Forensic Medicine

Forensic medicine (oikeuslääketiede) is a medical specialty that serves the justice system and authorities by investigating causes of death, injuries, and other medical questions in a legal context. In Finland, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is responsible for forensic autopsies and also guides and supervises cause-of-death investigation (Act on the Investigation of Cause of Death 459/1973, section 12 b).

Duties of a Forensic Pathologist

The primary duty of a forensic pathologist is cause-of-death investigation and performing autopsies. The forensic pathologist prepares the autopsy report, a statement on the cause and manner of death (for example disease, accident, suicide, homicide or undetermined) and the death certificate. The statements are used, for example, in preliminary investigations, court proceedings and insurance matters. THL's forensic pathologists also review death certificates issued in healthcare.

Organization in Finland

THL's forensic medicine unit performs all forensic autopsies in Finland as official assistance to the police, in five locations: Helsinki, Kuopio, Oulu, Tampere and Turku. The police are responsible for the forensic cause-of-death investigation. Under section 7 of the Act on the Investigation of Cause of Death, the police must investigate when a death is not known to have been caused by illness, when the deceased was not under a doctor's care during their last illness, when the death was caused, for example, by a crime, accident, suicide, poisoning, occupational disease or medical procedure, or when the death was sudden. The police order a forensic autopsy when needed, and the family cannot refuse it.

Significance for the Family

A forensic investigation may delay the burial permit: according to THL, the delay from death to autopsy can be several days or even weeks. The forensic pathologist issues the burial permit as soon as the deceased's identity has been confirmed and the necessary examinations of the body have been done – as a rule immediately after the autopsy. The death certificate and other cause-of-death documents may take a few months; they are delivered to the police, from whom the family can request them. Cause-of-death documents are confidential, but information may be given to the deceased's next of kin or other close person (section 15). The forensic autopsy and related transport are free of charge for the family. Knowing the cause of death can help in understanding what happened and support grief work.