Untitled Document

FOREWORD

Karl Johan Lång (1934-1998) was born as the son of a carpenter on the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia area in Finland. He graduated as a Master of Laws from the University of Helsinki in 1960. Lång served the best part of his career in the Prison Service department of the Ministry of Justice, from the year 1962 onwards as Education Manager, and as Chief Director from 1970 until his retirement in 1997.

K.J. Lång had a great passion for politics. Between 1964 and 1966 he was chairman of Nyliberala studentförbundet, a new liberal students’ organisation, but all the while his aim was to create a career as a civil servant. He separated from the Swedish People’s Party in the beginning of the 1970’s, but unlike many younger 60’s-people, he did not move to the political left but remained an independent civil servant. He was generally considered a bourgeois liberal, and that was in all probability how he saw himself, too. Together with such Swedish-speaking Finnish intellectuals as Erik Allardt, Göran von Bonsdorff, Kettil Bruun, Lars Dufholm, Jan Magnus Jansson, and Georg Henrik von Wright, K.J. Lång was instrumental in creating the liberal spirit of the 1960’s.

This book contains a selection of K.J. Lång’s writings on prison service and on other control-political subjects. This defining leaves out significant parts of his literary production. Lång was a civil servant intellectual, who participated actively in the discussion about social issues. In the course of his life, he wrote several articles on human rights and basic rights, among other things, and acted as chairman for the Basic Rights Committee that submitted its report in 1992. Another recurrent theme in his production are questions about peace. In addition to these recurring subjects Lång discussed a variety of other issues. An interesting example is the review of President Paasikivi’s diaries from the year 1986, where Lång considers the relation between Paasikivi’s geopolitical realism and his legal education. The title of Lång’s review asks ”a lawyer after all?”. Lång wished to be both a lawyer and a realpolitician himself, a man who takes both the norms and the reality seriously.

In addition to being a spokesman for open social discussion, Lång acted as chairman for the Council for Mass Media in Finland from 1972 to 1975. In 1992 he made a stand for the publicity of documents in the periodical Tidskriften utgiven av Juridiska Föreningen i Finland. Among other things, he pointed out that the privatisation of public services is likely to reduce publicity and civil control.
The versatility of K.J. Lång’s persona manifests itself also in the great variety of the platforms where he chose to publish his works. According to the list of publications, his articles appeared in over 30 periodicals. As a civil servant, he wrote to professional journals, in addition to which his forums include journals of social discussion. Lång’s writings have been published in scientific journals of at least six different fields, and he also published pamphlets, typical of the 1960’s.

Among the higher civil servants of the time, there were others besides Lång who participated actively in the discussion about social issues in their youth, but after taking office, they usually limited themselves to official speeches. K.J. Lång, on the other hand, continued to express his opinion in social matters after taking office as well.

This book is a collection of K.J. Lång’s control political writings from four decades, from 1966 to 1997. With the exception of the research report on the Jehova’s Witnesses in Finland, they are in chronological order.

In the first of the articles in this book, the young Education Manager ponders upon the need for reformation in prison service. It is characteristic of the 1960’s discussion that it was first published in Swedish in the journal Finsk Tidskrift, then in Finnish in the most important newspaper of the Centre Party, and only then in the professional journal of Prison Service. Seven years later, the same man discusses the same themes as Chief Director, now in Finland’s Police Magazine.

The article on the grounds of the punishability of sexual behaviour well represents the approach adopted by the 1960’s criminal political discussion. K.J. Lång looks at the everyday events behind the abstract, ill-sounding offences. ‘Interference with a person of 15 but not 17 years of age’ evokes rather different images than two youngsters of approximately the same age sleeping together.

