Abstract

The article examines the judicial review on legal grounds of immigrant detention in Finland based on multi-sited ethnographic research and mixed-method data. While the legal framework on immigrant detention is well established in Finland, the district courts endorse detention orders that have been issued and implemented by the police or the border guards without thorough judicial scrutiny. The court hearing is largely a formality, and short processing times, lack of individual assessment, and low release percentages confirm a very low threshold for detention of immigrants. I argue that the ineffective legal review process legitimizes and normalizes detention and leaves wide discretionary powers to the police, who are the main actors in the detention and removal system.