Preparations for changes to the law on sexual abuse of minors began in April, well before a court in eastern Finland handed down a controversial decision this week reducing the sentence of a man convicted of raping a minor from 2.5 years in prison to a ten-month suspended sentence.
The court based its decision on evidence that the use of force in the rape was minimal and that the victim was close to 16 years old, the age of legal consent in Finland.
The minimum length of prison sentences for serious sexual crimes in Finland is only about half of those in neighbouring Sweden. The average sentence in Sweden last year for gross rape was 70 months, whereas in Finland it was 35.5 months. The minimum sentence for the same crime in Sweden is 48 months, in Finland 24.
Justice Minister Brax says that the reasons for such a difference need to be thoroughly examined before moving to raise minimum sentences here.
"Because of the divergence in defining the seriousness of the act, a direct comparison between Finland and Sweden cannot be made. Raising the minimum sentence should not be done by just shooting from the hip."