THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
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 LOS ANGELES
 
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 A PRECIS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND 
 
 BY 
 
 SENATOR L. MECHELIN. 
 
 1 RANSLATED BY CHARLES J. COOKE, 
 
 BRITISH \ [( I. I ON JUL AT HELSINGFORS. 
 
 LONDON: CHAPMAN and HALL 
 
 Limited 
 
 1889.
 
 WESTMINSTER : 
 
 PRINTED BY NICHOLS AND SONS. 
 
 25, PARLIAMENT STREET.
 
 K 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Author's Preface ..... v 
 
 Translator's Introduction .... vii 
 
 I. Historical Summary ... 1 
 II. The Legislative Sources of the Public 
 
 Law 28 
 
 III. The Emperor and Grand Duke . . 32 
 
 IV. The Organs of Government . . 36 
 V. The Diet ..... GO 
 
 VI. Legislation ..... 75 
 
 VII. Finances ..... 84 
 
 VIII. The Rights of Citizens . . . 95 
 
 IX. The State and Religion . . .102 
 
 X. Judicial Organisation . . .110 
 
 XI. Administrative Organisation . . 118 
 
 XII. The Communes . .... 146 
 
 Xm. Organisation of National Defence . 154 
 
 Translator's Appendix .... 161 
 
 1427518
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 People desirous of becoming acquainted with 
 the political and administrative institutions of 
 Finland are often prevented from doing so by 
 the want of publications on the subject in any 
 other lang-uao'es than Swedish and Finnish. 
 We purpose to fill this void. 
 
 The object of this work has determined its 
 plan ; neither construction of system nor de- 
 velopment of theories will be found in it. The 
 author's desire has been to make a simple 
 exposition of the actual law on constitutional 
 and administrative matters contained in the 
 Statutes of the Grand Duchy. The work has 
 no pretension beyond that of introducing into 
 political science a group of facts hitherto little 
 known. The difficulty of writing in :i language
 
 vi author's preface. 
 
 which is not one's own will, it is to be hoped, 
 serve as an adequate claim on the reader's 
 indulgence for the imperfections of style that 
 will inevitably be met with in this book. 
 
 L. M.
 
 TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The French original of this work was pub- 
 lished in 1886 by Senator Mechelin, formerly 
 Professor of Public Law at Helsingfors Uni- 
 versity. The book attracted considerable 
 attention, and was soon afterwards trans- 
 lated into Russian, causing a keen contro- 
 versy between portions of the Moscovite and 
 Finnish press, a certain party in Russia being- 
 desirous of regarding Finland m the light of a 
 mere province of the Tsar's vast empire, 
 whereas the Finlanders strenuously uphold 
 the solemn deed by which the liberal- 
 minded Alexander I. granted to the Finnish 
 people (in the persons of the members of the 
 Diet, assembled at Borgo, March 27, 1809) 
 " the confirmation and ratification of the reli- 
 gion and fundamental laws of the land," i.e., of
 
 Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Lutheran faith and constitutional govern- 
 ment, as when under Swedish rule. 
 
 This Constitution has not only been rigidly 
 adhered to ever since, but has even been much 
 extended and strengthened, more especially by 
 Alexander II. and the present Emperor and 
 Grand Duke. 
 
 It is with the view of putting before the 
 British public the peculiar relations exist- 
 ing between Russia and Finland, as well as to 
 make the Grand Duchy less of a terra incognita 
 than is still unfortunately the case, that the 
 English translator has taken upon himself this 
 pleasant task. Should he succeed thereby in 
 inducing more of his countrymen to study the 
 history and institutions of this remote but 
 interesting land — or even to come and see for 
 themselves how well, with a liberty-loving, law- 
 abiding and God-fearing people, a Constitution 
 whose roots stretch back to the Middle Ages, 
 can co-exist with all the requirements of modern 
 progress — his object will have been attained, 
 and he will consider himself abundantly re- 
 warded.
 
 A PRECIS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 
 
 (1) Christianity was introduced into Finland 
 by the Swedes, who undertook several crusades 
 with this object in the course of the twelfth and 
 thirteenth centuries. These crusades resulted 
 at the same time in the conquest of the country. 
 The social organisation of the native inhabit- 
 ants being still very primitive, the country 
 received the laws and institutions of the con- 
 querors together with their religion. However 
 passive the condition of the conquered might 
 be at first, it was not long in changing. In the 
 in i'l( Ik; of the fourteenth century the Finnish 
 
 B
 
 2 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 provinces were granted the same active rights, 
 concerning legislation and the election of kings, 
 as the Swedish provinces. Any political dis- 
 tinction between Swedes and Finlanders was 
 abolished. Finland was thenceforward an in- 
 tegral part of the kingdom of Sweden, having 
 the same Constitution, the same civil laws, the 
 same financial system, as other parts of the 
 kingdom, and sharing alike the triumphs and 
 disasters of the Metropolis. 
 
