Chapter 48(a) – Natural resources offences (515/2002)
Section 1 – Hunting offence
A person who intentionally or through gross negligence unlawfully
(1) hunts using a trap or trapping method that is prohibited by the Hunting Act (615/1993) or in violation of the restriction provided in the Hunting Act on the use of a motor vehicle,
(2) hunts in violation of the Hunting Act or a provision or an order given on its basis protecting game, prohibiting or restricting hunting or establishing a limit, or without a hunting permit, an elk hunting permit or an exceptional permit, or (232/2011)
(3) when hunting, endangers or harms a person or the property of another or violates a hunting prohibition or restriction that has been issued for general safety,
shall be sentenced for a hunting offence to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years.
Section 1(a) – Aggravated hunting offence (232/2011)
If in a hunting offence
(1) the offence is committed in a particularly brutal or cruel manner,
(2) the object of the offence is a large amount of game,
(3) considerable economic offence is sought,
(4) the offence is committed in a particularly planned manner or
(5) a wolverine, lynx, bear, deer, otter or wolf is killed or injured
and the offence is aggravated also when assessed as a whole, the offender shall be sentenced for an aggravated hunting offence to imprisonment for at least four months and at most four years.
Section 2 – Fishing offence
(1) A person who intentionally or through gross negligence
(1) when fishing uses explosives or pressure that has otherwise been caused or a firearm or electrical current,
(2) fishes to a considerable extent in violation of the Fishing Act or a provision or an order given in general or in an individual case on its
basis regarding the protection or fish or crayfish, fishing tackle, fishing, a prohibition of or restriction on fishing, or the minimum size of fish or crayfish,
(3) fishes with fishing tackle or with a method of fishing or during a season when no fishing is allowed in violation of a regulation on common fishing policy issued by the European Community on the basis of article 37 of the Treaty on the EEC or in decisions or orders issued on their basis, or
(4) unlawfully in violation of the Fishing Act introduces or transfers to a water area a species of fish or crayfish or their stock that have not previously been found there, so that the act is conducive to endangering or harming the stock of fish or the piscary,
shall be sentenced, unless a more severe penalty for the act has been provided elsewhere in the law, for a fishing offence to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years.
(2) An attempt at an intentional offence is punishable.
Section 3 – Forestry offence
(1) A person who intentionally or through gross negligence
(1) fells a forest in violation of a provision or order on improvement cutting or regeneration cutting, issued on the basis of section 5, subsection 1 or section 5(a), subsection 1 or section 5, subsection 2 or section 5(a), subsection 2 of the Forest Act (1093/1996), or
(2) violates provisions of the Forest Act or a provision or order issued on its basis pertaining to protected forest areas or protected areas,
shall be sentenced for a forestry offence to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years. (823/2010)
(2) Also a person who intentionally, through a silvicultural or forest use measure, in violation of the Forest Act or a provision or order issued on its basis or without the permit required by law or in violation of the terms of a permit, harms a living environment that is in its natural state or similar to its natural state that is clearly distinguishable from its surrounding area and that is particularly important from the point of view of the biodiversity of the natural forest, so that the act is conducive to endangering the preservation of the typical features of said living environment,
shall be sentenced for a forestry offence.
Section 3(a) – Unlawful exploitation of mineral resources in the Antarctic (1021/2010)
(1) A person who deliberately or through gross negligence explores or utilizes a mineral deposit in the Antarctic region referred to in section 3, subsection 1, paragraph 5 of the Act on the Protection of the Antarctic Environment other than as part of scientific research, shall be sentenced for unlawful exploitation of mineral resources in the Antarctic to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years.
(2) Also a person who intentionally prospects for mineral deposits in the Antarctic region other than as part of scientific research shall be sentenced for unlawful exploitation of mineral resources in the Antarctic.
Section 4 – Concealing of poached game
(1) A person who hides, obtains, transports, conveys or markets game that has been obtained through a hunting offence or fishing offence, even though he or she knows that it had been obtained in this manner, shall be sentenced for concealing of poached game to a fine or to imprisonment for at most one year. (232/2011)
(2) A person who is an accomplice in the offence through which the poached game was obtained shall not be sentenced for the offence referred to above in subsection 1. Section 1, subsection 1 also does not apply to a person who lives in a joint household with the offender and who only uses or consumes game that the offender had obtained for the ordinary needs of the joint household.
Section 4(a) – Aggravated concealing of poached game (232/2011)
If in the concealing of poached game
(1) the object of the offence is a large amount of game,
(2) considerable economic offence is sought,
(3) the offence is committed in a particularly planned manner or
(4) the object of the offence is a wolverine, lynx, bear, deer, otter tai wolf
and the offence is aggravated also when assessed as a whole, the offender shall be sentenced for aggravated concealing of poached game to a fine or to imprisonment for at most three years.
Section 5 - Right to bring charges
(1) If the fishing offence, hunting offence or concealing of poached game violates the rights only of a private individual, the public prosecutor may not bring charges unless the injured party has reported the offence for the bringing of charges. (441/2011)
(2) The provisions in chapter 1 on the bringing of charges and conviction for an offence committed outside Finland and directed at Finland apply also to a fishing offence referred to in section 2 of this chapter when it has been committed outside the territorial waters and economic zone of Finland. (1067/2004)
Section 6 – Hunting prohibition
(1) A person convicted of an aggravated hunting offence shall be subjected at the same time to a hunting prohibition for at least three and at most ten years. The court may, however, waive the prohibition if there are particular weighty reasons for this. A person to be sentenced for a hunting offence who through his or her actions has demonstrated manifest heedlessness of the provisions on hunting, may be prohibited from hunting for at least one and at most five years. At the same time he or she shall be ordered to surrender his or her hunting card to the game management association. A hunting prohibition is ordered on the request of the prosecutor. (232/2011)
(2) While prohibited from hunting, a person may not hunt or serve as the hunting manager referred to in section 28 of the Hunting Act. Also a person who in accordance with chapter 3, section 4, subsection 2 or chapter 6, section 12, paragraphs 4 or 5 of this law is not punished may be prohibited from hunting. (232/2011)
(3) The prohibition is in force regardless of an appeal until the matter has been decided in a legally final manner.
Section 6(a) – Corporate criminal liability (232/2011)
The provisions on corporate criminal liability apply to an aggravated hunting offence.
Section 7 – Fishing offence committed by a foreign vessel in the economic zone and concealing the illegal catch from a fishing offence (1161/2005)
The only penalty for a fishing offence committed by a foreign vessel in the Finnish economic zone and for the concealing of the illegal catch from a fishing offence is a fine, unless otherwise provided on the basis of an international agreement binding on Finland.
