rikosvastuut

Rikosvastuu refers to criminal responsibility in Finnish law. It encompasses the conditions under which an individual can be held legally accountable for committing a crime. For a person to be found criminally liable, it must be established that they have committed an act that is defined as a crime in Finnish legislation and that they acted with the necessary mental state, or culpability.

The concept of culpability, or syyllisyys, is central to rikosvastuu. Finnish law generally requires either intent (tahallisuus) or negligence (tuottamus) for criminal responsibility. Intent means the perpetrator consciously wanted to commit the act and achieve the result. Negligence, on the other hand, involves a failure to exercise due care and foresight, resulting in a criminal outcome that the perpetrator did not actively desire but could or should have foreseen.

There are several grounds that can preclude or mitigate rikosvastuu. These include the age of the offender, with individuals under 15 years of age generally not being subject to criminal prosecution. Mental state at the time of the offense is also crucial; severe mental illness or temporary psychosis can negate culpability. Self-defense (hätävarjelu) and necessity (pakkotila) are also recognized defenses that can justify an otherwise criminal act, thereby removing criminal responsibility. The principle of legality, nullum crimen sine lege, also plays a role, meaning that an act is only punishable if it was explicitly defined as a crime by law at the time it was committed.