Finland
Parliament
Openness and transparency
Information about access to parliamentary documents, parliament’s reporting to the public, parliament’s relation to Freedom of Information laws, and lobbying.
Parliamentary documents
The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance
The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance.
The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance
The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance.
Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site
Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site.
Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website
Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website.
Citizens can submit comments on draft legislation on the parliamentary web site
No
Compare data of this field.
Annual reporting by parliament
Parliament publishes an annual report on its activities
The annual report is available on the parliamentary web site
Yes
Parliament publishes the parliamentary budget
Level of detail of the parliamentary budget made available to the public
Level of detail of the parliamentary budget made available to the public: Only the total amount; A summary of the main elements; The complete budget
The complete budget
The parliamentary budget is available on the parliamentary web site
Yes
Access to parliament
Plenary meetings are open to the public
Notes
"The plenary sessions of the Parliament are open to the public, unless the Parliament for a very weighty reason decides otherwise for a given matter," Constitution, Section 50(1).
Committee meetings are open to the public
Notes
"A committee may open its meeting to the public when it is gathering information for the preparation of a matter," Constitution, section 50(2).
There is a dedicated channel for broadcasting parliamentary meetings
A dedicated channel is one that is mainly about parliament, and is accessible free of charge to the general public. The channel might be owned by Parliament or a public or private company. Dedicated channels may be broadcast by parliament, government, or another broadcaster. They may be carried on television, radio or the Internet (webcasting).
Media used for the dedicated channel
Webcast
Meetings broadcast on the dedicated channel
Plenary sittings
Freedom of information
There is a freedom of information law in the country
Yes
Parliament is subject to the freedom of information law
Parliament has an office/division dedicated to FOI requests
No
Categories of Information that are exempt from disclosure
Certain categories of information may be exempt from disclosure
Act on the Openness of Government Activities 621/1999 - https://finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1999/en19990621.pdf (English translation not up-to-date -- amendments to 907/2015 included). Section 24 lists secret official documents.
Also see parilament's Rules of Procedure, section 43a: "Committee documents shall be secret if access to their contents would cause significant damage to the international relations of Finland or to the capital or financial markets. Likewise, documents shall be secret if they contain information on a business or professional secret or the state of health or financial status of a person, if access to that information would cause significant harm or damage and unless there is a pressing public interest requiring that the documents be public. A committee may decide, for a comparable compelling reason, that a given document is to be secret. Documents covered by the scope of discretion, as exercised by the Committee on the basis of section 50(3) of the Constitution, shall also be secret."
Also see parilament's Rules of Procedure, section 43a: "Committee documents shall be secret if access to their contents would cause significant damage to the international relations of Finland or to the capital or financial markets. Likewise, documents shall be secret if they contain information on a business or professional secret or the state of health or financial status of a person, if access to that information would cause significant harm or damage and unless there is a pressing public interest requiring that the documents be public. A committee may decide, for a comparable compelling reason, that a given document is to be secret. Documents covered by the scope of discretion, as exercised by the Committee on the basis of section 50(3) of the Constitution, shall also be secret."