The Constitution of Finland guarantees everyone the freedom of assembly, that is, the freedom to organise demonstrations and participate in them (section 13).

Provisions on the organisers of demonstrations are laid down in the Assembly Act (section 5). In principle, only persons over 18 years old are allowed to organise demonstrations. Persons who have turned 15 may act as an organiser only if the person is capable of fulfilling the requirements set for demonstration organisers. Persons younger than 15 years old may organise demonstrations together with a person over the age of 18.

There is no preventive censorship in Finland, which means that the police cannot restrict the freedom of expression in advance, and this also applies to demonstrations. The police may afterwards evaluate whether any laws were violated in a demonstration.

Demonstrations are sometimes organised without prior notice. Even if no notice has been submitted, the police will not prevent or prohibit the event, unless the demonstration endangers public order or safety. If an unannounced demonstration is organised in an inappropriate location, the police may move the demonstrators to a suitable place, where they can continue to exercise their right.

Prohibited organisations may not organise demonstrations, but if the prior notice is given under some other name than that of the prohibited organisation, the police cannot prevent the demonstration in advance.

The police can disclose the organiser of a demonstration if the organiser is an organisation, association or some other legal person. If the organiser is a private person, the Act on the Openness of Government Activities prohibits the disclosing of the person’s name.

Provisions on secret official documents are laid down in section 24 of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities, under which the personal details of demonstration organisers are confidential information. Paragraph 32 lists confidential information, which includes, for example, political convictions or the privately expressed views of a person, or information on a person’s lifestyle and participation in voluntary associations. In other words, the police may mention that the demonstration is organised by a private person, but the police cannot disclose the name of the organiser.

Demonstration organisers must submit a notice to the police concerning any public meetings at least 24 hours prior to the event, in order for the police to be able to ensure adequate resources for ensuring safety and appropriate traffic arrangements during the demonstration. No permit is required for organising a demonstration. If the meeting is not a risk to public order and safety, a notice submitted at a later point can also be considered valid.

Submit the notice by filling in an electronic form or by delivering, in person or by post, a printable form to the police department of the locality where the event is organised. You can find the link to the instructions and notice form here.

Provisions on the content of the demonstration notice are laid down in the Assembly Act (section 8). A notice concerning a public meeting must include the following information:

• the organiser of the meeting
• the purpose of the meeting
• the meeting place or route of the procession
• the start time and estimated end time of the meeting
• the persons appointed by the organiser to maintain order in the meeting
• the constructions and other special equipment to be used in the meeting

In addition, the meeting organiser must appoint in the notice a contact person who can be reached by the police in matters concerning the organising of the meeting.

The organiser must submit a notice of the demonstration at least 24 hours prior to the event.

The organiser acts as the contact person for the police before the demonstration. After a demonstration notice has been submitted, the police will usually contact the organiser to obtain further information on the upcoming event and to agree on common rules. The police are interested in knowing, for example, the estimated number of participants, the subject of the demonstration, time and the requirements concerning any traffic arrangements. The objective is to guarantee, together with the organiser, that the demonstration is safe and peaceful.

The organiser acts as the contact person for the police during the demonstration. If necessary, the organiser negotiates with the police or intervenes in the demonstration. The organiser is responsible for ensuring that, during the event, the demonstrators follow the guidelines agreed with the police. The demonstration organiser can commit a crime if the organiser does not follow the orders given by the police or if the organiser does not take action regarding security threats.

The demonstration organiser is not required to appoint persons who maintain order, but the organiser is responsible for ensuring safety and order in the meeting. Persons maintaining order may be appointed for this purpose. Such persons must have a valid security steward licence, or the person must be separately approved by the police in order for the person to have the same rights as security stewards. The provisions on maintaining order are laid down in the Private Security Services Act.

The task of security stewards in a demonstration is to ensure that demonstrators stay in the designated area or route and they must follow the orders given by the police. Security stewards supervise the demonstration, and they are not authorised to intervene in any external incidents. For example, if an external party starts to provoke the demonstrators, the police will handle the situation instead of the security stewards.

Demonstrations can be organised outside in public squares, street areas and other such public places that are suitable for meeting purposes without the consent of the owner or occupant (Assembly Act, section 9). However, the owner or occupant of the location may restrict the use of the location if a public meeting could cause unreasonable inconvenience to the owner, occupant or environment.

An appropriate place for a demonstration is a place in which the demonstration does not disturb traffic arrangements, hinder access to a public place or prevent access, for example, to business premises. The route of a demonstration may be changed due to another demonstration or traffic arrangements.

In private places, such as shopping centres and business premises, the specific consent of the owner or occupant is required. 

The task of the police is to ensure public order and safety and the freedom of expression of demonstrators. In plain language, this means that police are there to ensure that everything goes well, and it intervenes as necessary if there are any disturbances. In addition, police direct traffic, for example, along the route of the demonstration procession. Provisions on the police’s duty to ensure freedom of assembly are laid down in the Assembly Act (section 19).

The police also act as a negotiator between the organiser and the event organisation of the police. The police may be required to have negotiations on the location or route of the demonstration or in case there is an incident endangering the safety of bystanders or demonstrators.

The police can change the time or place of a demonstration

• if several demonstrations have been announced to be organised in the same place at the same time, and it is not possible to organise them in parallel. As a rule, the organiser who first submitted a demonstration notice is given precedence regarding the location. An exception may be made if the traditions or agreements related to the meeting location support doing so.
• if organising a demonstration in the location in question endangers the safety of people, causes considerable inconvenience to the environment or damage to property, causes unreasonable inconvenience to outsiders, the traffic or an event that is part of a state visit or an international meeting organised by a public body or an event that is corresponding in terms of protection requirements.
• if it is required in order to ensure the smoothness of traffic. The route of a demonstration procession may have to be changed due to traffic arrangements or the route of another procession.

