Prevention of environmental crime through enforcement—Finland and Sweden compared

This study aims to contribute to the research into prevention of environmental crimes, by comparing the environmental crime enforcement chain in Finland with that in Sweden: detection, prosecution and the punishment with sanctions. We examined (1) what are the main differences and similarities in enforcement between Finland and Sweden? and (2) how can crime prevention through enforcement be developed further based on these findings? The comparison is based on legislation, official documents and statistics. The findings suggest that a high rate of reporting crimes alone does not necessarily indicate more effective prevention of environmental crime, as pre-trial investigations quite rarely lead to prosecution. Most of the sanctions for environmental offences are monetary and quite small. However, in Sweden the use of the corporate fine is significantly more frequent than in Finland. It is concluded that, even though enforcement is essential, prevention of environmental crime, stressing voluntary compliance and administrative sanctions instead may be more effective in the long-run.