Suomenkielinen säädösteksti
Asianomistajan on tehtävä syyttämispyyntö sen paikkakunnan syyttäjälle tai poliisille, jonka toimialueella syyte rikoksesta saadaan nostaa. Jos pyyntö tehdään muulle syyttäjälle tai poliisille, tulee tämän viipymättä toimittaa se toimivaltaiselle viranomaiselle.
English translation (unofficial)
The injured party must make a request for prosecution to the prosecutor or police in the locality within whose jurisdiction charges for the offence may be brought. If the request is made to another prosecutor or police authority, that authority must forward it to the competent authority without delay.
This English translation is unofficial. The Finnish statutory text is authoritative.
Legal context
This provision identifies where a request for prosecution is to be made and requires a prosecutor or police authority that receives the request but is not competent to handle it to forward it without delay. It should be read together with Chapter 1, sections 2–4 and Esitutkintalaki Chapter 3, section 4.
The provision does not itself decide whether a particular offence requires a request for prosecution. That question depends on the law governing the offence. Nor does it require the injured party to make the request to the authority that eventually handles every later step: the section expressly provides for forwarding a request made to another prosecutor or police authority.
Questions for checking the procedural record
- Was the alleged offence one for which a request for prosecution was legally required?
- When and to which prosecutor or police authority was the request submitted?
- If it was submitted to another authority, is there a record of forwarding it to the competent authority without delay?
- Does the file preserve the request and its receipt or transfer details?
Official source
Finnish wording checked against the current consolidated text on Finlex on 12 October 2026.