Domestic violence cases can no longer be mediated from beginning of 2025
Mediation in domestic violence cases will be discontinued from the beginning of 2025. In future, domestic violence cases can be mediated only when they concern petty offences committed by minors against their parents or other custodians or their relatives.
The aim of the legislative amendment is to ensure that victims of domestic violence cannot be pressured into agreeing to mediation. The amendment was prompted by cases where, as a result of mediation, offenders were able to get away without being punished, even in cases involving repeated violence.
In future, mediation could not be used to resolve criminal offences involving violence or certain other offences, such as sexual offences, menace or stalking, if the offence is committed against the suspect’s family member or other close person. The ban would apply to offences committed not only in intimate partner relationships but also in other domestic relationships. According to the government proposal, the ban on mediation would not apply to complainant offences.
Parliament included an exemption in the Act that, despite the ban on mediation, mediation in domestic violence cases could continue in petty offences that minors have committed against their parents or other custodians or their relatives. The reason for this was that minors do not usually hold such a position of power over adults that they could pressure adults into agreeing to mediation.
Minister Grahn-Laasonen: Domestic violence is not a matter to be kept private
A total of 34 per cent of women and 18 per cent of men have experienced violence from their current or former partner. Only a fraction of domestic violence cases are reported to the authorities. In domestic violence cases, the offender often has power over the victim.
GREVIO, the expert body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, has expressed its concern to Finland over mediation in cases involving domestic violence.
“Violence taking place within the home is not a matter to be kept private. Domestic violence can kill, and it is alarmingly common in Finland. This long-awaited legislative amendment will strengthen the status of victims while sending a strong message: violence cannot be mediated and the offender must be punished,” says Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen.
Legislative amendment not to affect resources of mediation offices
The legislative amendment will not have a negative effect on the resources of mediation offices. Instead, the discontinuation of mediation in domestic violence cases will free up some of their resources for mediation in other offences. Studies show that mediation can prevent recidivism and social exclusion among young people.
When mediation in domestic violence cases is discontinued, the Ministry of Justice’s administrative branch (National Prosecution Authority, courts of law) will receive EUR 2.25 million in additional funding and the Ministry of the Interior’s administrative branch (i.e. police) EUR 589,000. This funding will help cover the costs that are incurred by the administrative branches of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior as a result of domestic violence cases that can no longer be mediated at mediation offices.
The legislative amendment concerns the Act on Conciliation in Criminal and Certain Civil Cases, and the President of the Republic approved this amendment on 19 December 2024. The mediation processes which start before the Act’s entry into force can be completed.
Inquiries:
Laura Terho, Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 295 163 550
Niilo Heinonen, Special Adviser to the Minister of Social Security, tel. +358 295 163 603