Legal system and development of legislation

The objective, which was three interoperable information systems of the police and the judicial administration, was not achieved. If the interoperable systems had been implemented, they would have enabled smooth flow of information between different public authorities and improved the efficiency of criminal procedures.

Transferring the responsibility for organising healthcare and social welfare services and rescue services to areas larger than the municipality is appropriate. The proposed funding and steering model is to be welcomed as, in the initial part of the reform, service organisation would be mainly based on central government funding. However, the incentive to curb the increase in costs provided by the funding model for service organisers is low. Among other things, the efficiency of service organisation and service cost-effectiveness will depend on the counties’ success in integration and supervision of the services and their mutual cooperation. Amendments made to the draft government proposal based on the round of comments clarify the statutes on the wellbeing services counties’ own service provision and the outsourcing of services. Even more detailed provisions on the principles and practices of self-monitoring carried out by the county and service providers should be laid down in the statutes.

Cooperation between the authorities is a central method to safeguard emergency response services in sparsely populated areas. However, the jurisdictional boundaries of the authorities and their limited resources often make this cooperation more difficult. The Ministry of the Interior, together with other ministries responsible for security services, should make guidance related to cooperation between authorities in sparsely populated areas clearer and more consistent.

Finland has pledged to meet the European-wide target under which the number of road deaths should be reduced and other road safety improvements achieved. The strategic steering of police traffic control should be enhanced so that the targets set for traffic control can be met. There has been a reduction in national steering and coordination over the past five years, and fewer road safety measures are also drafted in central government.

The targets set for centralised government ICT services have not yet been fully achieved.

The Income Tax Act does not support the goal set for the Tax Administration of increased automation of taxation, because it is open to various interpretations and includes tax subsidies that make the law as a whole more complex. When preparing tax legislation, attention should be paid to the principle of the effectiveness of taxation and to the clarity and simplicity of regulations.

The report covers issues concerning the resolution on the comprehensive reform of state research institutes and research funding. This document contains a summary of the main results of the audit. The entire audit report is available only in Finnish.

It is particularly important to improve the ability of assessments to utilise stakeholders and existing information better than today. The report focused on the assessment of statutes’ cross-sectoral impacts as part of statute drafting. Its aim is to support the development of ex ante impact assessment. This document contains a summary of the main results of the audit. The entire audit report is available only in Finnish.

The Ministry of Justice and the Criminal Sanctions Agency have worked to promote the achievement of the recidivism reduction target in many ways. At the same time, however, the activities have been adjusted in accordance with the budgetary constraints, which has made it more difficult to achieve the target. This document contains a summary of the main results of the audit. The entire audit report is available only in Finnish.

Despite a tight timetable, the drafting work was carried out in a thorough manner. There was room for improvement in the collection and documentation of background information. The aim of the audits was to determine how the economic impacts arising from the major decisions supporting economy growth taken by Finland’s transport administration could be assessed and managed in a better manner. This document contains a summary of the main results of the audit. The entire audit report is available only in Finnish.

The aim of the audit was to determine whether the preparation of EU affairs at national level ensures Finland’s effective influence in drafting legislation and decision-making in the EU institutions. This document contains a summary of the main results of the audit. The entire audit report is available only in Finnish.