Why has Finland become the cleanest country in the world today?
Finland has always been recognized as the cleanest country in the world, and it is extremely rare for government officials and civil servants to abuse power for personal gain. The national courts accept less than 10 cases of bribery every year, and there are almost no major cases. Recently, Transparency International, a Berlin-based non-governmental organization, published the ranking of corruption index of countries in the world in 2003, and Finland was rated as the cleanest country in the world for the fourth consecutive year.
Experts believe that Finland is the country with the lowest degree of corruption and the fewest corruption cases in the world today, which can be attributed to the following aspects: good social morality, transparent and open society, perfect legal system and effective supervision mechanism.
Good social morality
Finnish legal experts believe that the absence of corruption cases in Finland is closely related to the moral standards of citizens and the historical traditions of the nation. For a long time, Finns who have survived the harsh natural environment in northern Europe have formed a unique national character: perseverance, introversion and self-discipline, kindness and tolerance, honesty and trustworthiness. Today, Finland still maintains a pure and simple moral code and a good social atmosphere. For example, when buying vegetables, fruits and sweets in supermarkets all over Finland, self-help shopping methods of self-selection, self-declaration and self-labeling are generally reserved, which surprises foreigners who have just arrived. People's clothes lost in public places are hardly taken away by passers-by, but placed in obvious places waiting for the owner to find them himself.
Finns keep their word, and friends have a high degree of mutual trust. A gentleman's agreement reached orally is as effective as a formal contract, which makes many things simple and efficient to operate. Living in this environment for a long time, you will feel that your mind has been purified and sublimated. In contrast, in Finland, non-labor income such as corruption, bribery and embezzlement of social wealth is regarded as the same despicable and dirty injustice as theft and robbery. Finnish citizens have always despised bribery, abuse of power for personal gain, corruption and other ugly acts. People don't want to be opportunistic and achieve their goals through crooked ways, but are used to creating and acquiring wealth through down-to-earth labor and appropriate efforts. Marty Kusimaki, Attorney General of Finland's Supreme Prosecutor's Office, believes that citizen self-discipline is the most effective means to prevent corruption. Bribing others for a certain purpose or asking for money for others' work is not in line with the Finnish way of thinking. During his 30 years as a judge, no one paid him bribes in any form.
A good educational environment makes Finnish citizens generally have legal knowledge and know the law and abide by it. Finnish children study sociology in primary school and law in high school. In this way, young people have basic legal knowledge and the concept of obeying the law before entering the society. In Finland, having legal knowledge is a necessary condition for government departments at all levels to recruit staff. All officials working in government departments should take an oath to abide by the law, be aware of what can and cannot be done at any time, and accurately grasp the boundary between socialization and corruption.
Transparency and openness of society
Transparency and openness is an important principle in the work of the Finnish government. All public departments are open and subject to the supervision of citizens and the media. All archival materials in government archives and public departments are open not only to experts and researchers, but also to the press and the public. At the same time, it also provides information inquiry, borrowing and copying services. Finnish citizens can learn about government departments through this channel when necessary, thus effectively preventing corruption in government departments.
Although Finland is a small country, its social transparency is very high. In Finland, not only can you not open anonymous accounts, but the tax authorities also have the right to know all the accounts in the country. In addition, the income and property (assets) of every Finnish citizen and group are published in the annual tax return. In terms of bus management, the transparency of the government is also quite high. There are few buses in Finnish government agencies. Except for the President, among all government ministries and commissions, only the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of National Defense enjoy the treatment of being equipped with a special car, which is only used when performing official duties. Shuttle to and from work is an extra treatment, which is equivalent to increasing personal income and paying taxes according to regulations. When other ministers are on official business, the secretary applies to the government office for a car. Government departments have the obligation to regularly and truthfully announce the use of buses by officials, and the media also have the right to inquire. If government officials use buses for personal affairs many times, they will be reported or exposed by the media.
Perfect and sound legal system
Making laws and strictly enforcing laws are the most effective means to prevent and eliminate corruption. Finland has a set of strict laws and regulations formed through long-term practice, which are constantly revised and improved with the change of the situation. In June 2002, the Finnish Parliament unanimously passed a law prohibiting members from accepting bribes and incorporated it into the Finnish criminal law. If a member of parliament accepts bribes from others and promises to act in parliament according to the requirements of the briber, it will be regarded as illegal and will be punished by law, and the briber will also bear legal responsibility. Bribes and bribers will be sentenced to up to four years in prison according to the seriousness of the case.
