e.g. a committee, a commission, an advisory board, or a working group, or the legislative project can be conducted as a part of the ordinary official duties of civil servants. The advantage of a broad-based preparatory body is that the different views and interests will be present throughout the whole drafting process.

Principal preparation
The principal preparation builds on the preliminary preparation, the core issue being the drafting of the proposed legislation and its rationale.

The preparatory body drafts a proposal for actual statutes and the rationale for them. It also has to plan the actions required to precede or accompany the entry into force of a statute and the actions required to monitor the outcomes, and it has to decide the date for entry into force. These questions are closely linked with the contents of the regulation, especially in cases where the rule maker will need expert advice. At this stage, it is important to ensure the consistence of individual statutes with the existing legal framework. A proposal for a statute can be written in such a form that the contents and structure are close to the final bill.

Further information
• Bill Drafting Instructions
• Other instructions for legislative drafting


Impact assessment (ex ante evaluation)
The preparatory body or the civil servant responsible for the legislative drafting is also responsible for the impact assessment of the proposed legislation. When the legislative project is started and in the preparatory drafting stage, the relevant impact areas and possible effects are identified. As the drafting process continues, a more detailed assessment of the impacts of the regulatory options is made. A follow-up of the effects of the implemented reform is also a part of the impact assessment procedure.

The assessment concerns the relevant economic impact, the impact on the public administration, the environmental impact and the societal impact. The result of the assessment performed during the drafting should be written down in the drafting documents, such as a working group report. A legislative proposal must contain a brief assessment of the anticipated impact of the proposed legislation.

Further information
• Impact Assessment Guidelines
• Impact Assessment (Ministry of Justice website)


Consultation
In regard to the transparency of legislative drafting, a hearing is an essential stage. The goal is to promote the possibilities of the most important stakeholders to take part in the preparatory drafting or to hear their views.

The ministry or the preparatory body decides whether the stakeholders are to be consulted. In the consultation, both traditional hearing methods, such as written comments, and modern information and communication technology can be used. The choice of the method depends on the situation and the target group. It is recommended that several different methods for consultation are used during the drafting process to ensure as extensive a consultation as possible.

It is recommendable to prepare a summary of the statements, describing the major reactions to the proposed measure in detail.

Further information
• Consultation (Ministry of Justice website)


Continued preparation
The proponent minister evaluates the result of the consultation. At this point, the officials in the proponent ministry are charged with completing the process and, in particular, with drafting the law. Greater attention to the legislative technique is given at this stage.

According to the Bill Drafting Instructions, a legislative proposal should have the following sections: executive summary, general reasons, detailed reasons and proposed legislation. In a short version of a proposal, the general reasons and detailed reasons may be merged into one section, which is called reasons.

Further information
• Bill Drafting Instructions

Translation
The proposals for acts and decrees are drafted in Finnish and then translated into Swedish (Finland's second official language), as statutes in both languages are considered original. The Government Translation Unit in the Prime Minister's Office is responsible for translating statutes, i.e. acts and decrees, into Finland's national languages.

Further information
• Translation and terminology services (Prime Minister´s office website)

Legislative inspection
The proposals for acts and decrees (in both official languages, Finnish and Swedish), drafted in the ministries, go through a legislative inspection in the Unit of Legislative Inspection at the Ministry of Justice, before they are submitted forward for decision-making.

In the inspection, it is checked that the technical structure of the proposal is correct, the content of the proposal is consistent, and the proposal is in accordance with the general legal principles and other provisions on the same or similar matters. Special attention is also paid to the linguistic accuracy, comprehensibility, preciseness and consistency of the proposal, and it is ensured that the content of the Finnish and the Swedish text is identical.

Further information
• Legislative Inspection (Ministry of Justice website)

Review by the Government
The proposal is presented to the Government of Finland by the ministry in charge of drafting. The minister presents it to the Government in government plenary sessions. The term Government refers to the Cabinet of Finland which consists of the Prime Minister and a necessary number of ministers.

Before a government plenary session, the matter may be discussed in ministerial working groups, cabinet committees, informal evening meetings of the Government, and different political negotiations, in which the parliamentary groups representing the opposition may also participate. The Cabinet Finance Committee is requested to give its comments if a proposal has significant budgetary impacts.

After the final decision of the Government, the President submits the proposal (i.e. now a bill) to the Parliament.

Further information
• Facts about Government (the Government website)
• Government Activities (the Government website)
• Prime Minister Katainen's Government (the Government website)
• President of the Republic of Finland

Parliamentary review and decision
Each year, the Government submits 220-300 bills to the Parliament. The Prime Minister's Office prepares for the Parliament a semi-annual list of bills to be submitted during the forthcoming autumn or spring session. The primary purpose of the list is to enable the Parliament to plan its work.

In the Parliament, the bill and the accompanying document are subject to three levels of discussion and analysis:
1) A preliminary debate in a plenary session in the Parliament: the minister in question presents the government proposal, after which the political groups and individual Members of Parliament express their opinions on the matter.
2) A detailed review by one of the standing committees, which may ask for statements from other committees. Review by the Parliament's standing committee normally begins with the committee asking a representative of the ministry to present, as an expert, the proposal. The committee normally hears experts and interest groups during the evaluation of the bill.
3) The Parliament, after having received the report of the responsible committee, decides in a plenary session on the detailed contents of the bill and on its approval.

A legislative drafter from a ministry shall follow the progress of the process in the Parliament.

Further information
• Legislative work of Parliament (the website of the Parliament)
• Committees (the website of the Parliament)
• Role of the Constitutional Law Committee (the website of the Parliament)

Enactment, publication and entry into force
After passing a bill, the Parliament sends it to the Government. The proponent minister presents the bill to the President of the Republic. If the President approves the bill, it is published in the Statute Book of Finland and in the electronic database of Finnish legislation (Finlex). If the President declines to approve the bill, it is returned for the reconsideration of the Parliament. If the Parliament then passes the bill again without amending its substantive content, it enters into force without the President's approval. If the Parliament does not pass the bill, it is deemed to have lapsed.

Further information
• Database of Finnish legislation (Finlex)

Monitoring (ex poste evaluation)
After the entry into force of an act, the proponent ministry is responsible for monitoring its effects. The ministry can outsource this task to other authorities such as a university or an independent research institute.



Updated 20 September, 2011