Chapter 6 – Sentencing

Deductions to be made from the punishment imposed

Section 13 – Deduction of period of loss of liberty

(1) If a sentence of imprisonment for a fixed period is imposed for an act for which the offender has been deprived of his or her liberty for a continuous period of at least one day, the court shall deduct from the punishment a period corresponding to this loss of liberty, or deem this loss of liberty to be full service of the punishment.

(2) The same shall be done if the loss of liberty was due to the defendant having been taken into custody due to charges or a criminal investigation relating to the same matter or due to a court order to the effect that the defendant was to be brought before the court.

(3) If the punishment imposed is a fine, the loss of liberty shall be taken into account to a reasonable amount, but nonetheless at least to an amount corresponding to the loss of liberty, or shall be deemed to be full service of the punishment.

Chapter 6 – Sentencing

Deductions to be made from the punishment imposed

Section 14 – Deduction of punishment imposed abroad

If a person is sentenced in Finland for an offence for which he or she has already served a sanction imposed abroad in full or in part, a reasonable amount shall be deducted from the sentence to be imposed. If the sanction that has been served has been a custodial sentence, the court shall deduct from the sentence the time corresponding to the loss of liberty. The court may also note that the sanction that has been served is to be deemed a sufficient sanction for the offence.

Chapter 7 - Joint punishment

Section 1 - Sentencing to a joint punishment of imprisonment (755/2010)

(1) If a person is to be sentenced to imprisonment for two or more offences at the same time, he or she shall be sentenced to a joint punishment of imprisonment, unless otherwise provided elsewhere in law.

(2) In cases where one offence would be punishable by imprisonment and one or more of the other offences would be punishable by a fine or a summary penal fee, the court may pass a joint sentence of imprisonment for all the offences. The court may also impose a joint sentence of imprisonment for some of the offences and, in addition, a fine or summary penal fine for the other offences, but not both a fine and a summary penal fine.

(3) If one offence would be punishable by life imprisonment, a sentence of life imprisonment shall be passed as a joint punishment for all the offences.