Tougher penalty for entry ban violation

The president on Wednesday approved legislative amendments by which a new provision on violation of entry ban will be added to the Criminal Code of Finland, said an official press release.

Until now, violations of entry ban have usually been punished as violations of the Aliens Act, for which the punishment is a fine. In future, a person violating an entry ban will be sentenced either to a fine or to imprisonment for at most one year.

Under the new provision, an alien who enters Finland despite a valid ban imposed on his or her entry commits an offence. The amendments will enter into force in the beginning of 2019.

The purpose of the amendments is to enable imposition of such a punishment for a violation of entry ban that would better be in line with the reprehensibility of the act.

The amendment also aims to have a preventive effect. Moreover, the essential elements of acts punishable as a violation of entry ban will be specified.