Government proposal to amend and specify provisions in the Act on Police Administration

On 7 May 2020, the Government submitted to Parliament a proposal to amend the Act on Police Administration. The proposal would specify the obligation of the National Police Board and the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service to provide information to the Ministry of the Interior. Additionally, it would transfer the power to appoint heads of police departments from the Ministry of the Interior to the National Police Board, which directs and oversees the police departments.

The obligation imposed on the National Police Commissioner and the Director of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service to provide information on matters of social significance would be specified, for example by laying down in the Act those public officials of the Ministry of the Interior who should be notified of such matters. Moreover, notwithstanding secrecy provisions, this information should be disclosed. 

The proposal is aimed at amending the provisions on the obligation to provide information in the police administration and on the power to appoint heads of police departments to better reflect the strategic powers in the Ministry of the Interior’s administrative branch and the operational oversight powers of the police administration.

In September 2017, the Ministry of the Interior launched a project to assess and examine the functioning and effectiveness of the performance guidance of the Ministry of the Interior and, in addition, whether the objectives of establishing the National Police Board were successfully achieved. The project examined, among other things, how the implementation of the obligation to provide information that is laid down in the Act on Police Administration was carried out.

Inquiries:

Tero Kurenmaa, Director General, tel. +358 295 480 414, [email protected]