K.J. Lång’s acute awareness of history becomes apparent in many of his articles. For instance, the article on the relation of open welfare and institutional care skillfully combines the historical perspective and suggestions for reformation. Correspondingly, the article on the police’s modes of action in the Exclamation Mark series acknowledges how well the Russian police treated the members of the Resistance compared to the treatment that the people arrested on political grounds received both in the early years of Finnish independence and after the Second World War. One of the new features in the 1960’s social discussion was that lawyers assessed police authority and modes of action from the perspective of legal protection. The article remains up-to-date, especially in view of the police’s powers of inquiry having been constantly increased in Finland, without much attention given to the legal safety of citizens.

Many of K.J. Lång’s articles have general principles as their point of departure, but they do not remain floating in the abstract world of principles. Lång’s passion and skill lies in looking at the consequences of principles in practice. It is no coincidence that the title of his 1968 speech reads ‘the norms and the reality as starting points for the reformation of social services’.

It is typical of Lång that when he speaks at a lawyers’ conference, his speech is “rather a review of our common problems than a ceremonious greeting” and deals with how a lawyer can have a positive effect on prison service. He emphasises the solicitor’s role as the representative of the client even after the client is committed for a crime. At the same time, Lång points out that solicitors cannot always look after their client’s best interest, because they are not familiar enough with the details of the system of the enforcement of sentences.

A reader looking for eloquence may find it tedious when Lång’s paper in detail reflects on the work activities or buildings on the premises of prisons. These texts are included for a reason, however. Even the highest of principles are realised through the minute details. Correspondingly, it is quite educational to observe how the Chief Director analyses the implementation of human rights in the practical problem situations of prisoner transport.

When K.J. Lång talks about the co-operation of the police and Prison Service, he begins with the relation that the various authorities’ actions have with both legal safety and general security in society, but he also has time for such details as the transportation of prisoners and remand imprisonment.

When Lång writes about crisis control and information, the slightly general principles gain substance from the prison rebellion of Attica and the problems of information concerning the investigation of Olof Palme’s murder.

Under the period of Lång’s chief directorship, the prison population of Finland continued to decline steadily. In 1970 Finland had one of the largest prison populations in West Europe, two decades later one of the lowest. At its lowest the population was in 1989, after which date it has alternately grown and diminished. Reducing the number of prisoners was a conscious target in the criminal policy of the time. Lång himself stated in the late 1970’s that “Finland would still be a safe country with half the prison population it now has”. It is therefore only natural that this collection includes a lengthy article on the changes in the prison population. The viewpoint of the fellow-man is represented by a varied review of prison memoirs.

The article on the welfare state from 1993 is an important address in the middle of economic recession. Lång looks at the welfare state and the threats endangering it from a judicial perspective. He argues that only a constitutional state can be a functional welfare state. The reverse side of the coin is that the privatisation of public services is not only a technicality but is prone to undermine the legal safety of citizens.

An administrative intellectual like K.J. Lång produces a variety of texts. Thus, his travel journal of the official prison service delegation’s visit to China is an interesting documentary on the observations a Finnish civil servant can make in a closed society.

The research report on Jehova’s Witnesses was written as early as 1968, on President Urho Kekkonen’s request, which may have been a reaction to the debate caused by the book Pakkoauttajat (Forced Help) and the November Movement in Finland. The order was based on article 32 of the Constitution, according to which the president supervised the state administration and could for that purpose request information from the heads of departments. In accordance with the nature of the assignment, the research report was kept highly classified, only few copies were taken, and it now appears in print for the first time in this collection. The research report was a phase in the process that eventually lead to the Jehova’s Witnesses having been exempted from military service in the mid-80’s.

Joni Mäkinen and Heikki Kallasjoki scanned the original texts appearing in this volume. Marjaana Kempas checked the scanning. Jaakko Lindholm spared no efforts in reworking the tables and graphs and making up the book. Additional help was offered by Timo Aho, Risto Hannula, Risto Jaakkola, Jonas Lång, Ulla Lång, Tuomo Silenti, Vera Suomalainen, and Patrik Törnudd. Special thanks to Jan Törnqvist, who agreed to have the article he co-authored with K.J. Lång published in this collection.

