Ministry of Justice, Finland

According to the Finnish Constitution, which entered into force in 2000, legislative powers shall be exercised by the Parliament, and the right to issue decrees should be based on powers prescribed by law (Constitution of Finland, Section 2). The Government has the right to issue decrees in cases where the President or a ministry is not empowered to issue decrees.

In Finland, there are 11 ministries and the Prime Ministers Office at present, and there is a tradition of substantial ministerial independence in law drafting. Legislative bills are drafted by the Government and prepared by the ministries.

A bill is a document where the results and conclusions of the preparatory work are presented in a concise form. The bill is used as a basis for parliamentary consideration and decision-making. Draft bills emanate from the ministry within whose competence the matter falls. Responsibility for the preparation and monitoring of affairs relating to the European Union and the determination of Finland's positions on EU-related issues rests also with the competent ministries.

The organisation of law drafting is also accomplished in a different way in different ministries, e.g. by law drafting departments or civil servants whose task is drafting. The Finnish Government applies instructions and recommendations, which are given to harmonise the legislative drafting procedures in different ministries and to ensure that the quality requirements laid down for legislation can be met.

Law drafting is a process of many stages. The process can differ considerably according to, for example, the size of the project. The stages of a legislative drafting project in Finland can be roughly described as follows:
- Preliminary preparation
- Principal preparation
- Impact assessment
- Consultation
- Continued preparation
- Translation
- Legislative inspection
- Review by the Government
- Parliamentary review and decision
- Enactment, publication and entry into force

Further information
Constitution of Finland (Ministry of Justice website)
Ministries  (the Government website)
European Union Affairs in Finland (the Government website)



Upadated 16 October,2009