Enforcement of probationary liberty under supervision RISE/5487/2023

Regulation Issued by the Prison and Probation Service RISE/5487/2023

Legal basis: section 41 of the Act on Probationary Liberty Under Supervision

In force: from 1 July 2024 until further notice

Repeals: Enforcement of probationary liberty under supervision (2/004/2022)

For: Prison and Probation Service

1. Preparation for probationary liberty under supervision

An official is appointed to take responsibility for the examination of the prerequisites, the preparation and the implementation of probationary liberty under supervision. If more than one responsible official is appointed, it has to be specified, which of the officials has the main responsibility for the examination of the prerequisites and the preparation of probationary liberty under supervision. The official responsible for the implementation of probationary liberty may be an official of a prison or a probation office.

Probationary liberty under supervision is prepared in a multiprofessional cooperation between the officials of the Prison and Probation Service and other actors, such as officials of the wellbeing services counties.

If the prisoner has been sentenced for a sexual offence and is considered being at a medium or high risk of reoffending, the responsible official contacts the Health Care Services for Prisoners. The prisoner has to consent to it and the contact will only be made if the other prerequisites for probationary liberty under supervision are met.

In the case of life sentence prisoners and prisoners serving the entire sentence, the preparation for probationary liberty may be started after the Court of Appeal has issued a decision the conditional release of the sentenced person.

2. Procedure for ascertaining the opinion of a person under 18 years of age

In accordance with section 3 of the Act on Probationary Liberty under Supervision, the opinion of a person under 18 years of age living in the same residence as the prisoner on the implementation of probationary liberty under supervision in that residence has to be ascertained and the person has to be heard in cooperation with the child welfare authorities. The opinion of the child is ascertained by the official who has the main responsibility for the examination of the prerequisites and the preparation of probationary liberty under supervision. If the official with the main responsibility cannot participate in the ascertainment of the child's opinion due to long distances, another official of the Prison and Probation Service from a probation office or prison near the child's municipality of residence is appointed to ascertain the child's opinion. In accordance with section 14, subsection 2, paragraph 2 of the Act on the Processing of Personal Data at the Prison and Probation Service, only the officials of the Prison and Probation Service appointed as the persons responsible for the preparation, examination of the prerequisites and implementation of probationary liberty under supervision may process data concerning the ascertainment of the child’s opinion.

3. Carrying out supervision

The purpose of the supervision is to support the person placed in probationary liberty to cope with the probationary liberty and to seek to ensure and monitor compliance with the conditions. The responsible official assesses how intensive supervision the person placed in probationary liberty needs. The responsible official cooperates with the officials carrying out the control visits.

Technical monitoring is usually carried out by using a combination of a monitoring tag and a positioning device. A mobile phone may be used as a monitoring tool when it has been assessed that there is no need for a positioning device and the person placed in probationary liberty is in a substance abuse treatment institution, performing military service or has only a couple of weeks of probationary liberty, or when positioning is deemed unnecessary for some other serious reason.

Supervision appointments mean regular meetings between the responsible official and the person placed in probationary liberty. They are agreed together in advance. The frequency and method of carrying out the supervision appointments are determined on the basis of an overall individual assessment and are recorded in the sentence plan and the weekly schedule. Supervision appointments may also be carried out digitally by using remote connections. An assistant supervisor may be used to help with the carrying out of the supervision appointments.

For social support and monitoring of the personal circumstances, the person placed in probationary liberty is also contacted by telephone. The person placed in probationary liberty is required to contact the Prison and Probation Service as specified in the sentence plan for the probationary liberty. In addition, the Prison and Probation Service contacts the person placed in probationary liberty regularly but at varying intervals, when the person needs intensified support or is suspected of having problems.

All persons placed in probationary liberty are defined an area where they are allowed to move, which may be, for example, the municipality where they live or the area where they work. Any prohibited areas are also defined. The areas are recorded in the sentence plan. The allowed and prohibited areas are drawn in the electronic monitoring system before the probationary liberty under supervision begins. The weekly schedule is also added to the electronic monitoring system. The person placed in probationary liberty will also be informed of them.

During control visits, the staff of the Prison and Probation Service has to wear civilian clothing. Situations related to supervision are recorded in the offender management system of the Prison and Probation Service.

4. Notification to the police of placement in probationary liberty

The placement of a prisoner in probationary liberty under supervision is notified to the police of the region where the probationary liberty takes place by using a form approved by the Prison and Probation Service. The notification has to contain the identification data of the person placed in probationary liberty, such as the name, personal identity code, customer number given by the Finnish Immigration Service or other code necessary for identification, and the person’s place of residence and domicile.

In addition, the notification to the police has to include the details of the judgment of the person (date of judgment, offence, date of commission of the offence, length of sentence, start and end date of imprisonment), the start and end date of the probationary liberty, the address of the place of residence and the addresses of the places of obligated activity, the areas where the person is allowed to move, and the contact people in the prison.

5.Further information

The Regulations and Provisions Team of the Judicial Unit of the Prison and Probation Service provides further information.

Director General Anna Arola-Järvi

Senior Specialist Sarita Mäenpää