FOREWORD Karl Johan Lång (1934-1998) was born as the son of a carpenter on the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia area in Finland. He graduated as a Master of Laws from the University of Helsinki in 1960. Lång served the best part of his career in the Prison Service department of the Ministry of Justice, from the year 1962 onwards as Education Manager, and as Chief Director from 1970 until his retirement in 1997. K.J. Lång had a great passion for politics. Between 1964 and 1966 he was chairman of Nyliberala studentförbundet, a new liberal students’ organisation, but all the while his aim was to create a career as a civil servant. He separated from the Swedish People’s Party in the beginning of the 1970’s, but unlike many younger 60’s-people, he did not move to the political left but remained an independent civil servant. He was generally considered a bourgeois liberal, and that was in all probability how he saw himself, too. Together with such Swedish-speaking Finnish intellectuals as Erik Allardt, Göran von Bonsdorff, Kettil Bruun, Lars Dufholm, Jan Magnus Jansson, and Georg Henrik von Wright, K.J. Lång was instrumental in creating the liberal spirit of the 1960’s. This book contains a selection of K.J. Lång’s writings on prison service and on other control-political subjects. This defining leaves out significant parts of his literary production. Lång was a civil servant intellectual, who participated actively in the discussion about social issues. In the course of his life, he wrote several articles on human rights and basic rights, among other things, and acted as chairman for the Basic Rights Committee that submitted its report in 1992. Another recurrent theme in his production are questions about peace. In addition to these recurring subjects Lång discussed a variety of other issues. An interesting example is the review of President Paasikivi’s diaries from the year 1986, where Lång considers the relation between Paasikivi’s geopolitical realism and his legal education. The title of Lång’s review asks ”a lawyer after all?”. Lång wished to be both a lawyer and a realpolitician himself, a man who takes both the norms and the reality seriously. In addition to being a spokesman for open social discussion, Lång acted as chairman for the Council for Mass Media in Finland from 1972 to 1975. In 1992 he made a stand for the publicity of documents in the periodical Tidskriften utgiven av Juridiska Föreningen i Finland. Among other things, he pointed out that the privatisation of public services is likely to reduce publicity and civil control. The versatility of K.J. Lång’s persona manifests itself also in the great variety of the platforms where he chose to publish his works. According to the list of publications, his articles appeared in over 30 periodicals. As a civil servant, he wrote to professional journals, in addition to which his forums include journals of social discussion. Lång’s writings have been published in scientific journals of at least six different fields, and he also published pamphlets, typical of the 1960’s. Among the higher civil servants of the time, there were others besides Lång who participated actively in the discussion about social issues in their youth, but after taking office, they usually limited themselves to official speeches. K.J. Lång, on the other hand, continued to express his opinion in social matters after taking office as well. This book is a collection of K.J. Lång’s control political writings from four decades, from 1966 to 1997. With the exception of the research report on the Jehova’s Witnesses in Finland, they are in chronological order. In the first of the articles in this book, the young Education Manager ponders upon the need for reformation in prison service. It is characteristic of the 1960’s discussion that it was first published in Swedish in the journal Finsk Tidskrift, then in Finnish in the most important newspaper of the Centre Party, and only then in the professional journal of Prison Service. Seven years later, the same man discusses the same themes as Chief Director, now in Finland’s Police Magazine. The article on the grounds of the punishability of sexual behaviour well represents the approach adopted by the 1960’s criminal political discussion. K.J. Lång looks at the everyday events behind the abstract, ill-sounding offences. ‘Interference with a person of 15 but not 17 years of age’ evokes rather different images than two youngsters of approximately the same age sleeping together. K.J. Lång’s acute awareness of history becomes apparent in many of his articles. For instance, the article on the relation of open welfare and institutional care skillfully combines the historical perspective and suggestions for reformation. Correspondingly, the article on the police’s modes of action in the Exclamation Mark series acknowledges how well the Russian police treated the members of the Resistance compared to the treatment that the people arrested on political grounds received both in the