The police will always negotiate with the organiser in case a demonstration needs to be relocated. Demonstrations can be moved to another location that is appropriate considering the purpose of the meeting. If the demonstration organiser cannot be reached, the police may take the measures referred to in legislation without negotiating with the contact person. Provisions on the restrictions concerning the meeting location are laid down in the Assembly Act (section 10).

In a demonstration, without endangering the health and safety of other people, you can, for example, use your voice, march, move about, hold signs and banners, distribute material, use sound reproduction equipment, give speeches and use candles.

Public order and safety must not be endangered in demonstrations. Therefore, you may not, for example, throw rocks, cans and petrol bombs or use violence, smoke flares, explosives, distress flares or smoke in demonstrations.

In addition, the police may prohibit the possession of intoxicants in demonstrations if it is estimated to endanger public order and safety.

Remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles, that is, drones, are allowed to be used in demonstrations if the demonstration takes place in an area with no permanent or temporary no-fly zones. However, drones may not be flown above crowds. Most city centres are no-fly zones. In no-fly zones, a separate permit must be obtained for flying a drone.

The police may intervene if a demonstration endangers public order and safety or obstructs traffic. A demonstration may be interrupted if the advice, requests or orders of the police are not followed or if it is likely that the persons will break the law, for example, by fighting.

Interrupting a demonstration will always be considered on a case-by-case basis, and the advice and requests of the police are always based on an assessment of the situation. The police will primarily try to negotiate with the organiser to resolve the situation so that there would be no need to interrupt the event.

It is possible that the demonstration is allowed to continue if the threat no longer exists or if it is eliminated. If the threat cannot be eliminated, the entire event may be interrupted. In a demonstration, the on-scene commander or overall commander makes the decisions on police measures. If the order to disperse or move is not complied with, police may disperse the crowd by force.

If it seems that a demonstrator, based on his or her conduct, is committing a crime or causing disturbance or poses a threat, police may remove the person from the scene (Police Act, chapter 2, section 10.) If removing the person from the scene is not likely to prevent criminal activities and if it is evident that the person will commit a crime, the person may be apprehended in advance. The objective is to always negotiate with the person posing a threat in order to avoid having to remove or apprehend the person.

Police may apprehend a demonstrator if the demonstrator endangers public order or the health or personal integrity of others. Examples include using a torch, throwing things, starting a fight, intimidation and verbal or physical violent behaviour.

The decision is made by the on-scene commander or, in an unexpected situation, a police patrol member. Depending on the situation, the person is apprehended immediately or after the demonstration.

The starting point of police operations is that the police will primarily aim to prevent any threatening situations and situations that endanger safety through discussion. If the discussion does not yield the desired outcome, police may advise the person or crowd, after which police may give orders. Use of force is the last option.

When performing official duties, police have the right to use the necessary means of force to overcome resistance, to remove a person from the scene, to apprehend a person, to prevent the escape of a person who has lost his or her freedom, to eliminate an obstacle or to address an immediate risk of a crime, other dangerous act or some other dangerous situation(Police Act, chapter 2, section 17). In other words, police may use force in a demonstration if that is necessary in order to calm the situation or to stop an act.
When using force, the mildest measures are always taken while considering the situation. In demanding situations, police may use instruments of restraint.

Decisions on the use of forcible measures are made by the on-scene commander, overall commander, group leader or an individual police officer, who assesses the situation and acts accordingly. In an emergency, police are required to make quick decisions in order to ensure safety. The police always aim to prevent dangerous situations, but sometimes events require quick reactions.

Mounted police are involved when it is considered useful. Mounted police play an important role in crowd control. Police officers sitting high on a horse have a calming effect on crowds. In addition, when sitting in the saddle, you have good visibility to large crowds and situations. Large animals can also be used to restrict the movement of crowds.

Mounted police are used in larger demonstrations that are known to take place. Even though the police have horses in Helsinki only, mounted police can be moved to other locations as necessary.

The police may use remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles, that is, drones, in large mass events and gatherings to obtain an overview of the situation and to estimate the number of participants.

Demonstration participants sometimes disguise themselves to protect their privacy or due to the weather conditions. Wearing a disguise is not prohibited as such, and the police take no stand on the matter. However, illegal wearing of a disguise is prohibited under the Criminal Code of Finland (Criminal Code of Finland, chapter 17, section 13 a). Covering your face in an event that takes place in a public place is deemed illegal wearing of a disguise when the intention is to use violence against a person or cause damage to property. Illegal wearing of a disguise can result in a fine or imprisonment for a maximum of three months.

Demonstrators may carry, for example, signs, banners, flags and flag poles. Sound reproduction equipment is also allowed, but noise level limits must be complied with in some areas. Provisions on demonstration equipment are laid down in the Assembly Act (section 11). In addition, under the Assembly Act, the organiser must ensure that the equipment used in the demonstration does not cause a danger or unreasonable inconvenience to the participants, bystanders or environment.

There are no specific provisions that would prohibit pets being brought to a demonstration. The Animal Welfare Act applies to demonstrations, so you must ensure that no undue suffering is caused to the animal.

Demonstrators sometimes use a car for sound reproduction or to display material. Sound cars cannot be deemed to be regular meeting equipment referred to in the Assembly Act (section 11), but they are usually allowed due to practical reasons. However, cars can be dangerous in a crowd: it can affect police operations and at worst it could endanger the safety of participants and external parties. The police may prohibit the use of a car in such situations.