A permit is required for access to the border zone and for activities there.
Land border
In order to ensure border security and maintain order, a border zone has been established along the border between Russia and Finland. On the land border, the border zone extends to a maximum distance of three kilometres from the state border.
Access to the border zone and activities there re-quire a permit and do not fall under everyman’s rights. Application for a border zone permit can be submitted to the border guard district headquarters, the coordination centre of the border guard district, or to a border guard station. Acceptable grounds for a permit include, for example, right of ownership to a property located in the border zone, working in the border zone or visiting a person living there.
The border zone permit is personalised, and it must be carried while moving within the border zone.
The border zone includes lakes and rivers, or border waters. If the width of the water area is less than 100 metres calculated from the border, the whole water area in question is border waters. If the water area extends far inland, the border waters are marked at a width of 100 metres in the water area using, for example, spar buoys, buoys and branches of evergreen trees on ice in inland waters during the winter. A border zone permit that only allows access does not give the right to move in border waters. Separate reasons must be given for movement in border waters when applying for a border zone permit. Movement in border waters
during the time between sunset and sunrise is pro- The border zone can also be indicated on trees.
Sea charts show the outer border of internal border waters, the border zone and the border of Russian border waters. Photo: Finnish Maritime Administration.
Sea border
On the sea border with Russia in Southeast Fin-land, there is a border zone that extends to the south of Haapasaari. The state border in the sea area has been marked with black buoys. The water area connected to the state border is a part of the border zone. The same regulations apply to move-ment in this area as for the border zone on land.
In addition, there is a small water area in Virolahti that is a part of the border waters. The border zone in the sea area is marked on sea charts.
Activity in the border zone requires a permit.
Border Guard Act, Chapter 7, section 51
Prohibitions relating to the border zone
Unless otherwise provided in this Act, the following are prohibited in the border zone: (...).
2) moving between sunset and sunrise in such parts of rivers and narrow straits of lakes along which the border line runs, and closer than 100 meters to the border line in all rivers crossed by the border line and in lakes and bays along which the border line runs (border waters);
3) herding reindeer and domestic animals without supervision where there is no fence to prevent them from crossing the border line.
Border Guard Act, Chapter 7, section 52
Border zone permit
Unless otherwise provided in this or any other Act, the following activities are subject to a permit in the border zone:
1) staying in the border zone;
2) moving in border waters in daytime and moving in the border strip; (…).
A permit (border zone permit) is issued if it is acceptable for reasons of residence, work, profession, livelihood, business, hobby or otherwise, and if the exercise of the right granted in the permit is not likely to cause danger to maintaining order along the border or ensuring
ACTIVITIES
IN THE AREA OF ANOTHER PARTY
Everyman’s rights refer to the possibility of activity and movement in an area that the landowner has not designated for special use that would override every-man’s rights, such as cultivation or a yard. Other par-ties’ water areas can be used under the right of public access laid down in the Water Act.
The most important provision on activity con-cerning everyman’s rights is the section of the Criminal Code regarding criminal trespass. Ac-cording to this section, the activity may not cause more than a minor inconvenience. The section on criminal trespass does not specify the actor, the ac-tivity being carried out, the purpose of the acac-tivity, its regularity, whether it is repeated, or on whose area the activity occurs. Therefore, the permission to act under everyman’s rights cannot be assessed based on the factors mentioned above, but instead the harmfulness of the activity must be assessed.
In the Government proposal 66/1988, grounds for criminal trespass have been proposed:
(…). In subparagraph 2 of the proposed subsection 1, the object of the offence is another’s yard used as a passage, or land in another’s possession used without authorisation for construction or excavation or in some other similar manner. In fact, the act concerns unauthor-ised use of real property, but as a type of injustice, it can be compared to other acts proposed to be included in the section in question. This concerns the use of a yard as a passage, which is in the nature of an invasion of domestic premises, or the use of land in a way that temporarily or permanently changes it outwardly from its original form to another. For clarity, it is stated that appropriating soil would be punishable as theft or embezzlement. The use of a yard as a passage must be repeated in order to be punishable. The use of another’s yard as a passage could also be punishable as an invasion of domestic premises, in which case criminal trespass would be supplanted as secondary. On the other hand, the use of a field, a mead-ow or a cultivated area as a passage would constitute damage to property by rule, if it causes damage.
The proposed subparagraph 2 only involves taking possession of land that is in the possession of another.
Relevant cases are mainly ones where the holder is in fact prevented from using the property, for example, by camping or otherwise staying in another’s area long term without permission. However, the intention of the provision is not to affect everyman’s rights in accordance with the law in force. Therefore, camping for a few days on another’s land, among other things, would still be
permitted if it can be done without causing damage or violating domestic peace. The proposed subparagraph 3 also mentions a building or a part thereof as an object, regardless of whether it is considered as movable or real property. For the actions referred to in subparagraphs 2 and 3 of the subsection, the sentence would be currently imposed under sections 5 and 11 of chapter 33, in which taking possession of a building has nevertheless not been decreed as punishable. As it has been stated in the reasoning provided in the chapter, the intention of this proposal is not as such to change the attitude towards activities such as taking over a building.
The harmfulness of an activity can often be only assessed after the fact, based on its actual effects.
The effects of the activity depend on the nature of the activity, the time of year, the local condi-tions and the operating environment, among oth-er things. Howevoth-er, people carrying out activities under everyman’s rights should be able to assess the effects of their activities beforehand in order to avoid causing harm.
Criminal Code, Chapter 28, section 11
Criminal trespass
A person who without authorisation
1) takes possession of, moves or hides movable property in the possession of another,
2) takes his or her way across the yard of another or uses the land in the possession of another through construction, excavation or another similar manner, or
3) takes possession of land or a building or a part thereof that is in the possession of another, shall be sentenced, unless a more severe penalty for the act is provided elsewhere in the law, for criminal trespass to a fine or to imprisonment for at most three months.
However, an act causing only minor inconvenience is not deemed to constitute criminal trespass.