Enforcement of EU fines
EU member states have agreed on cooperation in the enforcement of fines. As of 22 March 2007 a fine imposed by another EU member state may be collected from a person living in Finland. Correspondingly, Finland may submit a fine imposed here to another member state for enforcement.
The executive authority in Finland is the Legal Register Centre. It receives enforcement requests from other member states and sends requests to them.
Enforcement may be applied to fines, costs of legal proceedings or administrative procedures, and sums ordered to be paid to a public fund or a crime victims support organisation.
After deciding to commence enforcement, the Legal Register Centre sends the decision, instructions for appeal and a request for payment to the person liable to pay. The person liable to pay may appeal the decision of the Legal Register Centre to Tampere District Court within 30 days. If the person liable to pay starts remittance of the penalty after receiving the request for payment, he is deemed to have been served notice of the decision, and the 30 day appeal period starts from the date of payment. Otherwise the party liable to pay is to be verifiably served notice of the decision by the execution officer.
The Legal Register Centre may refuse enforcement on the following grounds:
1. Lack of certificate:
Submitted documents lack a certificate by which the requesting state proves that the case complies with the Council Framework Decision.
2. There is a previous decision on the case:
The person concerned has received a decision on the same acts in Finland.
3. The act is not punishable in Finland:
The decision pertains to acts that are not punishable under Finnish legislation. Enforcement cannot be refused if the act is a so-called list offence. List offences refer to acts specifically listed in the framework decision.
4. Expiration:
The right of enforcement has expired according to Finnish legislation.
5. Place of commission:
The decision pertains to acts that are deemed to have been committed fully or partly within the territory of Finland.
6. Diplomatic immunity:
The decision applies to a diplomatic representative of a foreign state.
7. Age of criminal liability:
The decision applies to a person who was under 15 years of age at the time of commission.
8. Sentenced in absentia:
Either the person concerned has not, in accordance with the laws of the issuing state, personally or via a representative been informed of the hearing, or the person has been sentenced in absentia and has indicated his or her wish to contest the decision. Application of these grounds requires that the Legal Register Centre has obtained the information referred to herein from a certificate completed by the issuing state.
9. The penalty is less than EUR 70 or an equivalent amount.
10. Infringement of basic rights:
Enforcement may be refused if there is reason to believe, on the basis of objective elements, that the financial penalty has the purpose of punishing the concerned person on the grounds of his or her sex, race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, language, political opinions or sexual orientation or that the person’s position may be prejudiced for any of these reasons.
Enforcement
Enforcement shall be effected according to Finnish legislation. Accrued monies become the property of the State of Finland.
The person liable to pay may be granted an extension of the time of payment as in the case of Finnish receivables.
If the person liable to pay does not remit the owed amount upon receiving a request for payment from the Legal Register Centre, and a decision to extend the time of payment is not made, the payment is submitted to collection through execution.
An EU fine is not converted into imprisonment in Finland.
For further information see Government Proposal (in Finnish) HE 142/2006: link to Finlex www.finlex.fi/en/
Inquiries to Legal Register Centre should be addressed to:
Branch Manager Tauno Aalto, tel. +358 29 56 65729 or +358 50 3258 662
Updated 14.11.2011
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