Rikosjuttu

Rikosjuttu is a Finnish term that roughly translates to “crime case” or “criminal matter.” It denotes either a specific case involving criminal acts that is under police investigation or court proceedings, or a news item reporting on such a case. In everyday Finnish, juttu can mean a story, an issue, or an article, and rikosjuttu combines these senses with the notion of crime.

In journalism, rikosjuttu is commonly used to label crime-related reporting. It can refer to a police press release, a report on an ongoing investigation, or coverage of a court verdict. The plural form, rikosjutut, is used for multiple crime-related stories. The term tends to imply real events and is associated with public-interest reporting.

In a legal context, a rikosjuttu refers to a criminal case as it is handled within the judiciary—from investigation to trial and verdict. The phrase may appear in court documents or summaries to indicate the subject matter of proceedings.

Linguistically, rikosjuttu illustrates how Finnish compounds combine a concrete noun (rikos, crime) with juttu (story, matter, item). The meaning is determined by context and can be ambiguous without additional qualifiers.

Translations include “crime case” or “criminal case” in a legal sense, and “crime report” or “crime story” in journalism. The term is generally applied to real events rather than fictional works.