Genesis and Modern Concepts of Sources of Law in Finland

Abstract

Peculiarities of the Finnish law are the results of its historical development. Characteristic of it is a weak codification of its legislation as well as the important role of judicial precedents and doctrine; the peculiarity of Finnish law is also caused by the uniqueness of the Finnish language. The modern Finnish law is subjected to legal pluralism, emerging in the diversity of sources of law, including material law principles and real arguments, the adequate application of which requires the consistency and coherence necessary for the existence of the modern legal system that is in need of doctrinal concretisation. The modern law is missing of the universal timely and locally independent sources of law. In principle, any text, custom and other corresponding material, referred to by a lawyer in representing the arguments for his allegations, may be recognised as a legal source. Moreover, these could be formal sources of law that are mandatory for judges, as well as material law sources that may contain adequate grounds for the decision. Although the impossibility of its exact definition, the law, being represented in its sources and judicial acts, exists, however, as a developing phenomenon related to the value basis of the society