Ministry of Justice, Finland

The Constitution is the cornerstone of all legislation and exercise of public power. It contains provisions on state organisation, checks and balances between the top government branches and fundamental civil rights.

The Constitution of Finland entered into force on 1 March 2000.

The text of the Constitution is in the Data Bank Finlex in Finnish and Swedish.

The Constitution of Finland is also available in

• English (updated 2012), Finlex (Constitution of Finland)
• Russian (updated 2007), Finlex (Конституция Финляндии)

Translations from the year 2000

• German, Finlex (Grundgesetz Finnlands)
• French, Finlex (Constitution de la Finlande)
• Spanish, Finlex (Constitución de Finlandia)
• Sami, pdf (Suoma vuoddoláhka).

Brochure 

The net brochure In Finland Sovereign Power Rests with the People contains an introduction to the contents of the Constitution.  

Background of the Constitutional Reform in year 2000

A look into the background of the reform and the main principles of the new Constitution (2000) is provided by Jaakko Nousiainen, Professor Emeritus in Political Science, in his article

The Finnish System of Government: From a Mixed Constitution to Parliamentarism (pdf, 159 kb)

Professor Nousiainen's text is also available in German, French and Spanish.

Updated on February 10, 2011