The short article discusses the competences of ombudsmen in Sweden and Finland in relation to the judiciary. These institutions have controlling and supervisory powers in relation to courts of law, including the determination of the accountability of judges and typical competences of a prosecutor. The Author points out the necessity to read provisions of the constitutions and acts regulating the discussed competences in the light of the principle of the judiciary’s independence. Still, the supervisory rights of ombudsmen in Sweden and Finland are very well developed and may refer to issues approaching closely the sphere of jurisdiction. When assessing the solutions presented, the Author points out the fact that the ombudsmen in both countries have worked out respective practices aimed at such use of available means of control so they cannot be accused of a reasonable and too extended interference with the judiciary sphere.

The purpose of this article is to look closer at the educational system in Finland and to consider it in terms of its educational success. It analyses historical aspects, teaching methods, cooperation between family and school, the material status. These considerations will be enriched by the practical experience gained during a study visit to Jyväskylä College of Education, a vocational secondary school in Jyvaskyla.

The Innovation of the Citizens’ Legislative Initiative in Finland

Finland was relatively late in introducing the institution of the citizens’ legislative initiative into its legal order, only in 2012. However, it can be said that the solutions adopted, both constitutional and statutory, differ to some extent from typical regulations. There are both formulated and unformulated initiatives, and the choice of the form of initiative depends on the initiators. Moreover, the digitisation of the initiative submission process is noteworthy. Particularly noteworthy is the creation of a generator of such initiatives. It has translated into a significant interest of citizens in this form of initiating the legislative process. However, this does not change the fact that the success rate of such initiatives is not particularly high. This concerns both the successful collection of signatures of support and the eventual subsequent acceptance of the citizens’ proposal by the Finnish parliament.

In 2004, the Finnish school system got a new curriculum and it has been used in comprehensive schools since 1st August 2006. The national framework curriculum forms the basis for drawing up local and school curricula. A new school subject is health education starting as an independent subject from the 7th form (age 12–13). At the primary level, it is incorporated into other subjects. Health education needs therefore to be part of pre- and in-service teacher education programmes. The paper reports on the results of a project where the conceptions of teachers, pupils and parents on environment, health and health education have been investigated. The study is a qualitative case study in which a total of 42 teachers, 102 pupils and 53 parents participated voluntarily in the research. The resultant data was collected using questionnaires and theme interviews in autumn 2002 and in spring 2004. The data was analysed by using inductive content analysis methods.