MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OF FINLAND
MR JOHANNES KOSKINEN
High-Level Political Conference for the Signature of the United Nations Convention
against Corruption, 9 -11 December 2003, Merida, Mexico
1. Introduction
It is a great pleasure and honour for me to have the possibility to present
the Finnish experience in preventing corruption. I highly appreciate that we
can openly discuss matters of corruption at such an auspicious international
conference.
2. Corruption as a Development Problem
It is now widely accepted that corruption jeopardizes development and constitutes
a threat to people's well-being in many different ways. Hence, corruption threatens
economic growth and social development, the consolidation of democracy and the
morality of the people. In essence, corruption has truly far-reaching detrimental
effects with regard to the building of a viable state. It is also very important
to note that corruption in the public sector, and the bad governance connected
with it, harden divisions and inequalities between people, and thus destroys
the basis for securing human rights. Corruption is also one of the main reasons
for continuous poverty.
To put it bluntly, we could say that corruption is an institutionalised way
of stealing from the poor, from men and from women alike.
3. Corruption and the Finnish experience
The Scandinavian countries and especially Finland have been regarded quite highly
in many international ratings of anticorruption. What are the reasons for this
fine situation? At this stage it is useful to look at some Finnish experiences
of combatting corruption.
There have been times in Finnish history, too, when corruption has filled the
front pages of the tabloids. Every now and then cases do emerge when an individual,
a lower or a high-ranking public official, is caught red-handed committing some
criminal offence. In most cases this has led to the resignation or dismissal
of the person and, depending on the case also to a criminal prosecution. Yet
ordinary Finns do not come across corruption in their daily lives. Recently,
there was a survey done on the citizens' perceptions of public institutions.
The police scored the top rating for honesty.
As noted, in international ratings of corruption Finland has enjoyed high esteem
for a number years. The corruption index by Transparency International has had
Finland ranked number 1 as the least corrupted country for many years running.
Let me offer a few possible explanations for this phenomenon.
Egalitarian society - no class distinctions
I presume that the model of the present-day Finnish welfare society is widely
known. It is, however, useful to point out some background facts as to its origins.
In Finland, democracy and the rule of law were consolideted in the beginning
of the twentieth century. In those days, good education was seen as one of the
most powerful social tools. Being a nation of 4 to 5 million people, mostly
speaking a language understood only locally, meant that everybody's skills were
needed in building welfare and prosperity. School became compulsory for everyone.
Finland was the first country in Europe to give women the right to vote, that
happened in 1906.
The welfare services have expanded from the 50's onwards. The main elements
of Finland's welfare society are free elementary schooling, higher education
and health care for everyone. The state takes care of the unemployed and other
afflicted groups.
Corruption and good governance in law
The Finnish legal norms on corruption have been basically the same for the past
100 years. To summarise the principles of good governance effective in Finland,
I would like to mention the following four administrative principles, which
are 1) the principle of equality, 2) the principle of objectivity, 3) the principle
of proportionality and 4) the principle that any action must be
appropriate in view of its purpose. The main idea of the Finnish anti-corruption
legislation is that it is never considered as a separate phenomenon, with separate
laws or separate supervisory bodies. Instead, corruption is seen as part of
criminality and as part of bad governance and/or politics. The prevention of
corruption also involves creating and observing ethical norms of behaviour,
increasing transparency and preventing procedures.
The civil service: Recruiting, careers and preventive measures
The civil service has always been regarded very highly and held in high esteem,
and through education everyone can aspire to a good career. Salaries have not
been that high but, nevertheless, generally they have been adequate. According
to an old Finnish saying `the bread of a civil servant is narrow but long',
meaning that there is good job security for civil servants to counterbalance
the not-so-high earnings.
Both in state administration and in local administration, a so-called employment
instruction system is being applied to new officeholders. This is a form of
introduction training. If there is a great risk of corruption in the field in
question, matters related to corruption shall naturally be emphasized during
the introductory training. New officeholders are also given examples of some
typical situations where the risk of bribery may arise. Management training,
as well as other kinds of staff training in public administration are moreover
planned so that they include sections on values and ethics.
While holding a post of a minister in the Finnish Government, a Cabinet member
is not allowed to hold any public office or other post that may impede his or
her duties as minister, or endanger the confidence in his or her work as a Cabinet
member.
According to the Finnish Constitution, some of the most important guarantees
of good governance for the citizens are the right to be heard, the right to
hear the grounds for decisions, and the right of appeal.
Transparency and openness
Transparency is a crucial means in the work against corruption, and anticorruptive
activities
administration and in the granting of state aid is decisive in the work against
corruption.
In Finland, for instance, the Constitution requires that everyone can have his
or her case dealt with appropriately by an authority, and that the publicity
of proceedings, the right to be heard, the right to receive a reasoned decision
and the other guarantees of a fair trial and good governance shall be secured.