 The great majority of the population of Fin- 
 land were not of the same race as the Swedes. 
 This racial distinction, however, does not seem 
 to have been any obstacle to the growth of 
 political solidarity between the two parts of the 
 kingdom, and the existence of Swedish colonies 
 on the west coast of Finland contributed much 
 to the completion of this solidarity. The racial 
 distinctiveness, however, still remained. The 
 Finns retained their language, which the Swedish 
 Government did not even attempt to suppress, 
 and the cultivation of which was advanced, in 
 consequence of the Reformation, by the trans- 
 lation of the Bible into Finnish, and by the zeal
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 6 
 
 of the Lutheran clergy for popular education. 
 The material interests of the inhabitants of the 
 country, Finns and Swedes alike, were not 
 always identical with those of Sweden, and the 
 defence of Finland was left more especially to 
 native troops ; the geographical situation of the 
 land made its provinces a distinct group, col- 
 lectively styled, even in official documents, since 
 the end of the sixteenth century, "Grand Duchy 
 of Finland." Here, then, was the germ of a 
 national, independent existence ; but the people 
 did not wake to the consciousness of this as 
 loug as the intimate association with Sweden 
 lasted. 
 
 (2) The founding, on the Neva, of the new 
 capital of the Russian empire by Peter the 
 Great, was the starting-point of the policy pur- 
 sued by the Eussian rulers, with regard to 
 Finland, for a whole century. Conquered in 
 the great northern war, which terminated by 
 the peace of Nystad in 1721, and again in the 
 campaign of 1741-1743, Sweden was obliged to 
 cede to Russia a part of Finland: the province 
 
 of Viborg. 
 
 b 2
 
 4 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 In 1808 Finland was invaded by Alexander 
 I., whose object was to force G-ustavus IV. to 
 adhere to the continental blockade, as well as 
 to complete the conquest of the country. He 
 announced his intentions towards Finland by 
 means of several proclamations, the most 
 remarkable of which is the manifesto of June 
 5-17, 1808, in which the Emperor declares that, 
 in uniting Finland to Russia, he solemnly gua- 
 rantees to maintain the laws and liberties of 
 the land. At this time the definite issue of the 
 war was still undecided. 
 
 Towards the end of the year all the territory 
 of the Grand Duchy was evacuated by the 
 Swedish and Finnish troops, but hostilities 
 were, nevertheless, continued up to the summer 
 of 1809. The Emperor did not wish to wait 
 for the termination of the war before entering 
 into negotiations with the representatives of 
 Finland, in order to organise his rule in the 
 country. A Finnish deputation, elected by the 
 nobility, the clergy, the burgesses, and the 
 peasantry, on the Emperor's reiterated order, 
 assembled at St. Petersburg, in November,
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 5 
 
 1808. His Imperial Majesty was desirous of 
 consulting the deputies as to the condition 
 and wants of the land, and the means of alle- 
 viating its burdens. 
 
 Received by Alexander I. in solemn audience, 
 the deputation presented a memorandum con- 
 taining a summary of the provisions of the 
 fundamental laws for the formation of a legal 
 Diet, together with a declaration that this 
 deputation, elected and constituted in another 
 manner, was not competent to represent the 
 country nor to deliberate on questions requiring 
 the co-opei-ation of the Estates ; hence it would 
 only be by convoking the Diet that His Majesty 
 could hear the voice of the nation. 
 
 The Emperor approved of the opinion ex- 
 pressed by the deputation. By a decree pub- 
 lished on g^J, 1809, the Estates of Finland 
 were summoned to assemble on March 22, in the 
 town of Borgo, at a General Diet, conformably 
 with the laws and regulations. 
 
 (3) The Kmperor was present at the opening 
 of the Diet, and signed, on March l~>-27, the 
 very day of Ins arrival at Borgo, the follow-
 
 6 
 
 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 ing declaration to the inhabitants of Fin- 
 land : — 
 
 French Original. 
 
 " Les destinees de la Pro- 
 vidence nous ayant fait 
 prendre en possession le 
 Grand Duche de Finlande, 
 Nous avons voulu, par Facte 
 present, eonfirmer et ratifier 
 la Religion et les Lois fonda- 
 mentales du Pays ainsi que 
 les privileges et droits, dont 
 chaque classe dans le dit 
 Grand Duche, en particulier, 
 et tous les habitants en gene- 
 ral, qu'ils aient une position 
 elevee ou inferieure, ont joui 
 jusqu'ici selon la Constitution. 
 Nous promettons de main- 
 tenir tous ces avantages et 
 lois fermes et inebranlables 
 dans leur pleine force." 
 
 English Translation. 
 
