Neuvoa-antavan kansanäänestyksen sisällyttäminen Suomen valtiosääntöön vuonna 1987 - sääntely ja soveltaminen

Authors

• Pekka Nurmi

Abstract

The national consultative referendum was included in the Finnish constitutional system in June 1987, when a section containing the foundations of the institution was inserted into the Constitution of Finland. According to this section the provisions on the holding of a consultative referendum are determined by an Act of Parliament. The Act must contain provisions on the date of the referendum and on the alternatives to be presented to the voters. The State must inform the voters of the alternatives and support the dissemination of information relating to them, as provided for in the implementation Act. In addition, a special Act on the Procedure for Consultative Referenda was enacted to complement the new section in the Constitution. Legislation on the consultative referendum was one of the first steps in an ongoing constitutional reform. It was not, however, intended as an alteration in the established decisionmaking structure of the Constitution or in the authority of the highest organs of government. The aim was to supplement representative democracy in a way allowing for the citizens to express their opinion and, consequently, to participate in decision-making, while still retaining the ultimate authority and responsibility for the organs elected for that purpose. A national consultative referendum has so far been held once, on 16 October 1994, pertaining to the question of Finnish membership in the European Union. An Act on the referendum was enacted, as provided for by the Constitution. For the most part, this Act complied with the provisions of the Constitution and the aforementioned procedural Act. The procedural Act was, however, derogated from as concerns the voters’ option to select a blank alternative; instead, only the alternatives yes and no were presented. The EU referendum was held for the most part in accordance with the ideas and solutions apparent at the time of the enactment of the basic provisions thereon. Timing, the alternatives presented and the dissemination of information on the issue became the essential aspects of the referendum. A new aspect, particular to the EU referendum, was the debate on whether the voting age should be lowered. The most sensitive aspect, realised also in relation to the EU referendum, was that of the binding effect of the result. Not enough attention was paid to this problem during the preparation of the basic legislation. Naturally, from a purely legal viewpoint there is no problem, as the referendum is specifically stated to be consultative. The practical binding effect of the result may, however, become a problem, especially for an individual member of Parliament. It seems to be warranted to retain the consultative referendum as a possibility. It should, however, be utilised only after careful consideration, as it has so far. When making a decision to hold a referendum, special consideration should be given to the question of commitment to the result of the referendum. As regards the procedural legislation, there seems not to be significant cause for reform