The duration of criminal proceedings is often unreasonable. Processing times must be shortened and the weighing of the child's best interests improved.
For children the lengthening of processing times for crimes against Solutions have been sought by granting funding for development projects and improving the work of professionals, as well as with the most recent change in the law, which, since last October, made several crimes against children urgent.
So there has not been a lack of will to solve problems.
However, according to the monitoring report carried out with the support of the Council of Europe, the duration of the processes has increased even more in recent years. This applies to all stages from the preliminary investigation to prosecution and court rights.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Justice, in 2022 the duration of the criminal process in cases of sexual abuse and gross abuse of a child was approximately two and a half years on average. The processing of aggravated child rape has also been extended by more than eight months between 2019 and 2022. For some types of sexual crimes, the average total duration of 40 months has been exceeded.
Fresh ones the figures may seem disconcerting, but it is worth remembering that the duration of processing times does not give a clear picture. A long preliminary investigation period can indicate that evidence has been persistently and thoroughly sought.
The increased online sexual crimes often cross national borders and require, for example, international requests for information. There may be a lot of material seized by the police, and the number of child victims in individual cases is counted even in the hundreds. The changed overall picture of violence against children affects the need for resources and expertise.
It should also be remembered that during the coronavirus pandemic, the restrictions affected the criminal justice system and, for example, court proceedings had to be suspended.
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There has been no lack of will to solve problems.
Pandemic still does not alone explain the course of development that has continued for years. Law changes enacted in the past with good intentions have partly made the situation more difficult.
Since 2015, professionals working with children have been instructed to report suspected abuse directly to the police. Previously, the child welfare authorities assessed whether the situation required a criminal report.
However, the practical implementation of this law change was not ensured. Child support has been delayed. Families wait years for the criminal process to end, even when the parent who used violence has sought help.
It frustrates professionals if the preliminary investigation does not work in favor of a functioning child, and it is difficult for the police to sift through serious cases from the mass of reported suspicions.
The speeding up of the processing of some crimes against children by the law change is not yet reflected in the statistics. However, it is clear that the change is not enough to solve the current problems.
Wishes awakens the new operating model that has already been implemented, which strengthens the cooperation between the police, child protection and health care. It is used when the case requires a particularly careful weighing of the child's interests.
According to a study published last year, this model helps to understand the child's overall situation and the necessary support measures, as well as to shorten examination times. The development of the model must be continued.
Coordination between police investigations and child protection should be increased, especially in situations where the suspected perpetrator of violence is the child's parent. Resources, from the police to the prosecutor and the courts, must be measured realistically. They must take into account the increase in the number of reports of crimes against children and the impact of the law reform on the number of urgent cases. Only in this way can the serious load on the system and the ethical stress of professionals, which endanger the fulfillment of the child's interest, be relieved.
Taina Laajasalo is a research professor at the Department of Health and Well-being. Monica Fagerlund is a university teacher at the University of Tampere.
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