 " Providence having placed 
 Us in possession of the Grand 
 Duchy of Finland, We have 
 desired, by the present act, 
 to confirm and ratify the 
 Religion and fundamental 
 Laws of the Land, as well 
 as the privileges and rights, 
 which each class in the said 
 Grand Duchy, in particular, 
 and all the inhabitants in 
 general, be their position high 
 or low, have hitherto enjoyed 
 according to the Constitution. 
 We promise to maintain all 
 these benefits and laws firm 
 and unshaken in their full 
 force." 
 
 Two days later, at a solemn audience held in 
 the cathedral, the Emperor received the homage 
 of the Estates as Grand Duke of Finland. The 
 Estates took the oath of fealty to the new Sove- 
 reign, and affirmed, at the same time, the in- 
 violability of the Constitution ; the Emperor's 
 declaration was read aloud, the document was
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 7 
 
 delivered into the custody of the Marshal of the 
 House of Nobles ; after which a herald of noble 
 birth stood before the throne and proclaimed : 
 " Vive Alexandre I., Enipereur de toutes les 
 Russies et Grand-due de Finlande ! " 
 
 The ceremony concluded by a speech of the 
 Emperor, in the French language, bearing 
 witness to the sentiments with which he had 
 received the homage and oath of the country's 
 representatives, and testifying that it was an 
 act of union that had just been effected. 
 
 (4) The Emperor and Grand Duke submitted 
 to the Diet propositions on the four following 
 questions : 
 
 I. The organisation of the Government of 
 the land, or the institution of a State 
 Council ; 
 
 II. Taxes and Finance ; 
 
 III. Military Organization ; 
 
 IV. Monetary System. 
 
 The resolutions and views of the Borgo Diet, 
 concerning these important questions, have ex- 
 ercised a [great and salutary influence on the
 
 8 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 administration of the affairs of the young- 
 State. 
 
 Whilst Finland was only a part of the king- 
 dom of Sweden there were none but local 
 authorities in the country itself. The supreme 
 tribunal and the offices of the central govern- 
 ment, established in accordance with the fun- 
 damental laws, were at Stockholm. It was 
 now necessary to replace these institutions by 
 analogous ones. This was the object of a 
 Bill concerning the State Council, which was to 
 become the centre of the different branches of 
 the administration. 
 
 The Estates passed this Bill. The Emperor, 
 in order to give a proof of ihe confidence he 
 had in the country's representatives, charged 
 them to elect the first members of the 
 Council. 
 
 As regards the other matters discussed by 
 the Diet, those concerningj^airce and taxes were 
 not the least important. The question was, 
 indeed, not only to provide for the wants of 
 the moment, but to give a sound basis to the 
 financial system of the new State. It was
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 9 
 
 absolutely necessary to increase the salaries of 
 the public functionaries, and to face the ex- 
 penditure required for the maintenance of the 
 new organs of Government and administration. 
 
 The former taxes were continued, with the 
 exception of some extraordinary imposts from 
 which the Emperor desired to exempt the 
 people ; but ameliorations were made in the as- 
 sessment of the land-tax and the personal taxes. 
 The result was, that the budget was established 
 on a satisfactory basis. Now Alexander I., in 
 making his financial proposals, declared that 
 the revenues of the Grand Duchy should be 
 employed solely for the wants of the country 
 itself — a declaration in every way consonant 
 with the policy adopted by him in regard to 
 Finland — and he thus precluded all possible 
 :i] 'prehension as to the independence of the 
 Grand Duchy's budget. The Estates there- 
 fore voted a special address in order to express 
 the gratitude of the country for this declaration 
 of His Majesty. 
 
 The proposals \\>v military organisation did 
 not aim at any change of system ; the Emperor
 
 10 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 wishing, on the contrary, to retain the former 
 organisation of a national militia (milice 
 nationale) maintained by the landed pro- 
 prietary. The military question, on this occa- 
 sion, required the consideration of certain 
 economical dispositions, to the almost entire 
 exclusion of all others. But what gave to 
 the above proposal a political importance was 
 that the Emperor expressed in it his positive 
 assurance that there should be no recruit- 
 ing by force nor military conscription in 
 Finland. Taking into consideration the state 
 of public feeling at the epoch of the assembling 
 of the Diet, this assurance necessarily con- 
 tributed to strengthen the confidence in ihe 
 new sovereign's policy. The Estates expressed 
 their gratitude for this, frankly pointing out 
 at the same time the inconvenience that would 
 result from the employment of the national 
 militia out of Finland, or for any other object 
 than that of the defence of the Fatherland. 
 
 Concerning the monetary system, the Estates 
 resolved to adopt the silver rouble as the 
 monetary unit of the Grand Duchy, and not
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 
 
 11 
 
 to authorise payments in Russian or Swedish 
 paper notes, except at the rate of exchange of 
 these notes. The Diet laid down, at the same 
 time, necessary regulations for the introduction 
 of the new money into the public accounts, as 
 well as into private transactions. It further 
 recommended the founding of a national bank, 
 with the guaranty of the Estates. 
 