The transparency of public decision-making promotes anti-corruption work. Open
access to public records makes it possible to apply transparency and good information
practices in public activities. It also makes it possible for individuals and
associations to control the exercise of official authority and the use of public
finances, freely to form their opinion, to influence the exercise of official
authority, and to assert their rights and safeguard their interests.
The bread openness of public administration has always been a main principle
in Finland. Decisions are public, open for criticism by other civil servants,
by the public and the media.
The openness of administration makes it only exceptionally possible for corruption
to gain a foothold in the preparation of matters and in decision-making.
Transparency in public administration is enhanced by the obligation of the highest
officials to declare their commitments, and by restrictions on secondary occupations.
Training, leadership and publications increase the consciousness among civil
servants of values and ethically sound proceedings in public administration.
Informing partners in the private sector of the requirements of civil service
ethics is a factor for promoting transparency. In local administration, a clear
definition of the eligibility for office for members of a municipal executive
board and other institutions promotes transparency and reduces corruption.
Finland was one of the first countries to allocate state funds for political
parties. The elimination of conflicting interests and liabilities and thus corruption
is also pursued through the publicity of election financing.
The media play an important role in the prevention of corruption. They can raise
questions and start discussions on transparency and justness, dealing with different
solutions. In this connection I would like to mention that the International
Public Relations Association has monitored 6E
those countries.
Chancellor ofJustice and Parliamentary Ombudsman
The roots of the institution of Chancellor of Justice stem from the 18th Century,
when Finland was a part of Sweden. Later, during the period of Russian rule,
the legal system continued working without interruption or change of any kind.
The post of Parliamentary Ombudsman has existed since the 1920s.
Their competences are prescribed by the Constitution. Both the Chancellor of
Justice and the Parliamentary Ombudsman shall ensure that the courts of law,
other authorities, civil servants, public employees, and other persons performing
public tasks observe the law and fulfil their obligations. In performing their
duties they shall supervise the implementation of basic rights and human rights.
In Finland, there are, moreover, institutions of Ombudsman in different fields
of activity, separately prescribed by the law. The Ombudsman for Bankruptcy
Cases and the Consumer Ombudsman may be mentioned as such examples. The former
shall monitor how bankruptcy legislation is observed, particularly in terms
of the administration of estates in bankruptcy and equitable sales of estate
property. The Consumer Ombudsman shall monitor how consumers' interests are
observed in the market. Supervision here refers both to product safety and to
clear and fair pricing of products. All the above-mentioned authorities can
also observe potential situations of corruption.
Collective and collegiate decision-making structure
Corruption occurs most easily when the decision-making unit comprises one person
only, as the briber can focus all efforts on this single person. Corruption
becomes more difficult when more individuals are involved, as all parties must
then be convinced of the advisability of deciding in favour of the interest
group, and there is always the possibility of someone blowing the whistle on
any shady transaction.
The refendary system is an old pillar of Finnish administration. A refendary
is a civil servant who examines a matter under advisement, presents alternative
proposals and suggests a final proposal. In this system, a refendary, who at
a lower rank than the decision-maker, can retain his or her opinion against
the superior. A minister can make a political decision that differs from the
proposal of the refendary, but it is not legally binding if the refendary does
not sign it. From the viewpoint of corruption, the refendary system demands
double work from the potential briber as he or she must win over both the decision
maker and the refendary.
Low hierarchical structures and autonomy with self-responsibility in administration
Most civil servants work quite independently, without intervention from their
superiors. They are also responsible for their actions both vertically and horizontally.
Finns are used to handling most legal problems very pragmatically. The logic
goes like this: rules are old, short, clear, strict and is to be taken seriously.
Circumstances in practical life are also taken into consideration. The following
typical ethical rule tells a young civil servant without prior experience where
the threshold of a bribe goes:
A warm beer and cold sandwich are suitable for a civil servant, but a cold beer
and a warm sandwich are very risky'.
4. Lessons learned from the Finnish experience
The key concepts that can be distilled from the Finnish experience are access
to education for all, well functioning democracy both at national and local
level, civil service based on meritocracy, openness in public administration,
low hierarchical structures, devolution of decision-making powers to civil servants
in their respective fields of responsibility, non-politicisation of key civil
service posts, and above all, the effort to defend the values of an open society.
As competition becomes more and more aggressive and efficiency increases in
the Western industrial societies, people have turned out to become ever more
sensitive to moral values. Discussions on values become more common. International
recommendations dealing with the social responsibility of companies are being
drawn up, and ethical norms for different professional groups are being confirmed.
The positive attitude to human rights and to popular movements advocating responsibility
for the developing countries and environmental questions can be seen as a sign
of a sense of global responsibility.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you all for your attention and interest.
I hope we can continue with a fruitful discussion on this subject.
Thank you.