I have written previously a blog post comparing the Constitution of the United States to that of Finland, and how in Finland the Constitution isn't actually a law, but more like a guiding principle for the government. A quite loose guiding principle that gets broken all the time by the lawmakers, the judicial system and the police, often with complete impunity. Sometimes the Constitution even gets amended to retroactively justify the unconstitutional decision of a judge (as mentioned in that blog post). Othertimes blatant breaches of the Constitution are just ignored without even a comment by the authorities who should be in charge of enforcing it.
Recently I heard in the Finnish news that the police had raided the compounds of a "neonazi" group (that's notorious in all the Nordic Countries), and were investigated if they were in breach of a court order that they had received in the past forbidding them from organizing any activities and congregating for that purpose.
Well well, I thought. Yet another beautiful example of the Finnish judicial system just outright ignoring the Constitution, and the police enforcing this unconstitutional judgment.
I don't know if that group consists of actual bona fide neo-nazis (given that nowadays everybody is being called a "nazi"), but even if they actually are, and are of the worst possible kind, that doesn't make one iota of a difference. Constitutional rights are not dependent on what your political opinions are, or what crimes you may have committed in the past.
Section 13 of the Constitution of Finland states (translation mine):
It just goes to show that the Finnish Constitution is not worth even the paper it's printed on. It's completely worthless.
Recently I heard in the Finnish news that the police had raided the compounds of a "neonazi" group (that's notorious in all the Nordic Countries), and were investigated if they were in breach of a court order that they had received in the past forbidding them from organizing any activities and congregating for that purpose.
Well well, I thought. Yet another beautiful example of the Finnish judicial system just outright ignoring the Constitution, and the police enforcing this unconstitutional judgment.
I don't know if that group consists of actual bona fide neo-nazis (given that nowadays everybody is being called a "nazi"), but even if they actually are, and are of the worst possible kind, that doesn't make one iota of a difference. Constitutional rights are not dependent on what your political opinions are, or what crimes you may have committed in the past.
Section 13 of the Constitution of Finland states (translation mine):
"Freedom of assembly and associationThe fundamental constitutional right to freedom of assembly and association of this group of people has been repeatedly violated by the Finnish judicial system and by the Finnish police.
Everybody has the right, without requiring any permission, to organize meetings and protests, and to participate in them.
Everybody has the right to freedom of association. Freedom of association entails the right to found, without requiring any permission, an organization, belong to or abstain from belonging to an organization, and participate in the activities of an organization. Likewise the right to labor unions, and the freedom of association in order to protect the rights of others, is guaranteed.
More specific regulations on the exercise of freedom of assembly and association are decreed by law."
It just goes to show that the Finnish Constitution is not worth even the paper it's printed on. It's completely worthless.
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