 (5) The Emperor returned to Borgo for the 
 closing of the Diet, which took place on the 
 6-1 8th July of the same year. The following is 
 the speech made by him on this occasion : — 
 
 French Original. 
 
 " En reunissant les Etats 
 de la Finlande en une Diete 
 generate j'ai voulu connaitre 
 les desirs et les sentiments de 
 la nation sur ses veritables 
 i nlT rets. 
 
 " J'appelai votre attention 
 sur les objets les plus im- 
 portans si votre prosperite. 
 Me reposant enticrement sur 
 la loyaute de votre caract&re, 
 fort d'ailleurs de la pnrete de 
 mes intentions. j'ai Iaisse ;'i 
 vos deliberations une parfaite 
 liberie. 
 
 English Translation. 
 
 " In assembling the Estates 
 of Finland in a General Diet, 
 I desired to ascertain the 
 wishes and sentiments of the 
 nation touching its true inte- 
 rests. 
 
 " I have called your atten- 
 tion to the most important ob- 
 jects to secure your prosperity. 
 Trusting wholly to the loyalty 
 of your character, strong, 
 moreover, in the purity of my 
 intentions, I have allowed 
 yon perfect liberty in your 
 deliberations.
 
 12 
 
 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 " Aucune influence, aueune 
 autorite gtrangere a la votre 
 n'osa franchir le seuil de 
 ces portes. J'ai veille sur 
 I'independance de vos opi- 
 nions. Absent, je me trouvai 
 au milieu de vous par les 
 voeux que je ne cessais de 
 faire pour le succes de vos 
 travaux. 
 
 •' Les avis que vous venez 
 d'emettre portent le caractere 
 de la sagesse et de l'amour de 
 la patrie. Je les prendrai en 
 consideration dans l'ceuvre 
 importante que je medite pour 
 votre prosper ite. 
 
 ' ' Vos travaux cessent des ce 
 moment. Mais en vous sepa- 
 rant, vous avez des devoirs 
 essentiels a remplir. 
 
 " Portez dans le sein de vos 
 provinces, imprimez dans 
 1 'esprit de vos compatriotes 
 la meme confiance qui a pre- 
 side ici a vos deliberations. 
 Inspirez-leur la meme assur- 
 ance sur les objets les plus 
 importans a votre existence 
 politique, le maintien de vos 
 lois, la surete personuelle, le 
 respect inviolable de vos pro- 
 prietes. 
 
 " No extraneous influence 
 nor authority has dared to 
 cross the threshold of these 
 portals. I have kept watch 
 over the independence of your 
 opinions. Absent, I was ever 
 in your midst by the prayers 
 that I never ceased to offer 
 up for the success of you 1 " 
 labours. 
 
 " The opinions to which 
 you have just given utterance 
 bear the stamp of wisdom 
 and of love for fatherland. 
 I shall take them into con- 
 sideration in the important 
 work that I am contemplating 
 for your prosperity. 
 
 " Your labours cease from 
 this moment. But in sepa- 
 rating, you have essential 
 duties to perform. 
 
 " Carry into the distant parts 
 of your provinces, impress on 
 the minds of your compatriots, 
 that same confidence which 
 has presided over your deli- 
 berations here. Inspire them 
 with the same assurance con- 
 cerning the most important 
 objects of your political exist- 
 ence, the maintenance of your 
 laws, the security of your 
 persons, and the inviolability 
 of your property.
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 
 
 13 
 
 " Ce pcnple brave et loyal 
 benira la Providence qui a 
 amene 1'ordre de choses actuel. 
 Place desormais au rang des 
 nations, sous l'empire de ses 
 lois. il ne se ressouviendra de 
 la domination passee que pour 
 cultiver des rapports d'amitie 
 Iorsqu'ils seront retablis par 
 la paix. 
 
 '•Et moi, j'aurai recuelli le 
 plus grand fruit de mes soins 
 quand je verrai cette nation 
 tranquille au dehors, libre 
 dans 1'interieur, se livrant 
 sous la protection des lois et 
 des bonnes moeurs a l'agri- 
 culture et a 1'industrie, par le 
 fait meme de sa prosperite, 
 rendre justice a mes inten- 
 tions et benir ses destines." 
 
 " This brave and loyal 
 people will be grateful to that 
 Providence which has brought 
 about the present state of 
 affairs. Placed from this 
 time forward in the rank of 
 nations, governed by its own 
 laws, it will only call to mind 
 its former rulers in order to 
 cultivate friendly relations 
 when these shall have been 
 re-established by peace. 
 
