Mediation in Criminal and Civil Cases

Statistical Report for 2022 was published in Finnish on the 11th Nowember 2023. It will appear in English later.
Statistics Report in Finnish

Steady demand for mediation in criminal and civil cases.

In 2021, a total of 9,780 mediation requests including a total of 13,339 cases (12,660 criminal offences and 679 civil cases) were referred to mediation provided by mediation offices in accordance with the Act on Conciliation in Criminal and Certain Civil Cases. The number of criminal and civil cases referred to mediation fell by 3.1% (422) compared to the previous year.

Just over half (51.4 %) of all criminal and civil cases referred to mediation were violent crimes. A total of 2,476 cases concerning domestic violence were referred to mediation, equivalent to 18.6% of all the violent crimes referred.

A mediation process was launched for 55% (6,951) of all criminal offences referred to mediation in 2021. Of all the criminal mediations launched in 2021, 69% (4,774) ended in a settlement. For civil cases, a mediation process was launched in 42% of cases (282), and an agreement was reached in 62% (176) of these. The financial value of the mediated agreements was approximately EUR 1.9 million.

In 2021, the average duration of the mediation process was 76 days, of which half (38 days) went into confirming the requirements for mediation and half went into the actual mediation.

In 2021, a total of EUR 6.6 million was allocated to the mediation offices of the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, which are used to provide mediation services for criminal and civil cases. The average cost of mediating one criminal or civil case was EUR 498. The mediation service is free of charge for the parties involved.

From 2019 onwards, the statistical data has been extracted from the joint information system (Sopu); up until 2018, the summary data for different spheres of activity was collected in a separate form. These two different ways of collecting the data produce statistics that are not fully comparable.

Download the full statistical report

In 2021, a total of 9,780 mediation requests including 12,660 criminal offences and 679 civil cases were referred to mediation in accordance with the Act on Conciliation in Criminal and Certain Civil Cases. — Initiatives referred to mediation, and the criminal offenses and civil cases extracted from the 2007-2021.

Background information

Previous statistical report (2020)

Description of statistics

The statistics contain data on cases referred to mediation offices and the separate offences contained within the cases, as well as also on domestic violence cases and civil cases. Offences under the Penal Code and domestic violence offences are recorded according to offence category and according to the authority or private person making the referral to mediation.

The data are collected from all operating areas for mediation and are presented by regional state administrative agency. Data has been collected since the Act on Conciliation in Criminal and Certain Civil Cases (1015/2005) entered into force on 1 June 2006.

A change in the collection of statistical data. At the beginning of 2019, the new national information system Sopu was introduced, which makes it possible to receive more precise information directly from the database without separate collection of information.

The statistics are published annually in June.