Background

Because of implementing the Palermo Protocol on human trafficking the Ministry of Justice appointed a working group in 2002. Its task was to make a proposal for statutes on trafficking and arrangement of illegal immigration and to consider whether purchase of sexual services should be criminalized.

The working group proposed:

• making the statutes on pandering stricter: for example marketing of sexual services would be punishable as pandering.
• new statutes on human trafficking and arrangement of illegal immigration
• criminalizing buying of sexual services (on this issue there were dissenting opinions in the working group).

Read more about the proposals of the working group in the press release of the Ministry of Justice, 3 July 2003.

Most of the proposals of the working group were introduced to Parliament as a Government Bill and passed in the Parliament already in 2004. Read more about this in the press release of the Ministry of Justice.

The proposal for criminalizing purchase of sexual services was not included in the same Government Bill with the other proposals. This issue has been very controversial. Different organisations and governmental bodies have given different opinions for and against the proposal.

The Minister of Justice has been telling that the Government Bill of criminalizing purchase of sexual services will be given but introducing the Bill was postponed couple of times.

The Government Bill was finally introduced and given to Parliament on 22 December 2005.

As background information you might also be interested in the press release about the Minister of Justice defending Finland against the claims in the US trafficking report.