"Sotaväen rikoslaista pärinää" – sota-ajan oikeusministeri Oskari Lehtosen näkemyksien tarkastelua
Avainsanat:
rikosoikeus, oikeushistoria, oikeusvaltio, sota, oikeusministeriAbstrakti
“Blather about the Military Penal Code” – An examination of the views of wartime Minister of Justice Oskari Lehtonen
The article is based on the original notebooks of Oskari Lehtonen, who served as the Minister of Justice between 1940 and 1944, and other materials that illustrate his views. Due to his position, the Minister of Justice was assumed to have been a key person in ensuring that the rule of law was taken into consideration also in wartime.
The article aims to provide answers to the following questions: To what extent did the Minister of Justice discuss legal questions in his notebooks and other materials? Did he present points of view relevant from the perspective of the study of conserving the rule of law? To which general and political outlook were the views of the Minister of Justice connected? Can general conclusions regarding the state of the rule of law in wartime be drawn based on the material?
Notebook markings on legal questions as well as other materials suggest that Minister Lehtonen was willing to attach great importance to military expediency considerations even in decision making of a civilian nature. This can be considered a problem from the perspective of conservation of the rule of law. Minister Lehtonen's thinking is assumed to have been influenced by his role in the aftermath of the 1918 Civil War, in which military expediency was valued above the law. Minister Lehtonen's views appear to have been influenced also by his political views, above all by the firm belief in a German victory and, consequently, the military success of Finland. Owing to the small amount of material regarding Minister Lehtonen, a general assessment of the state of the rule of law in wartime cannot be presented in the article; the subject requires further research.
