​Legislative drafting

The drafting of a bill begins with a legislative drafting initiative, which may be a statement in the Government Programme, the commencement of drafting of an EU instrument requiring national implementation, the result of a minister's or ministry's own initiative on the basis of the monitoring of implementation and impacts, or the result of a citizens' initiative.

​Commencement of legislative drafting

Information about legislative initiatives currently pending is available on the respective ministry websites. In addition, the Government’s register of projects, the HARE database provides information on parliamentary, government and ministry projects and the committees, commissions, advisory councils, boards, rapporteurs, working groups and requests for opinions appointed or assigned by them. The registry also provides information on the regulatory drafting that occurs as part of the official duties of ministries. The Parliament and respective ministries are responsible for information concerning their own initiatives.

The government website explains how the Government works, and gives information on initiatives and pending decisions, the Government Programme, the State Budget and also provides links to ministry websites.

Information packages on major legislative initiatives – the LATI service – contain information on key legislative initiatives. The packages are compiled by the specialists of the Library of Parliament and cover the period both before and during the parliamentary process. They include news, comparative legal material, literature and research concerning the initiative in question as well as the opportunities for citizens to participate in the initiative.

Information about pending citizens’ initiatives is available on Kansalaisaloite.fi under Selaa kansalaisaloitteita (the website is in Finnish and Swedish only). Concluded citizens’ initiatives are also listed as well as initiatives that have been accepted into parliamentary procedure.

​Legislation at the Parliament

Parliament enacts a new law or amends an old one based on a Government proposal or an MP’s motion. The Parliament is also obliged to process a citizens’ legislative initiative if it is supported by the signatures of 50,000 citizens of voting age.

Parliamentary documents in electronic format can be accessed using the online search on Parliament’s website. The search service offers a wide range of functions. Use the Parliament view to enter key words to narrow down the search results using additional search criteria. Advanced search functions are also available. In principle, parliamentary documents and plenary session records are available in electronic format as of the year 2001.