227 reformed in 1852. According to the new statutes, the legal degree was necessary for all offices in the Judicial Department of the Senate as well as for the offices in the high courts and local courts. The cameral degree was required for the Economic Department of the Senate as well as for the cameral and tax administration. In addition to the non-legal subjects (such as logic, history, geometry and mathematics), the legal examination required tests in criminal, civil, and economic law. Moreover, therewas a test in natural law and morals. This was a decisive step toward modern legal education. From 1852 onwards, the juridical examinations were seen mainly as leading to practical professions. Unlike earlier, legal training was no longer considered as one way of insuring the nobility an education appropriate to their estate. As it had been during the first half of the century, in the latter half legal education continued to be the path that opened the most gates to highest offices and the most influential positions. When compared to the first decades of the century, the professionalization of men witha legal education did make a difference, however. Inthe Finland of the second half of the nineteenth century, there was a growing interest in developing legislation that had largely remained untouched during the “stateless night.” The increasing concern that the legal professionals of the emerging modern era felt toward legal questions was well reflected in the meetings of the Legal Association, which started to publish a journal {Tidskrift utgifven afJuridiska Föreningen i Journal published by Finland’s Legal Association).22 TheJournal of the Legal Association and the Modernization of the Law Before the contents of theJournal are treated, the Nordic meetings of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish legal professionals should be mentioned. Although in small numbers, Finnish legal professionals also took part in these meetings from their beginning in 1872. In 1878 laymen’s position in criminal matters was discussed in the meeting. The discussion seems to have centered on the contemporary debate over juries vs. Schöffengerichte (in Germany Schöffengerichte had been introduced in 1877). Some representatives were for juries dissertations were written, and all the faculty posts were filled with competent applicants. Blomstedt 1964 pp. 431-432; Klami 1977 pp. 16-17; and Klinge - Knapas - Leikola - Strömberg 1989 pp. 772,795. Klinge - Knapas — Leikola— Strömberg 1989 pp. 337—339. This is not to claim that it was the only way, or even sufficient by itself; for instance, Savolainen’s study on the familial relations between Finnish senators in the nineteenth century shows that intermarriage between the families of the czar’s “favorite senators” played an important role in the construction of the Finnish elite. Savolainen 1994. On the founding of Finland’s Legal Association, see Godenhielm 1962 pp. 11-14 and Pajuoja - Ervasti 1994 pp. 15-17.
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