 " And I, I shall have reaped 
 the best result for my solici- 
 tude when I see this nation, 
 externally tranquil, internally 
 free, devoting itself to agri- 
 culture and industry under 
 the protection of its laws and 
 of its good customs and man- 
 ners, and thus, by the very 
 fact of its prosperity, doing 
 justice to my intentions and 
 blessing its lot." 
 
 (6) Thus was Finland's new destiny inau- 
 gurated. 
 
 The conqueror found himself in the presence 
 of a people firmly attached to their political 
 institutions and their civil laws, the liberal 
 principles of which had taken root in the minds
 
 14 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 and habits of the citizens. To have employed 
 physical force in order to incorporate this 
 country with Russia would not have accorded 
 with the Emperor's personal views, nor have 
 conduced to the immediate pacification which 
 the political interests of the empire necessitated. 
 Hence Alexander preferred " an act of union." 
 He confirmed the old Constitution, and sum- 
 moned the representatives of the nation, so 
 as to establish, conjointly with them, the new 
 state of things. 
 
 The Finlanders, foreseeing- the final issue of 
 the war and the impossibility of a return to 
 the past, could not hesitate to meet half-way 
 the proposals of the Emperor Alexander, who 
 had given them, as a security for the future, 
 the most formal assurance to maintain the 
 foi'mer Constitution. In Sweden the King had 
 been dethroned ; the Swedish Government had 
 no more power over Finland ; the Finnish 
 Estates, elected and assembled according- to 
 law, could alone at this moment represent with 
 perfect right the Finnish people. Hence the 
 authority they made use of in binding the
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 15 
 
 inhabitants of the country by the oath taken 
 to the new sovereign, on the basis of the Con- 
 stitution confirmed by him, was acknowledged 
 both by the Emperor and the people. The 
 Emperor expressed this in his manifesto " to 
 all the inhabitants of Finland," published at 
 Borgo, J^ 1 " 4 , 1809 ; no protest was heard in 
 the country. 
 
 The union thus established has been clearly 
 defined by the Emperor, not only in the above- 
 mentioned speeches of March 29th and July 
 18th, 1809, but also on other occasions, for 
 example, in the edict of the 15-2 7th March, 
 1810, concerning the militia, and from which 
 we give here the introduction : — 
 " His Imperial Majesty's Gracious Manifesto. 
 
 " From the moment that, through the Will of 
 Providence, Finland's destiny was entrusted to 
 Us, it has been Our aim to rule that Land in 
 conformity with the liberties of the Nation 
 and the rights assured to it by its Constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 "The proofs of devotion the Inhabitants have 
 given Us since the Oath of Fealty, which they
 
 16 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 tendered to Us of their perfect free will, 
 through their Representatives assembled at the 
 Diet, have only conduced to strengthen Us in 
 that purpose. 
 
 " All the steps we have hitherto taken, with 
 regard to the internal administration of the 
 Country, are simply a consequence of and an 
 addition to that fundamental idea. The main- 
 tenance of the Religion and the Laws, the sum- 
 moning of the Estates to a General Diet, the 
 formation of a State Council in the Nation's 
 midst, and the inviolability of the judicial and 
 administrative authority, afford sufficient proofs 
 to assure the Finnish Nation (Finska Nationen) 
 of its political existence and the rights apper- 
 taining thereto."* 
 
 (7) The stipulations of the Treaty of Peace, 
 signed between Russia and Sweden at Fred- 
 rikshamn the 5-1 7th September, 1809, and 
 ratified at St. Petersburg the l-13th October, 
 did not touch the political situation of the 
 
 * In order to avoid the inc3nvenience of translating from a 
 translation we have thought it better to render this important 
 document from the original Swedish. — C. J. C.
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 17 
 
 Grand Duchy, already settled by the Borgo 
 Aits. Mention was simply made in Clause VI. 
 of the Treaty of this fait accompli, it being 
 added that the King of Sweden considered 
 himself, by this very fact, freed from the obli- 
 gation, otherwise sacred, of making favourable 
 conditions in this respect for his former subjects. 
 The Treaty of Peace settles, in the first place, 
 certain questions with reference to the general 
 politics of this epoch, and especially stipulates 
 for the adhesion of the King of Sweden to the 
 continental blockade ; then the cession of Fin- 
 nish territory to the Emperor of Russia and the 
 demarcation of the frontier; lastly, the interests 
 of some private individuals, Swedes and Fin- 
 landers, as also the future commercial relations 
 between Finland and Sweden, &c, &c. 
 
 The line of frontier between Russia and 
 Finland remained at first as it had been fixed 
 in 1743 between Russia and Sweden. But the 
 Emperor Alexander I. having considered it 
 advantageous to restore to Finland its unity, 
 reunited the province of Viborg to the Grand 
 Duchy (rlilr p. 3) by the decree of December 
 
 c
 
 18 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 23rd, 1811. The frontier then established 
 remains so still, excepting a modification which 
 took place in 1864. 
 
