The National Prosecution Authority

Once the pre‑trial investigation of a criminal matter has been completed, the police (or another pre‑trial investigation authority*) refer the matter to a prosecutor for consideration.

The prosecutor carries out the consideration of charges, meaning that they examine the material received from the police and decide either to bring charges or to waive charges.

If the prosecutor brings charges, the criminal matter will be heard by the District Court on a scheduled hearing date or, with the consent of the injured party and the suspect, using the written procedure. If a hearing date has not yet been scheduled at the time the charges are brought, the District Court will notify the parties of the date at a later stage.

Please note that once the matter has been referred to the District Court, all questions relating to it must be directed to the District Court.

If the prosecutor decides not to bring charges, they will issue a decision to waive charges and notify all parties concerned accordingly.

Read more about the processing of a criminal matter.

*Other pre‑trial investigation authorities include the Finnish Border Guard, the Defence Forces and Customs.

On average, the consideration of charges takes 2–3 months. However, each case is different. Some straightforward criminal matters may be resolved by the prosecutor very quickly, while others may take considerably longer.

The duration of the consideration of charges depends on several factors, including the overall workload of prosecutors, how much examination is needed, and whether the prosecutor needs to request additional information for the consideration of charges.

Under Finnish law, certain criminal matters must be handled more urgently than others. These include, for example, matters where the right to prosecute i.e. the limitation period is about to end, or matters involving a suspect who is under 18 years of age.

The prosecutor may revoke a decision not to bring charges if they receive new information that has an impact on the case.

The prosecutor’s decision is based on the pre‑trial investigation material received. You should first contact the police* and request the pre‑trial investigation report for the case. Verify that the information contained in the report is accurate.

After this, you may contact the prosecutor who made the decision and provide any missing or additional information.

*If the pre‑trial investigation was conducted by an authority other than the police, please contact the authority that carried out the investigation. Other pre‑trial investigation authorities include the Finnish Border Guard, the Defence Forces and Customs.

It is not always necessary to attend court proceedings in person. Remote connection may be a suitable alternative, for example in situations where distances are long. You can ask the court in question about the possibility of remote connection. Contact information of the Finnish courts

Other questions related to the proceedings are answered by the district court.

The police decide on the length of the driving ban. In a fine procedure, the police generally wait for the prosecutor to make a decision and then decide on the length of the driving ban. However, its duration must be at least one month and no more than five years.

In a criminal case being heard in court, the police usually wait until the court has reached a decision before deciding on the driving ban.

If the police have imposed a temporary driving ban on you in connection with a fine being dealt with by the prosecutor – that is, a summary penal order – the case proceeds as follows:
The police issue you with a fine (a fine request). The police then forward the fine request to the prosecutor, and the prosecutor decides on the fine – that is, the prosecutor issues a summary penal order.

The prosecutor may also transfer the case from a fine procedure to criminal proceedings.

In some circumstances, the prosecutor may decide not to issue a summary penal order, refer the case back to the police or consider that the offence in the fine request is incorrect. If the prosecutor considers that the fine request is too lenient, you may be served with a new higher fine request. You will be informed of these measures if your case proceeds in that way.

The prosecutor may issue a summary penal order no earlier than two weeks after the fine request has been served on you. This is because the fined person always has two weeks to submit additional information, for example on changes in income.  

In certain exceptional cases, you may be able to get your driving licence back before the prosecutor has reached a decision on the fine. You can contact the police about this.

You can read more about driving bans from the Police website.

If you wish to appeal against a penal order, a petty fine or a fine order, you must submit a written appeal to the District Court of the place where the offence was committed.

A fine request cannot be appealed. However, you may submit an explanation to the prosecution district if there is significant information relevant to the resolution of the matter.

Further information on fine matters is available on the Fine Procedure page and on the website of the Legal Register Centre.