Frequently asked questions about beginning serving a sentence

If you cannot come to the probation office at the time in the invitation, you have to contact the probation office and set a new time. The contact information of the probation office is in the letter sent to you.

It is important that you come to the meeting to plan your sentence term. If you do not show up, the plan and the decision on your placement will be made without hearing you. A warrant to apprehend you will be issued if you cannot be reached in any way, you do not receive the decision of your placement and the date of reporting to prison, or you do not comply with the date of reposting to prison.

If you are in an open prison, you can apply for a transfer to another prison, or the prison can request your transfer to another prison. Your placement can be changed based on the prerequisites provided in the Imprisonment Act. The decision on the transfer is made by the Client Assessment Unit.

The transfer to another prison must be based on your sentence plan or a change in your situation or conditions. Therefore, the decision on a transfer is always considered individually.There are several prerequisites for the placement in an open prison:

• The transfer has to be in accordance with your sentence plan and, thus, support your goal to live without crime.­
• One of the main prerequisites is that you have to commit yourself to abstain from intoxicating substances and submit to substance control. In addition, you have to be suited for the activities arranged in or approved by the open prison.­
• You may be transferred back to a closed prison if you commit an offence or a disciplinary infraction in the open prison or refuse to participate in the activities in the open prison.­
• You may also be transferred to a closed prison if you are remanded for a suspected offence, it is discovered that you had committed an offence prior to your entry into the open prison, or a new prison sentence imposed on you is to be enforced.­
• The transfer may be justified in order to ensure your own safety or prevent criminal activity.­
• You may be transferred from an open prison or a closed prison to another open or closed prison at your own request or at the request of the prison if it ensures the implementation of your sentence plan or is otherwise justifiable.­
• In some situations, it may be necessary to transfer you to another prison if there are grounds to suspect that you may escape or if the order, safety, or security of the prison so requires.
• ­If the prison is overcrowded, you may be transferred to another prison also in order to balance out the occupancy rates of prisons.

You may apply for a postponement of the enforcement of your sentence on medical or social grounds. You have to fill in the application form and send it to the Client Assessment Unit of the Prison and Probation Service.

If you want to send personal data by email, we advise to use the secure email system Turvaposti.
Instructions on sending secure email: Sending secure email: User guide 2020 (om.fi)

You may apply to the Client Assessment Unit of the Prison and Probation Service to postpone the beginning of your sentence if you have such social or medical grounds on which the beginning of your imprisonment would have an exceptionally negative impact.

If you have been wrongfully imprisoned or sentenced, you may apply to the State Treasury for compensation.

Compensation to the wrongfully imprisoned and convicted (Valtiokonttori.fi)