Finland

Name of law: Act on the Openness of Government Activities
First adopted: 1951
Last modified: 2016-12
RTI Rating last updated: 2017-06

Introduction

December 2016 changes relate to public procurement. As part of a bigger package of changes to the procurement Act there was a change to the Act on Openness that essentially provides for better protection of professional and business secrets of undertakings taking part in a tender procedure. Apparently, the previous formulation of the law had caused some confusion and led to situations where the professional or business secrets of undertakings have been at risk in situations where this information has been utilized in the comparison of tenders. All in all, the purpose is to minimize the risk of this kind if information being disclosed. There was also a change in January 2016 to the Act on Openness that relates to criminal proceedings and party access. The changes don't seem very big from the outset. It seems like it's more of a clarification of party access rules in certain situations.

The law is also available in its Finnish original here.

Local Experts: Paivi Leino-Sandberg, Liisa Leppavirta