Human Rights Policy and Human Rights Architecture in Finland: A Review in Light of the Principle of Subsidiarity and Shared Responsibility

This chapter starts by introducing the key principles and the international network forming the basis of the Finnish human rights system. The first part considers the cross-cutting theme of shared responsibilities and shifting the burden of responsibilities towards the national level. The second part concentrates on the system and its key institutions and their mandates. The third part concentrates on the government’s human rights policy instruments and their key elements. The cross-cutting theme is the emphasis on dialogue between international supervisory bodies, Finnish courts and other authorities. This chapter recommends that national human rights structures should be developed in such a way as to enable them to share information and adopt national legislation and policy actions so that they comply with evolutive interpretation from treaty bodies.