Statement on clarifying criminal liability for forced marriage (TAS/164/2024, issued on 19 April 2024)
The Ombudsman for Equality submitted a statement to the Ministry of Justice on clarifying the criminal liability for forced marriage.
A working group established by the Ministry of Justice has prepared a proposal on clarifying the criminal liability for forced marriage laid down in the Criminal Code (Publications of the Ministry of Justice, Reports and statements, 2024:7). The Ministry of Justice assessment memorandum on criminal liability for forced marriage, on which the Ombudsman for Equality submitted a statement previously (TAS/573/2021), served as background in the preparation of the proposal.
The Ombudsman for Equality agrees with the working group’s proposal to specify the Criminal Code provision on human trafficking (chapter 25, section 3) by including forced marriage in the purposes of the criminal activity. The Ombudsman also supports the proposal that the proposed legislation would cover unofficial marriages comparable to legally valid marriages.
According to the working group’s proposal, forced marriage would not be defined in the Act, but only in the rationale of the related government proposal. The proposal states that this would not be an issue from the perspective of the principle of legality in criminal cases laid down in section 8 of the Constitution of Finland. According to section 8 of the Constitution, no one may be found guilty of a criminal offence or be sentenced to a punishment on the basis of a deed, which has not been determined punishable by an Act at the time of its commission. However, it may be problematic for the application of the Act if forced marriage is only defined in the rationale for the Act and not in the Act itself.
The working group’s view that the principle of legality would allow only defining forced marriage in the rationale of the Act should therefore be more extensively justified.
Attention should generally be paid on how forced marriage is defined, because the provision is planned to cover marriages comparable to legal marriages. The nature of such marriages can vary significantly, which is why the definition should cover these diverse situations as extensively as possible.
At the end of the statement, the Ombudsman for Equality reminds that forced marriage is not a gender-neutral phenomenon.
In international law, forced marriage is defined as a form of gender-based violence targeting women. Based on the above, the Ombudsman for Equality would see it as positive if the government proposal includes a dedicated section in which the impact of the proposed legislation on gender equality is assessed in more detail.
26.04.2024
