Editing Circumcision and law (section)

===Finland===
The Finnish Ombudsman for Equality finds that circumcising young boys without a medical reason is legally highly questionable, The Finnish Supreme Court found that non-therapeutic circumcision of boys is assault, and the Finnish Ombudsman for Children proposed that Finland should ban non-therapeutic circumcision of young boys:<ref name="Finnish Ombudsman for Equality2">{{Cite web |date=2019-10-16 |title=Circumcision of boys (TAS 143/2016, issued on 23 August 2016) - State… |url=https://www.tasa-arvo.fi/web/en/-/circumcision-of-boys-tas-143-2016-issued-on-23-august-2016- |archive-url=https://archive.today/20191016053752/https://www.tasa-arvo.fi/web/en/-/circumcision-of-boys-tas-143-2016-issued-on-23-august-2016- |archive-date=2019-10-16 |access-date=2019-10-16 |website=archive.fo}}</ref> 
{{blockquote | The Deputy Ombudsman took the view that circumcising young boys, who are unable to give their consent, without a medical reason is highly questionable from a legal standpoint. … On 31 March 2016, the Supreme Court adopted two decisions that complement a previous precedent in which the Court found that the non-medical circumcision of boys constitutes an assault offence but is not punishable when it is considered to be in the best interests of the child. In 2015, the Finnish Ombudsman for Children Tuomas Kurttila proposed that Finland should enact an act prohibiting the non-medical circumcision of young boys.| author = {{Flagicon|Finland}} Finnish Ombudsman for Equality}}

In August 2006, a Finnish court ruled that the circumcision of a four-year-old boy arranged by his mother, who is Muslim, to be an illegal assault. The boy's father, who had not been consulted, reported the incident to the police.  A local prosecutor stated that the prohibition of circumcision is not gender-specific in Finnish law.  A lawyer for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health stated that there is neither legislation nor prohibition on male circumcision, and that "the operations have been performed on the basis of common law."  The case was appealed<ref name="Helsingin Sanomat">{{Cite web |title=Court rules circumcision of four-year-old boy illegal |url=http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Court+rules+circumcision+of+four-year-old+boy+illegal/1135220958830 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623152205/http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Court+rules+circumcision+of+four-year-old+boy+illegal/1135220958830 |archive-date=23 June 2010 |access-date=20 August 2006}}</ref> and in October 2008 the Finnish Supreme Court ruled that the circumcision, "carried out for religious and social reasons and in a medical manner, did not have the earmarks of a criminal offence. It pointed out in its ruling that the circumcision of Muslim boys is an established tradition and an integral part of the identity of Muslim men".<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 October 2008 |title=Supreme Court: Male Circumcision Not A Crime |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/supreme_court_male_circumcision_not_a_crime/6115572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924184912/http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/supreme_court_male_circumcision_not_a_crime/6115572 |archive-date=24 September 2016 |access-date=22 April 2021 |website=Yle Uutiset}}</ref> In 2008, the Finnish government was reported to be considering a new law to legalise circumcision if the practitioner is a doctor and if the child consents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 August 2008 |title=Finland Considers Legalising Male Circumcision |url=http://www.yle.fi/news/id97605.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807020352/http://yle.fi/news/id97605.html |archive-date=7 August 2008 |access-date=17 September 2007 |publisher=Ylesiradio}}</ref> In December 2011, Helsinki District Court said that the Supreme Court's decision does not mean that circumcision is legal for any non-medical reasons.<ref name="HS">[http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Circumcision+assault+case+brings+fine+%E2%80%93+conviction+but+no+punishment+for+parents/1135270121491 Circumcision assault case brings fine – conviction but no punishment for parents] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118115908/http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Circumcision+assault+case+brings+fine+%E2%80%93+conviction+but+no+punishment+for+parents/1135270121491 |date=18 January 2013 }}, Helsingin Sanomat, HS.fi 2 January 2012</ref> The court referred to the Convention on Human rights and Biomedicine of the Council of Europe, which was ratified in Finland in 2010.<ref name=HS/>

In February 2010, a Jewish couple were fined for causing bodily harm to their then infant son who was circumcised in 2008 by a [[mohel]] brought in from the UK. Normal procedure for persons of Jewish faith in Finland is to have a locally certified mohel who works in Finnish healthcare perform the operation. In the 2008 case, the infant was not anesthetized and developed complications that required immediate hospital care. The parents were ordered to pay 1500 euros in damages to their child.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 February 2010 |title=Parents Ordered to Pay Circumcised Son 1,500 Euros |url=http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/02/parents_ordered_to_pay_circumcised_son_1500_euros_1479554.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227092755/http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/02/parents_ordered_to_pay_circumcised_son_1500_euros_1479554.html |archive-date=27 February 2010 |access-date=24 February 2010 |publisher=Finnish Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref>

In November 2020, the Finnish Parliament passed a new law on female genital mutilation. An earlier version of the draft law could also have criminalised nonmedical infant circumcision, but due to intense lobbying by several Islamic and Jewish organisations including the Central Council of Finnish Jewish Communities, Milah UK, and the European Jewish Congress, the wording was changed and instead, the law passed in Parliament now states that the issue of circumcision of boys should be "clarified" in the future.<ref name="Liphshiz">{{Cite news |last=Cnaan Liphshiz |date=11 November 2020 |title=Proposal to ban male circumcision scrapped from Finland bill |work=The Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/proposal-to-ban-male-circumcision-scrapped-from-finland-bill/ |url-status=live |access-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210083005/https://www.timesofisrael.com/proposal-to-ban-male-circumcision-scrapped-from-finland-bill/ |archive-date=10 February 2021}}</ref>

;In favour of a ban
* [[Social Democratic Party of Finland]]<ref name="Yle">{{Cite news |date=30 October 2020 |title=Friday's papers: Sloppy password, male circumcision and getting paid |work=Yle |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/fridays_papers_sloppy_password_male_circumcision_and_getting_paid/11621965 |url-status=live |access-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203230142/https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/fridays_papers_sloppy_password_male_circumcision_and_getting_paid/11621965 |archive-date=3 December 2020}}</ref>
* [[Finns Party]]<ref name="Yle" /><ref name="Teivainen">{{Cite news |last=Aleksi Teivainen |date=1 October 2020 |title=Finnish parties agree on need to clarify law on female genital mutilation |work=Helsinki Times |url=https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/politics/18125-finnish-parties-agree-on-need-to-clarify-law-on-female-genital-mutilation.html |url-status=live |access-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208174829/https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/politics/18125-finnish-parties-agree-on-need-to-clarify-law-on-female-genital-mutilation.html |archive-date=8 February 2021}}</ref>
* [[Green League]]<ref name="Yle" />
* Finnish Ombudsman for Children<ref name="Nordic Ombudsmen 1"/><ref name="Nordic Ombudsmen 2"/>
* Finnish Ombudsman for Equality<ref name="Finnish Ombudsman for Equality"/>

;Against a ban
* [[Christian Democrats (Finland)|Christian Democrats]]<ref name="Teivainen" />
* Central Council of Finnish Jewish Communities<ref name="Liphshiz" /><ref name="Yle" />