Rangaistuksen mittaaminen ja rangaistusarvo
Avainsanat:
rikosoikeus, rangaistuksen määrääminen, rangaistuksen mittaaminenAbstrakti
Sentencing and penal value
The article focuses on the concept of penal value and its application in Finnish legislative materials, literature, and case-law. The starting point is the observation that, while penal value is specifically mentioned in Swedish sentencing norms, the concept is absent from Finnish criminal legislation and has been quite rarely used even in earlier Finnish legal literature. That said, there has been an increasing number of references to penal value in recent case-law of the Supreme Court.
An analysis of sources reveals that, in addition to case-law, penal value has been mentioned quite often in legislative materials and legal literature during the latest decade or so, without there being any obvious reason for such conceptual change. While the concept has often been used in a similar way to Sweden, the author points out some crucial differences in the Swedish legislation regarding penal value. In the Finnish use of penal value as a concept it is not always clear what meaning is being sought, as the concept has been used in quite varying senses. While the concept has certain theoretical merits, it is far from clear whether its use should be recommended in judicial decisions, or whether it merely causes muddled reasoning.
