Study of the Aliens Act will examine whether the need to amend legislation can be anticipated

A study commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior will examine whether the future needs for legislative amendments can be anticipated in law drafting and how such needs could be prepared for. The study will consider the amendments made to the Aliens Act and their causes. The research will be carried out by Åbo Akademi University in cooperation with researchers from the University of Turku.

At the first phase of the study, amendments to the Aliens Act will be examined and analysed. The second phase will assess how various future challenges, such as technological advances, could be anticipated in legislative drafting. The study will also give recommendations for anticipation.

The study source data includes legislative drafting documents and instructions, government proposals, committee documents, parliamentary replies and research literature.

Study supports the drafting of the new Aliens Act

The current Aliens Act entered into force in 2004. Since then, the Act has been amended about 90 times, with amendments to 85 per cent of the original sections. The structure of the Act has suffered from the large number of amendments and the Act has become confusing and difficult to understand.

The Ministry of the Interior began preliminary preparations for the reform of the Aliens Act in autumn 2021. The actual work on the reform will be started as a separate project during the next government term.

The study will contribute to the drafting of the new Aliens Act, as it will produce information on the background factors that have led to the current situation and identify factors that would improve the sustainability of legislation.

The study is produced as part of the Ministry of the Interior's research, development and innovation activities. Its conclusions should also contribute to legislative drafting more widely across ministries. The study is due to be completed in late 2022.

Inquiries:

Jutta Gras, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of the Interior, tel. +358 295 488 650, jutta.gras@govsec.fi
Elina Pirjatanniemi, Professor, Åbo Akademi University, tel. +358 50 401 3735, elina.pirjatanniemi@abo.fi