Tuesday 15 May at 18.00 at the Scottish Parliament - Committee Room 2.
Main speaker: Tapio Lappi-Seppälä, Director, National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Finland.
Hosted by Humza Yousaf MSP with Nordic Horizons sponsorship.
Finland had one of the highest prison populations in western Europe until the 1970s. Since then, the impr ... isonment rate has fallen to the low Nordic average but crime rates have stayed the same. Today, Finland has 59 prisoners per 100,000 of population; Scotland has 153. Finnish reform began when academics in the 60s argued criminal policy should be part of social policy, with employment and educational opportunities, and they also pointed out there was no evidence of a link between long prison sentences and less crime. Politicians legislated to turn prison sentences into community alternatives. The Scottish Prisons Commission modelled Scotland's community payback orders on the Finnish experience, but prison numbers here are still high. Can Finnish expertise offer new insights to reduce Scotland’s high prison population?
Dr Lappi-Seppälä will explain how Finland moved from a punitive, prison-based model of justice, to one where community options and rehabilitation were prioritised. The meeting will be chaired by Lesley Riddoch, a member of the Scottish Prisons Commission. Committee Room 2 has a capacity of just 88 people – so if you’d like to come reserve your places in the usual way – click “join” on the Facebook event or email Dan at nordichorizons@hotmail.co. uk. We’ll confirm places via Facebook message or email and let those who have registered too late know that they’ve been unsuccessful. General info and updates on speakers will be posted on our Facebook page and this website.
Please note that Nordic Horizons is a self administering group. Everyone is a volunteer and there is no secretariat, admin group or 'paid for' organising committee. Anything you can do to aid this would be appreciated.
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