To Örebro University

Svenska kulturfondenin rahoittamassa kaksivuotisessa hankkeessa DOVE: Språket i domar i Sverige och Finland - variation och rättvisa (2025–2027) tarkastellaan käräjäoikeuksissa annettujen ruotsinkielisten rikostuomioiden kielenkäyttöä ja vertaillaan Suomessa ja Ruotsissa ruotsiksi kirjoitettuja tuomioita. Tutkimuksen fokuksessa on, miten tuomioiden kieli eroaa eri maiden välillä ja miten erot voivat vaikuttaa siihen, miten esimerkiksi oikeudenkäynnin osapuolet ja juristit ymmärtävät tuomiot. Hanketta hallinnoi Åbo Akademi ja siihen osallistuu tutkijoita Åbo Akademista, Turun yliopistosta ja Örebron yliopistosta.

This article examines the Finnish enforcement system, focusing on the interplay between rehabilitative and social objectives, and the necessity of stringent measures to combat fraudulent debtors. It explores the challenges of designing enforcement policies that simultaneously protect honest, over-indebted individuals while effectively addressing artificial arrangements intended to evade financial obligations. Through an analysis of the psychological dimensions of enforcement, the study underscores the critical role of perceived fairness in fostering voluntary compliance and sustaining trust in the system. The findings suggest that a rehabilitative approach not only benefits debtors by facilitating financial recovery, but also serves the long-term interests of creditors by promoting higher repayment rates and economic stability. Ultimately, the study argues that rather than being inherently contradictory, rehabilitative and punitive measures can be strategically integrated to enhance the overall efficiency and legitimacy of enforcement legislation.

Both Finnish and Swedish are national languages in Finland. The background is that until 1809 Finland and Sweden were one country and Swedish was the official language. Between 1809 and 1917 Finland had autonomy as a part of Russia and during that period, the Finnish language became more powerful. In 1902 Finnish and Swedish became official languages. In 1917 Finland became independent and had its constitution in 1919, where both languages (Finnish and Swedish) were national languages. The status of the national languages was again confirmed in the reform of basic rights in 1995 like again in the current constitution from the year 2000. About 288 000 people have Swedish as their mother tongue in Finland, which means that over 5 % are Swedish speaking. According to the Constitution, the right of everyone to use his or her own language, either Finnish or Swedish, before courts of law and other authorities, and to receive official documents in that language, shall be guaranteed by an Act. The public authorities shall provide for the cultural and societal needs of the Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking populations of the country on an equal basis. The term “national” language has a symbolic value. The Constitution makes namely no difference between the majority and minority languages but is neutral. Finland is, therefore, a bilinguistic country where both official languages have an equal status despite of the fact Swedish is factually a minority language. This symbolic value is quite significant and strengthens the factual status of the Swedish language. The linguistic rights serve in this case also the minority rights. The status as a minority causes needs to protect the own language and identity intensively. Therefore, the linguistic rights and how they are protected do mirror how the minority rights are protected. Additionally, the status as a minority seem to affect in experiencing the importance of the linguistic rights too. In this article, the symbolic value of national language is discussed together with the question how the minority status affects linguistic rights´ and their significance. The geographical context is Finland and the culture geographical context is Finnish Swedes.