Editing Popular initiative (section)

==== Finland ====
Since 1 March 2012, [[Finland|Finnish]] citizens with [[suffrage]] have had the constitutional right to send a citizens' initiative (Finnish: ''kansalaisaloite'', Swedish: ''medborgarinitiativ'') to the [[Parliament of Finland]]. An initiative must begin with at least five citizens as sponsors, and it must consist either of a direct proposal for a new law or of a motion to initiate the drafting of a new law by the relevant government department, as well as present reasons for doing so. A single initiative may not contain proposals on more than one specific legislative issue.

Proposed initiatives are published on a website maintained by the Finnish Ministry of Justice, where they may be electronically signed; signatures are also collected on paper. If an initiative is able to attract the signatures of a total of 50,000 citizens within six months, it is forwarded to the Finnish Parliament for consideration; otherwise, it will lapse. The Parliament treats citizens' initiatives according to normal parliamentary procedure, that is, they are debated and considered in committees and they may also be amended or altered; the Parliament is not restricted to passing or rejecting them as they are.

The first initiative to pass the 50,000 mark did so already a few months after the "kansalaisaloite" first became possible. The initiative demanded the ending of fur industry in Finland, but failed to pass in Parliament. The first initiative to be accepted by the Parliament was the citizens' initiative known in Finland as "Equal Marriages Law", which is also known by its campaign slogan, #Tahdon2013 (#IDo2013). This initiative was accepted by the Parliament during the 2011-2015 parliamentary session, though political debate, decision-making and drafting of the new law continued on to the next parliamentary session. The new law took effect on 1 March 2017<ref>[[Same-sex marriage in Finland]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2019}}. To date, a total of 24 citizens' initiatives have reached the 50,000 mark, with 20 of them having been either rejected or accepted in Parliament - so far, only two have been accepted: the aforementioned "Equal Marriages Law" and the "Motherhood Law" from 2015/16<ref>[[:fi:Kansalaisaloite]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2019}}.<ref name="finland-citizens-initiative">{{Cite web|url=https://www.kansalaisaloite.fi/fi/tietoa/briefly-in-english|title=Citizens' initiatives in Finland|publisher=Ministry of Justice of Finland|access-date=2013-03-20|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602052612/https://www.kansalaisaloite.fi/fi/tietoa/briefly-in-english|archive-date=2013-06-02}}</ref><ref name="finland-constitution">Note: the text is an unofficial translation used by the Ministry of Justice of Finland.
* {{Cite web|url=http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1999/en19990731.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041130111527/http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1999/en19990731.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 30, 2004|title=The Constitution of Finland|publisher=[[Ministry of Justice (Finland)|Ministry of Justice of Finland]]|access-date=2013-03-20|language=fi}}</ref>