 (8) After the closing of the Borgo Diet, the 
 Emperor lost no time in organising the Govern- 
 ment. The statutes of the State Council were 
 sanctioned and promulgated on the 6-18th 
 August, 1809. On the same day the members 
 of the Council, elected by the Diet, were ap- 
 pointed to their functions. The Council sat 
 first at Abo, the former chief town of the 
 country. But Helsingfors having been declared 
 the capital of the Grand Duchy, the State 
 Council removed thither in 1819. 
 
 In virtue of the statute of 1809 the Governor- 
 General was to preside at the Council. Besides 
 this, the powers of this high functionary were 
 the object of special instructions, issued in 1812, 
 at the same time as those relating to the Pro- 
 curator-General of the country. 
 
 The organisation of the Government institu- 
 tions was completed by the formation at St. 
 Petersburg in 1811 of a Committee for Finnish 
 Affairs. Questions reserved for the Emperor's
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 19 
 
 decision were to be reported to him, in the pre- 
 sence of the chairman of the committee, by a 
 Secretary of State forming one of the committee. 
 The committee of 1811 was abolished by an ukaz 
 of 1826, and it was decided that the Secretary 
 of State, afterwards styled Minister- Secretary of 
 State, should make his reports to the Emperor 
 unattended. In 1857 the Committee for Fin- 
 nish Affairs was re-established, but with a 
 partially-modified organisation. 
 
 The statutes of 1809 relating to the State 
 Council have, in the course of time, been sub- 
 jected to many modifications, but the essential 
 provisions of this law are still in force. Later 
 on we will give detailed particulars of the 
 same. It is only right, however, that we should 
 here mention the decree of February 21, 1816, 
 in which the Emperor declares that, it being 
 his intention to disclose the idea which had led 
 to the establishment of a State Council, as 
 well as the immediate relations of the Council 
 with the person of the Sovereign, he has deter- 
 mined that the Council shall henceforth be 
 designated, as the supreme authority of the 
 
 c 2
 
 20 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 empire, Imperial Senate of Finland, without 
 there being any change in the organisation of 
 the Council, and still less in the Constitution of 
 the country, the validity of which Constitution 
 had been recognised by the Emperor in per- 
 petuity, both for himself and for his successors. 
 (9) The Diet was not convoked again by 
 Alexander I. nor during the reign of the 
 Emperor Nicholas. It is true that the period- 
 icity of the Diets had not been fixed by the 
 fundamental laws which the Emperor Alexander 
 had confirmed. But the co-operation of the 
 Estates being indispensable for all reforms of 
 laws and taxes, the prolonged stoppage of the 
 legislative machinery necessarily impeded the 
 development of the country. Hence it was 
 acknowledged, in certain official acts in the 
 first part of this period, that the convocation of 
 the Diet would have been desirable and would 
 have taken place had not the political pre- 
 occupations of the empire prevented it. 
 
 Meantime the Government essayed to realise 
 as much progress as was possible, in spite of 
 the stoppage of legislative labour — sometimes
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 21 
 
 even by encroaching on the functions of the Diet. 
 But constitutional traditions were not effaced 
 from the popular mind; and respect for law, 
 one of the bulwarks of a constitutional form of 
 government, has been maintained among the 
 people, and has never ceased to inspire the acts 
 of the public functionaries. 
 
 (10) Shortly after the accession to the throne 
 of Alexander II., the convocation of the Diet, 
 loudly called for by patriotic voices, was ad- 
 mitted to be indispensable. Already, in 1859, 
 t-he Government felt the necessity of having 
 recourse to the national representation, both 
 for financial measures and for the revision of 
 the civil and criminal laws. The Senate had 
 to ascertain which were the legislative questions 
 most in need of a speedy solution, and it reported 
 accordingly to the Emperor. The elaboration 
 of these numerous projects required, however, 
 much time. On June 18th, 18G3, the Emperor 
 and Grand Duke's decree appeared, to the 
 great joy of the nation, convoking the Estates 
 in a General Diel ;ii Belsingfors on September 
 I "it h of i he same year.
 
 22 
 
 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 Alexander II. arrived at Helsingfors for the 
 solemn opening of the Diet, which took place 
 on September 18th, and on which occasion he 
 made the following speech in the French 
 
 language : 
 
 French Original. 
 
 " Representants du Grand- 
 Duche de Finlande. 
 
 " En vous voyant retrais au- 
 tour de Moi, Je suis heureux 
 d'avoir pu accomplir Mcs 
 voeux et vos esperances. 
 
