Proposal to supplement legislation on Finnish Border Guard’s criminal intelligence activities circulated for views

The Ministry of the Interior is requesting views on a draft government proposal that would supplement the legislative proposal on the Finnish Border Guard’s criminal intelligence activities. Responses may be submitted until 10 September 2026.

The aim of the proposal, which was set in the Government Programme, is to ensure that legislation sufficiently supports crime prevention by the Finnish Border Guard and better enables intervention in serious crime on a threat-informed basis. The proposal would also allow the wider use of secret intelligence collection methods with respect to serious crime.

The Government is seeking to vigorously combat organised crime. The proposal would strengthen the Finnish Border Guard’s ability to combat organised crime involving illegal entry into Finland and human trafficking and other threats posed by serious crime. Such crime often remains hidden, and combatting it requires effective intelligence collection methods.

Proposal concerns criminal intelligence collection methods and secret intelligence collection methods

The proposal now being circulated would add provisions on certain criminal intelligence methods to the existing legislative proposal concerning the Finnish Border Guard's criminal intelligence activities. The provisions to be added would require amendments to section 10 of the Constitution concerning the right to respect for home and the protection of confidential communications. The proposed criminal intelligence methods include site exploitation, telecommunications interception and the use of participatory covert human intelligence sources. The amendments to section 10 of the Constitution are currently before Parliament.

The proposal would also add provisions to the Act on Crime Prevention by the Border Guard concerning new secret intelligence collection methods that do not depend on amending the Constitution.