The European Court of Human Rights, in which Finland has been earning a poor record in recent years.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found Finland guilty of human rights violations 75 times, more than other countries in Europe, reports the Turku-based daily Turun Sanomat.

“Finland has already received 75 guilty verdicts from the ECtHR. Except for one verdict they are all from within the past 15 years. During this same time period Sweden has only received 22 such verdicts. Norway’s tally is 19, Denmark’s is nine and Iceland has received only six guilty verdicts.

In the four peak years Finland received more guilty verdicts from Strasbourg than Germany even had cases pending in the court, even though Germany has 15 times the population of Finland.

The Baltic States are also far behind Finland in this regard, although to be fair these countries have only had cases pending in the ECHR during this decade. Estonia has had 16, Latvia 31 and Lithuania 40 guilty verdicts. The most embarrassing verdicts for Finland’s public image have been those dealing with freedom of speech. There are already seven such guilty verdicts.”

TURUN SANOMAT 3 May
Lehtikuva - Reuters - Vincent Kessler