early years of Finnish independence and after the Second World War. One of the new features in the 1960’s social discussion was that lawyers assessed police authority and modes of action from the perspective of legal protection. The article remains up-to-date, especially in view of the police’s powers of inquiry having been constantly increased in Finland, without much attention given to the legal safety of citizens. Many of K.J. Lång’s articles have general principles as their point of departure, but they do not remain floating in the abstract world of principles. Lång’s passion and skill lies in looking at the consequences of principles in practice. It is no coincidence that the title of his 1968 speech reads ‘the norms and the reality as starting points for the reformation of social services’. It is typical of Lång that when he speaks at a lawyers’ conference, his speech is “rather a review of our common problems than a ceremonious greeting” and deals with how a lawyer can have a positive effect on prison service. He emphasises the solicitor’s role as the representative of the client even after the client is committed for a crime. At the same time, Lång points out that solicitors cannot always look after their client’s best interest, because they are not familiar enough with the details of the system of the enforcement of sentences. A reader looking for eloquence may find it tedious when Lång’s paper in detail reflects on the work activities or buildings on the premises of prisons. These texts are included for a reason, however. Even the highest of principles are realised through the minute details. Correspondingly, it is quite educational to observe how the Chief Director analyses the implementation of human rights in the practical problem situations of prisoner transport. When K.J. Lång talks about the co-operation of the police and Prison Service, he begins with the relation that the various authorities’ actions have with both legal safety and general security in society, but he also has time for such details as the transportation of prisoners and remand imprisonment. When Lång writes about crisis control and information, the slightly general principles gain substance from the prison rebellion of Attica and the problems of information concerning the investigation of Olof Palme’s murder. Under the period of Lång’s chief directorship, the prison population of Finland continued to decline steadily. In 1970 Finland had one of the largest prison populations in West Europe, two decades later one of the lowest. At its lowest the population was in 1989, after which date it has alternately grown and diminished. Reducing the number of prisoners was a conscious target in the criminal policy of the time. Lång himself stated in the late 1970’s that “Finland would still be a safe country with half the prison population it now has”. It is therefore only natural that this collection includes a lengthy article on the changes in the prison population. The viewpoint of the fellow-man is represented by a varied review of prison memoirs. The article on the welfare state from 1993 is an important address in the middle of economic recession. Lång looks at the welfare state and the threats endangering it from a judicial perspective. He argues that only a constitutional state can be a functional welfare state. The reverse side of the coin is that the privatisation of public services is not only a technicality but is prone to undermine the legal safety of citizens. An administrative intellectual like K.J. Lång produces a variety of texts. Thus, his travel journal of the official prison service delegation’s visit to China is an interesting documentary on the observations a Finnish civil servant can make in a closed society. The research report on Jehova’s Witnesses was written as early as 1968, on President Urho Kekkonen’s request, which may have been a reaction to the debate caused by the book Pakkoauttajat (Forced Help) and the November Movement in Finland. The order was based on article 32 of the Constitution, according to which the president supervised the state administration and could for that purpose request information from the heads of departments. In accordance with the nature of the assignment, the research report was kept highly classified, only few copies were taken, and it now appears in print for the first time in this collection. The research report was a phase in the process that eventually lead to the Jehova’s Witnesses having been exempted from military service in the mid-80’s. Joni Mäkinen and Heikki Kallasjoki scanned the original texts appearing in this volume. Marjaana Kempas checked the scanning. Jaakko Lindholm spared no efforts in reworking the tables and graphs and making up the book. Additional help was offered by Timo Aho, Risto Hannula, Risto Jaakkola, Jonas Lång, Ulla Lång, Tuomo Silenti, Vera Suomalainen, and Patrik Törnudd. Special thanks to Jan Törnqvist, who agreed to have the article he co-authored with K.J. Lång published in this collection.