The police has been conducting fixed automatic traffic surveillance since 1996 and mobile traffic surveillance by means of automated speed enforcement vehicles since 2002.
Several authorities have carefully reviewed the legality of the notification policy applied in these police operations, and have, in the opinion of the National Police Board, found nothing reprehensible in the operations.
In its decision of January 16, 2017 regarding opposition to a penal fee, the Helsinki District Court ruled to retain the penal fee in force. The grounds of the decision state that if the Police Act is to be interpreted literally, advance notification should be given of mobile automatic traffic surveillance.
The grounds of the decision of the Helsinki District Court on mobile automatic traffic surveillance differs from the interpretations of the police, the Data Protection Ombudsman, the Prosecutor General and the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
The Data Protection Ombudsman made a statement concerning mobile traffic surveillance on 17 March 2010. According to the statement, automatic speed enforcement is not technical surveillance as referred to in the Police Act, and therefore advance notification is not required, because a camera is typically used in obtaining evidence of a traffic offence that has already taken place, which constitutes obtaining evidence in a criminal investigation.
The Office of the Prosecutor General decided on 31 May 2012 not to begin a criminal investigation against a police officer after it was claimed that the police was acting illegally when it was conducting automatic traffic surveillance using mobile equipment without advance notification. The grounds are in line with those of the Data Protection Ombudsman.
On 1 December 2016, after the current Police Act was enforced, a complaint was filed to the Parliamentary Ombusman on the lack of advance notification of mobile automatic traffic surveillance by the police. The Parliamentary Ombudsman states in the response dated 21 December 2016 that the complaint warrants no further action.
