Finland is examining whether prisoners sentenced by Finnish courts could serve their sentences abroad as authorities look for ways to relieve pressure on an increasingly crowded prison system.
The Ministry of Justice published a study on Thursday examining the legal conditions for renting prison places from another country. The review comes as Finland looks at arrangements already being developed elsewhere in the Nordic region, particularly Sweden’s agreement with Estonia to accommodate Swedish prisoners.
Justice Minister Leena Meri said the idea requires careful legal consideration because transferring prisoners to another country raises questions about Finland’s constitutional responsibility for enforcing sentences imposed by its courts.
“I consider it important that, because of overcrowding in our prisons, we examine what such a model would require in practice from the perspective of our legislation,” Meri said at a press conference in Helsinki.
The study does not mean that Finland has decided to send prisoners abroad. No country has been selected and there are currently no formal negotiations with another government over a prison rental agreement.
Estonia is one of the countries Finland is studying because of Sweden’s existing arrangement there. Under the Swedish model, Estonia began receiving Swedish prisoners in August, with Sweden renting prison capacity at Tartu prison. Meri said that, based on the information available to her, Estonia is not currently seeking additional prison rental agreements.
Finland is also following Denmark’s arrangement with Kosovo as it assesses the legal, practical and operational issues involved in transferring prisoners to facilities outside the country.
The pressure behind the review is clear in Finland’s prison population. The country has about 3,900 prisoners, according to figures from the Prison and Probation Service cited by the Ministry of Justice. About 950 of them are foreign nationals.
The number of foreign prisoners has increased by 76 per cent over the past decade. According to the ministry, the rise in the number of foreign prisoners accounted for roughly four-fifths of the overall growth in Finland’s prison population during the same period.
Drug offences make up the largest share of principal offences among foreign prisoners serving sentences in Finland, accounting for 49 per cent. Sexual offences account for 21 per cent and homicides for 10 per cent, according to ministry figures.
The ten largest groups of foreign nationals in Finnish prisons last year were from Estonia, Iraq, Sweden, Lithuania, Romania, Albania, Latvia, Gambia, Nigeria and Somalia.
The government’s consideration of prison places abroad is therefore taking place alongside efforts to expand capacity inside Finland. The government plans to add about 500 prison places, with modular prison units in Helsinki, Hämeenlinna and Kylmäkoski expected to begin operating next year. Turku prison is also due to receive an additional wing by 2028.
At the same time, authorities are seeking to increase the number of foreign prisoners transferred to their home countries and to pursue the removal of foreign nationals who have been convicted of crimes and received decisions requiring them to leave Finland.
A separate government-funded study, due to be completed by the end of 2026, is examining how prisoners who have received deportation decisions could be transferred from Finland to their countries of origin.
For now, sending prisoners abroad remains an option under examination rather than an agreed policy. The legal study is intended to establish what would be required if Finland were to pursue such a system, while the expansion of domestic prison capacity continues in parallel.
