The “Money-Day System”, developed based on the principle of equality of citizens, is implemented in some Scandinavian countries. These; Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany and Macau. The system was first implemented in Finland, after which Sweden and Denmark decided to switch to the Money-Day System, which is an income-based penalty system.
The system basically; It adjusts the amount of money the sentenced person has to pay based on the person’s annual income and the number of dependents. This situation also prevents the inequality of punishment between the rich and the low-income.
Income-based penalty system minimizes inequality
The penalty is calculated by taking into account 50% of the person’s daily net income. For this reason, the system is called the money-day system. In addition, the penalty is determined not only on the basis of the person’s daily income, but also on the number of dependents.
It is assumed that the person’s basic living expenses are 225 Euros per month and it is decided how many days of income the criminal’s sentence should correspond to.
The income-based penal system, which was first introduced in Finland in 1921, aims to ensure that people are equally affected by punishment, based on the principle of equality in crimes that do not require imprisonment. The goal is to equalize the effect on the person by changing the amount of the penalty. In other words, although the amount changes, everyone who gets the penalty hurts in the same way.
In summary; In the Money-Day System, when two people commit a crime that requires the same penalty, according to this system, both people are considered within the scope of a fine-day penalty. The more income someone has, the higher the amount they have to pay.
A speeding fine of 54 thousand euros!
A businessman named Andres Wiklöf was fined for driving at 71 km/h in an area in Finland where 50 km/h should be driven in recent years. The amount of money Wiklöf has to pay was determined as 63 thousand 240 Euros based on the Money-Day System.
Although such a high traffic fine may seem excessive to us, the decision was calculated taking into account Wiklöf’s annual income. Wiklöf’s annual revenue is estimated at over 12 million Euros. If Wiklöf’s annual income had been 50 thousand euros, then the penalty would have been only 345 euros.
The repercussions of the punishment having such a bad effect on everyone, of course, are realized in different ways by both the public and the state. The vast majority of people argue that such a penal system makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to invest in the country, and that it is not possible for high-income people to live in Finland.
However, on the state side, with this fine-day punishment system, the crime rate in the country has decreased and the number of criminals in prison has decreased.
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