 "Mon attention s'est des 
 longteinps portee sur un cer- 
 tain nombre de questions suc- 
 cessivement soulevees et qui 
 touchent aux interets les plus 
 serieux dn pays. Elles sont 
 restees en suspens vu que lenr 
 solution demandoit la co- 
 operation des Etats. Des 
 considerations majeures, dont 
 l'appreciation M'est reservee, 
 ne M'avoient pas permis de 
 reunir les representants des 
 quatre ordres du Grand- 
 Duche durant les premieres 
 annees de Mon regne. Nean- 
 moins, J'ai pris a temps des 
 mesures preparatoires pour ar- 
 
 English Translation. 
 
 " Representatives of the Grand 
 Duchy of Finland. 
 
 " In seeing you assembled 
 around Me, I am glad to have 
 been able to fulfil My desire 
 and your hopes. 
 
 " My attention has long been 
 directed to a certain num- 
 ber of questions successively 
 raised, which concern the 
 most serious interests of your 
 country. These questions 
 have remained in suspense 
 because their solution required 
 the co-operation of the Estates. 
 Certain important considera- 
 tions, the appreciation of 
 which is reserved for Me, 
 prevented Me from convening 
 the representatives of the 
 four orders of the Grand 
 Duchy during the first years 
 of My reign. Nevertheless 
 I took in good time some
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 
 
 23 
 
 river a ce but, et aujonrd'hui 
 que les circonstances ne sont 
 plus de nature a rnotiver un 
 plus long ajournement, Je 
 tous ai convoque afin de vous 
 faire part, apres avoir preal- 
 ablement entendu Mon Senat 
 de Finlande, des projets de 
 loi et, cle quelques affaires 
 administratives, dont vous 
 aurez a vous occnper durant 
 la session actuelle. Conside- 
 rant leur gravite, Je les ai 
 d'abord fait examiner par une 
 commission, composee de per- 
 sonnes investies de la eonfi- 
 ance de la nation. La publi- 
 city accordee aux debats de 
 cette commission vous a fait 
 connaitre d'avance l'objet de 
 vos deliberations et vous avez 
 ete a meme d'approfondir ces 
 projets de loi en consultant 
 les opinions et les besoins du 
 pays. Malgre leur nombre et 
 leur importance il vous sera 
 en consequence possible d'en 
 terminer l'examen definitif 
 dans le delai lixe par la loi. 
 
 • [/expose financier qui tous 
 
 preparatory steps to attain 
 tbis object, and now that 
 circumstances are no longer 
 of a nature to cause a further 
 postponement, I have con- 
 voked you in order to lay 
 before you, after having pre- 
 viously heard the report of 
 My Senate of Finland, the 
 projected measures and ad- 
 ministrative business which 
 will require your attention 
 in the course of the present 
 session. Considering their 
 importance, I have had them 
 examined first by a committee 
 composed of men enjoying 
 the confidence of the nation. 
 The publicity given to the 
 debates of this committee has 
 acquainted you beforehand 
 with the object of your deli- 
 berations, and you have been 
 enabled to thoroughly exa- 
 mine these projected mea- 
 sures by consulting the opi- 
 nions and the wants of the 
 country. Consequently, in 
 spite of their number and 
 importance, it will be possible 
 for you to complete a thorough 
 investigation of them in the 
 period fixed by law. 
 
 "The financial statcinml
 
 24 
 
 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 sera communique, vous prou- 
 vera que les revenus de l'Etat 
 ont toujours sum pour couvrir 
 les depenses courantes et que 
 l'accroissement considerable 
 des impots indirects, temoign- 
 age de la prosper ite publique, 
 a permis d'appliquer des res- 
 sources plus etendues au de- 
 veloppcment materiel et moral 
 du pays. 
 
 " J'ai autorise le Gouverne- 
 ment du Grand-Duche a con- 
 tractor des emprunts unique- 
 ment pcnr f aire face au besoins 
 de la derniere guerre et pour 
 couvrir les frais de construc- 
 tion du cbemin de fer entre 
 Helsiugfors et Tavastehns. 
 
 " Le compte rendu de l'em- 
 ploi de ces emprunts, qui vous 
 sera egalement communique, 
 vous fera voir que les revenus 
 actuels de l'Etat suffisent pour 
 amortir cette dette avec ses 
 interets. Mon desir est toute- 
 fois qu'a 1'avenir aucun nouvel 
 emprunt ne soit fait sans la 
 participation des Etats du 
 Grand-Duche, a moins qu'une 
 invasion inopinee de l'ennemi 
 ou quelque autre malheur 
 public imprevu ne nous en 
 fasse une necessite. 
 
 which will be communicated 
 to you, will show that the 
 revenues of the State have 
 always sufficed to cover the 
 current expenditure, and that 
 a considerable increase from 
 the indirect taxes, a proof of 
 the national prosperity, has 
 made it possible to apply 
 these additional resources to 
 the material and intellectual 
 development of the country. 
 
