The criminal sanctions field undergoes a major reform at the beginning of 2010 when the Criminal Sanctions Agency, the Prison Service, and the Probation Service, which have previously been operating as independent authorities in the administrative branch of the Ministry of Justice, are united into one organisation called the Criminal Sanctions Agency.

It is a significant organisational change. In future, the Criminal Sanctions Agency consists of three criminal sanctions regions, the Central Administration, the Health Care Unit, and the Training Institute for Prison and Probation Services.

(394kB) Criminal Sanctions Agency

The three criminal sanctions regions are the Criminal Sanctions Region of Southern Finland, the Criminal Sanctions Region of Western Finland, and the Criminal Sanctions Region of Eastern and Northern Finland.

The criminal sanctions regions have a regional administration, which includes a regional centre and an assessment centre.

The criminal sanctions regions are divided into criminal sanctions centres, which consist of prisons and community sanction offices.

Central Administration

The Central Administration of the Criminal Sanctions Agency is located in Helsinki and comprises five units: the Management Support, the Administrative Unit, the Operation Development and Quality Unit, the Financial Unit, and the Judicial Unit.

Health Care Unit

The Health Care Unit of the Criminal Sanctions Agency includes the following common services that are provided nationwide: the Medicine Dispensary, the Prison Mental Hospital (Turku and Vantaa), the Prison Hospital and the polyclinics situated in prisons as well as the dental care services.

Training Institute for Prison and Probation Services

The Training Institute for Prison and Probation Services is responsible for the degree education related to the criminal sanctions field as well as the in-service training that maintains and improves vocational proficiency.