ABSTRACT
In Finland, all prisoners – except those few dangerous violent recidivists who serve their sentence in full (approximately 30 prisoners on any given day) – are released on parole. In practice this means that 99 per cent of prisoners released every year are released on parole. Release on parole is based on the decision of the prison’s Director. Release practice is also quite fixed. As a rule recidivists are released after they have served two thirds of their sentence, while first-time prisoners are released after they have served one half of their sentences. Offenders aged 15-20 are released either after one third (first offenders) or after one half (recidivists) of their sentences. In all cases, a further condition is that the prisoner must have served at least 14 days. Release may be postponed due to a substantial risk of reoffending. However, this has been used in only a handful of cases.
