lainvastaisiin

Lainvastaisiin is a Finnish adjective meaning “against the law” or “illegal.” It is used to describe acts, measures, or conduct that violate statutory provisions. The form is an inflected variant of lainvastainen, and it commonly appears in phrases that specify what is illegal, often taking illative or partitive endings when indicating the target, such as toimenpiteisiin or tekoihin. For example, lainvastaisiin tekoihin syyllistyneet refers to people who have engaged in illegal acts, and lainvastaisiin toimenpiteisiin ryhtyminen describes taking illegal measures.

The noun form lainvastaisuus denotes illegality or unlawfulness, and the adjective lainvastainen can appear in court rulings or political commentary to characterize behavior as contrary to the law. The term is standard in Finnish legal, administrative, and media language and is used to discuss actions or policies in relation to statutory requirements.

Lainvastainen originates from the noun laki (law) and the suffix -vastainen (opposed to), forming a common legal-adjacent descriptor in Finnish. It is widely used to distinguish lawful from unlawful activities in legal texts, journalism, and academic writing. While lainvastainen describes the nature of an act, it does not by itself establish a separate offense; legal consequences depend on the applicable statutes and procedures.

See also: legality, illegality, contravention, rikos, lainvastaisuus.