Page "Politics of Finland" Paragraph 23

In addition to the parliament, the Cabinet and President may produce regulations ( asetus ) through a rulemaking process.

These give more specific instructions on how to apply statutes, which often explicitly delegate regulation of specific details to the government.

Regulations must be based on an existing law, and they can clarify and specify, but not contradict the statute.

Furthermore, the rights of an individual must always be based on a statute, not a regulation.

Often the statute and the regulation come in similarly named pairs.

For example, the law on primary education lists the subjects to the taught, and the regulation specifies the required number of teaching hours.

Most of regulations are given by the Cabinet, but the President may give regulations concerning national security.

Before 2000, the President had the right to enact regulations on matters not governed by parliamentary law, but this power was removed, and existing regulations were converted into regular statutes by the Parliament.