Juvenile Punishment

Juvenile punishment, included in the Criminal Code of Finland, is a specific sentence for offenders under the age of 18 years.

The court can sentence a young offender to juvenile punishment for 4 to 12 months. Juvenile punishment consists of supervision, different activities and programmes promoting coping in society, and an orientation to employment and work. Juvenile punishment is implemented by the Prison and Probation Service. The supervisor of the young offender is an official of the Prison and Probation Service.

Juvenile punishment can be sentenced if:

• the accused has committed the offence at the age of 15 to 17,

• the court considers a fine to be too lenient and unconditional imprisonment too severe a sanction for the young person's offence, i.e. juvenile punishment is comparable to conditional imprisonment in severity;

• juvenile punishment can improve the young offender's skills to cope in society and prevent recidivism.

Preparation of the enforcement plan for the juvenile punishment

The juvenile punishment process begins when the prosecutor asks the Prison and Probation Service to draw up an pre-sentence report for the juvenile punishment. The duty of the Prison and Probation Service is to assess the suitability of sentencing to juvenile punishment.

The basis of juvenile punishment is the co-operation between different parties. The Prison and Probation Service draws up the pre-sentence report together with the young offender, his or her guardian and the social welfare authority. The report is based on the information received from the joint meetings, the young offender's interview, the guardian's hearing, and different authorities.

The decision on sentencing to juvenile punishment is made by the court. The court can also sentence some other sanction instead of juvenile punishment.

Content and serving of juvenile punishment

Juvenile punishment consists of supervision appointments, activities and programmes carried out under supervision, and an orientation to employment and work. The content of an each juvenile punishment is defined in the sentence plan approved by the court. Juvenile punishment is served according to a planned schedule eight hours a week at most. The young offender is compensated for reasonable travelling expenses caused by serving a juvenile punishment.

Supervision

The supervision is based on a confidential relationship with the offender. The supervisor's main duties are to motivate the young offender to change, support and guide the offender, and make sure that the offender serves the sentence in accordance with the conditions and orders. The factors concerning the young offender's life situation in general and specifically the offences are discussed during the supervision appointments.

Activities and programmes

Each young offender sentenced to juvenile punishment attends a programme, which consists of discussions about criminality with the supervisor. Based on the young offender's needs, juvenile punishment can also include programmes on substance use, problem solving, social skills, anger management, society, and traffic behaviour.

Orientation to employment and work

The actual orientation to work is carried out in a specific orientation place. The orientation place is chosen so that it supports the young offender’s potential study or career plans as well as possible. The Prison and Probation Service draws up an agreement with the work orientation place.

The orientation to employment can consist of, for example, finding information about education possibilities, applying for an education place, or going through the rules and customs of employment with the supervisor.

Breaching the conditions and orders of juvenile punishment

The court approves the sentence plan. As the enforcement of the sentence begins, the Prison and Probation Service specifies the plan and prepares a detailed schedule, which the young offender must follow precisely.

The young offender's duties include keeping in contact with the supervisor. The police can fetch the young offender to the supervision appointment if the offender has failed to attend the previous supervision appointment or some other meeting related to the serving of the juvenile punishment.

The young offender cannot be under the influence of intoxicating substances when attending meetings connected to the serving of the juvenile punishment. The Prison and Probation Service controls the young offender's substance use.

The Prison and Probation Service can give the young offender an oral or a written warning for breaching the conditions of the sentence plan or the orders given based on the plan.

A written warning must be given if the young offender does not mend his or her ways despite previous warnings or the offender grossly breaches the conditions of the sentence plan or the orders given based on the plan. The Prison and Probation Service must bring the case to the court for reassessment if the young offender does not start to serve the juvenile punishment, complete it or mend his or her ways despite a previous warning.