Finland's civil servant law and criminal law clearly stipulate that government officials should not accept bribes, and it is absolutely forbidden for civil servants to use their powers to seek any benefits. If a civil servant takes advantage of his position to ask for or accept bribes and other benefits for himself and others, he will be sentenced to up to two years in prison for accepting bribes. If the criminal act shows that it is no longer suitable for the original post, it will be dismissed. If a civil servant accepts a large amount of bribes or benefits, or brings great benefits to the briber, causing serious losses and injuries to others, he will be sentenced to four months to four years in prison for serious bribery and transferred from his post. Those who pay bribes to civil servants and staff of public organizations to achieve a certain purpose and obtain huge benefits will also be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of up to four years according to the seriousness of the case. The property and other benefits obtained by taking bribes, regardless of the amount, shall be turned over to the state.
Finnish law also prohibits the industrial and commercial circles from taking bribes in domestic business activities, and at the same time prohibits Finnish companies from promoting the export of their products by bribing abroad. Finnish companies usually give small souvenirs with low value only when customers receive them. This will not only prevent guests from being suspected of taking bribes, but also prevent guests from breaking the law because of taking bribes. In some corrupt countries, Finnish companies usually lose many projects and opportunities because they don't pay bribes. Even so, Finns will not break the law because of short-term interests. However, if we really want to challenge the law, Finnish law is also selfless. On August 29th, 2003, three senior officials of the Finnish Maritime Bureau were sentenced by the Helsinki Court of Appeal for accepting bribes. This is a rare serious corruption case in Finland in recent years. It is reported that these three people represent Finnish Maritime Bureau and Norwegian DSND Shipping Company from 1993 to 1999 respectively.
When signing the contract for renting multifunctional icebreakers, two Finnish icebreakers were rented at a very low cost, which caused great losses to the country. During this period, they accepted bribes from the other side and used the money provided by Norwegian DSND Shipping Company for private travel, with a total amount of nearly 654.38 million euros. Kyosti Vestri Ning, the general manager of the Finnish Maritime Safety Administration involved in the case, and Elopeka Koivumaki, the deputy manager, were sentenced to four months' imprisonment with a suspended execution, and Vestrining was also expelled from public office; Lennart Hagestan, Director-General of Transportation Si Qian of Maritime Safety Administration, was sentenced to 65,438+00 months' imprisonment, with a suspended sentence, because his bribery was more serious than the first two. The three of them must also return all the benefits they have gained to the country.
Effective supervision mechanism
There are few illegal cases in Finland, and various effective supervision mechanisms have played an important role. The supervision system of public officials in Finland is mainly embodied in three aspects: government supervision, news public opinion supervision and public supervision.
Government Supervision: The Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Chief Justice Officer of the Government are the highest supervisors of Finnish state and government agencies, and are generally served by famous jurists. The main task is to supervise whether the president, cabinet members and government officials abide by the law and perform their duties according to the Constitution.
According to the constitution, the government's judicial director has the right to attend cabinet meetings, supervise the legality of decisions made by the president and the government, and supervise government officials at all levels, and have the right to ask government officials to explain their actions at any time. The Director of Justice also receives and listens to reports from ordinary citizens and organizations to officials and civil servants; Warn officials of misconduct; Prosecute officials for serious violations of the law. The Director of Justice may also file an investigation according to relevant information disclosed by public opinion and the media.
Supervision by public opinion: The news media plays an important role in supervising government officials. Because Finland is a small country, a little thing is easy to be caught by the press. If government officials are exposed by the media, they will lose their prestige and even be prosecuted. In May 2002, the Finnish Evening News revealed that Suvi Linden, Minister of Culture, took advantage of her position to approve the government to sponsor a golf company in Oulu for 6.5438+0.7 million euros to help it expand its golf course. She, her husband and several relatives owned shares in the company. This kind of abuse of power for personal gain, abuse of power for personal gain, was immediately strongly criticized by the public. Paavo nikula, director of justice of the Finnish government, immediately instructed relevant departments to investigate the matter. Less than a week later, Linden was forced to resign.
Public supervision: In Finland, the actions of officials are subject to public supervision, and any citizen has the right to freely report and expose the illegal acts of government officials. The Finnish government provides citizens with various opportunities so that everyone can supervise the work of government officials. If someone finds that a government official has neglected his duty, he can report it to the police or his boss. If this still doesn't work, you can bring a lawsuit directly to the court. In addition, when purchasing materials and carrying out project construction, the state should conduct public bidding as far as possible to minimize the possibility of bribery.