Pykälässä

Pykälässä is the inessive form of pykälä, a Finnish legal term for a section, clause, or provision of a statute or regulation. The word is used to refer to the content located within a specific provision, and it is commonly employed when referencing the text in legal drafting, analysis, and court decisions. For example, the phrase “Pykälässä 7 säädetään velvoitteesta” means “In Section 7, a duty is prescribed.”

Etymology and usage: Pykälä is a standard unit in Finnish statutory language, designating a numbered provision. The locative form pykälässä marks the spatial relation of being inside that provision. This construction helps writers and readers pinpoint the exact part of a law under discussion.

Relation to other terms: In legal writing, pykälä refers to an individual provision inside a statute, while other terms like kohta or luku denote broader subdivisions such as a clause within a chapter or the chapter itself. Although there can be overlap in casual usage, pykälä is the most precise term for an enumerated provision in formal texts.

Context: Finnish legislation is organized hierarchically into chapters, sections (pykälät), and subsections. Citations typically name the pykälä number and, when needed, the subsection letter to specify the exact text being referred to. The form pykälässä is used when describing where a rule or statement appears within the statute.

See also: Laki, Säädös, Kohta, Luku, Paragraafi.