Lakimies

Suunnittelujärjestelmän sielunmessu? Alueidenkäytön lupaohjauksen kehitys

Aleksi Heinilä — 2024-11-07

A requiem for a planning system? Evolution of permits for unplanned development

Finnish land use planning and building legislation is set to change significantly at the beginning of 2025, when the Building Act (751/2023) takes effect. One of the most significant changes concerns the regulation of unplanned development. On a systemic level, the changes are significant, even if they may appear minor on the surface. This is due to the fact that the changes concern the core ideas of the system as a whole, namely the obligation to plan development that is either dense or has significant impacts. These repercussions seem to have gone unnoticed throughout the legislative process and, as a consequence, the impact assessment and fundamental rights considerations have been disregarded.

The new Building Act is already under revision, however these revisions are taking place not to remedy the flaws discussed, but to take further steps in the direction criticised in this article. The proposal would allow, for example, large industrial plants, such as battery factories, to be realised without land use planning. In the article, these changes are critically assessed by detailing the evolution of the system and its functions and principles, establishing an understanding of the system that has been lacking in the legislative revisions concerning the provisions discussed. The analysis of the law drafting materials inevitably raises questions about the quality of law drafting.

Kohdennetun poliittisen verkkomainonnan neljä sääntelykehystä eurooppaoikeudessa

Miikka Hiltunen — 2024-11-07

The four regulatory frameworks of online targeted political advertising in European law

The purpose of political advertising is to change our views and opinions, and therefore it has inevitable consequences for a democratic society. In recent years, there has been discussion on the risks of political advertising and the need to regulate online targeted political advertising. In the European Union, this phenomenon has been approached in at least four different ways, and these are what form the framework of the article. We compare the differences between the different regulations on political advertising depending on whether the perspective is the protection of personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation; the e-commerce environment under the EU’s Digital Services Act; or freedom of expression and information under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights. In addition to the above, we will also examine the EU’s new rules for political advertising. We will then consider how the different regulatory frameworks affect the regulatory focus or enforcement priorities. The EU’s regulatory solutions are somewhat problematic from the perspective of certain constitutional interpretations expressed in Finland. Moreover, we argue that evidencing the harm created by online targeted political advertising is harder than initially assumed.

Pakottamalla vai tahdonvastaisesti? Uusi seksuaalirikoslainsäädäntö käräjäoikeuksissa

Antti Tapanila — 2024-11-07

Forced or involuntary? New sexual offences legislation in district courts

Chapter 20 of the Criminal Code, entitled Sexual Offences, has been completely reformed in Finland as of the beginning of 2023. There are three objectives behind the new legislation. The first objective was to change the definition of rape to be consent-based. The legislation in force in the past required violence or the threat of violence. In the new law, it is sufficient that sexual intercourse is contrary to the person’s will. The second aim of the reform was to separate sexual offenses against children from those against adults at regulatory level. The third goal of the legislature was to increase penalties, especially for sexual offences against children.

For the article, 26 convictions were selected from five different district courts, representing a significant proportion of the convictions in which the new Chapter 20 of the Penal Code has been applied. On the basis of the cases, conclusions can be drawn as to how the district courts have applied the new legislation and whether the legislator’s objectives have been met in case law.

In the majority of the district court’s decisions, the rapes had been carried out using methods that would have met the criteria of the previous version of Chapter 20 of the Criminal Code. The actions involved either physical coercion or were directed at sleeping or passed out injured parties. The verdicts suggest that prosecutors had not sought punishment for the acts based solely on a lack of consent.

Crimes against children were assessed in the convictions on the basis of the different legal characteristics of the offences. Similar crimes were not previously likely to have been interpreted as coercion of the injured party to engage in sexual activity. The change in the law thus had a concrete effect on the decisions of the courts. Sentencing practice suggested, especially in rape offences against adults, that the reform of the law has not had a severe effect on sentences for rape. A significant proportion of the sentences were still conditional prison sentences of less than two years.

Pakkokeinolain näyttökynnykset

Harri Tuhkanen — 2024-11-07

Quantum of proof in the Coercive Measures Act

The purpose of the article is to define the various thresholds for presentation of evidence, their levels and how they relate to each other. According to the study, the threshold for presentation of evidence in the Coercive Measures Act can be set at six different levels based on how high a level of probability is required for the matter subject to the production of evidence to be considered proven, and thus the burden of proof satisfied. The prerequisite for a coercive measure is, however, not always met more easily if the threshold is set at a lower level, because the prerequisites can vary even within a single threshold depending on the nature of the matter. In addition to the level of probability required to meet the threshold and provide sufficient evidence for the matter at hand, one must consider the circumstances shown de facto. As a result, the available means and capabilities for presenting evidence are also taken into said consideration. The thresholds in the Coercive Measures Act are not, like some other thresholds in the presentation of evidence, flexible. As a whole, the systematics of the thresholds in the Coercive Measures Act are clear, and the expressions concerning the thresholds clearly defined and accurate per se. Some expressions and terms do, however, require harmonising.

Siviilioikeuden professori valtiomiehenä

Aki Rasilainen — 2024-11-07

Tutkimus tukemassa lainsäädäntöuudistusten jälkikäteistä arviointia

Tatu Hyttinen — 2024-11-07

Tuomioistuinten sisäisestä riippumattomuudesta, erityisesti lainkäyttöasian siirtämisestä vahvennettuun kokoonpanoon

Pekka Savola — 2024-11-07

Sallittu ja kielletty menettely asianajajan toiminnassa ja hyvä asianajotapa

Asko Keränen — 2024-11-07

Lectio praecursoria

Keränen, Asko. Sallittu ja kielletty menettely asianajajan toiminnassa hyvän asianajajatavan valossa

Asko Lehtonen — 2024-11-07

Virallisen vastaväittäjän, professori emeritus Asko Lehtosen Itä-Suomen yliopiston yhteiskuntatieteiden ja kauppatieteiden tiedekunnalle antama 17.6.2024 päivätty lausunto vähäisin muutoksin.

Tämän numeron kirjoittajat

Suomalainen Lakimiesyhdistys — 2024-11-07