 " I have authorised the Go- 
 vernment of the Grand Duchy 
 to contract loans solely in 
 order to meet the require- 
 ments of the last war, and 
 to cover the expense of con- 
 structing the railway between 
 Helsingfors and Tavastehus. 
 
 " An account of the use made 
 of these loans will likewise 
 be communicated to you, and 
 will show that the present 
 revenue of the State is suffi- 
 cient to gradually pay off 
 this debt with its interest. 
 It is my wish, however, that 
 for the future no new loan 
 be raised without the con- 
 currence of the Estates of 
 the Grand Duchy, unless an 
 unexpected invasion by an 
 enemy or some other unfore- 
 seen national calamity should 
 make it a necessity for Us.
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 
 
 25 
 
 '• Lesnonvelles contributions 
 que jo fais proposer a la 
 Diete tendent a realiser dif- 
 fe routes mesures destinocs a 
 augmenter le bien-etre du 
 pays et a faire prosperer l'en- 
 seignement du peuple. C'est 
 a vous do decider de 1'urgeuce 
 el de l'etendue de ces mesures. 
 
 " riusicurs des stipulations 
 des lois fond am en talcs du 
 Grand-Duche ne sont plus 
 applicablcs a I'etat des choses 
 survonu depuis sa reunion a 
 PEmpire ; d'autres manquent 
 de chute" et de precision. Dc- 
 sirant remedier a ces imper- 
 fections, Mon intention est de 
 faire elaborer uu projet de loi 
 qui contiendra des explica- 
 tions et des supplements a 
 ces stipulations pour etre sou- 
 111 is a 1'examen des Etats lors 
 de la prochaine Diete, que jo 
 pense convoquer dans fcroi 
 ans. En maintenant le prin- 
 cipe Monarchiqne Constitu- 
 tionnel inherent mix moeurs 
 <lu people Finlandoia ei donl 
 is ses lois et ses institu- 
 tions portent le carat-tore, Je 
 vcu\ faire admettre dans ce 
 projei uu droil plus etendu 
 que celui quo posstident deja 
 
 " The new taxes that I pro- 
 pose to the Diet are designed 
 to carry out different mea- 
 sures destined to augment 
 tbe welfare, of the country, 
 and to advance the cause of 
 popular education. You have 
 to decide as to the urgency 
 and extent of these measures. 
 
 '• Many provisions of tbe 
 fundamental laws of the 
 Grand Duchy are no longer 
 applicable to the state of 
 affairs existing since its 
 union with the Empire; others 
 lack clearness and precision. 
 Desirous of remedying these 
 imperfections, it is My inten- 
 tion to have a measure care- 
 fully prepared which shall 
 contain explanatory and sup- 
 plemental provisions. These 
 will be submitted to the con- 
 sideration of the Estates at the 
 next Diet, which I purpose 
 convoking three years hence. 
 Whilst maintaining the prin- 
 ciple of a Constitutional Mo- 
 narchy agreeably to the anc. cut 
 customsof the Finnish people, 
 and of which principle all 
 their laws and institutions 
 bear the impress, I wish Id 
 include in this projected mea-
 
 26 
 
 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 les Etats quant au reglemeut 
 de l'assiette des impots, ainsi 
 que le droit de motion qu*ils 
 ont anciennemeut, possede, 
 Me reservant toutef ois celui de 
 prendre l'initiative dans toutes 
 les questions qui touchent au 
 changcment de la loi fonda- 
 mentale. 
 
 " Vous connoissezMes senti- 
 ments et Mes voeux pour le 
 bonheur et la prosper ite des 
 peoples confies a Ma sollici- 
 tude. Aucun de Mes actes 
 n'a pu troubler l'entente qui 
 doit regner entre le souverain 
 et la nation. Je desire que 
 cette entente continue a etre, 
 comme par le passe, le gage 
 des bons rapports qui M'unis- 
 sent au brave et loyal peuple 
 Finlandois. Elle contribuera 
 puissamment a la prosperity 
 d'un pays bien cher a Mon 
 eoeur et Me fournira un nou- 
 veau motif pour vous ras- 
 sembler periodiquement. 
 
 " C'est a vous, Representants 
 du Grand Duchc, de prouver, 
 par la dignite, la moderation 
 
 sure a more extended rigbt 
 than that which the Estates 
 now possess as to the adjust- 
 ment of taxation, as also 
 the right of motion which 
 they formerly possessed, re- 
 serving to Myself, however, 
 the initiative in all questions 
 which affect the alteration of 
 the fundamental laws. 
 
 " You know My sentiments 
 and My wishes for the happi- 
 ness and prosperity of the 
 peoples entrusted to My 
 charge. None of My acts 
 has been such as to interfere 
 with the good understanding 
 that ought to exist between 
 the sovereign and the nation. 
 I desire that this understand- 
 ing may continue, as of yore, 
 to be a guarantee of the 
 good relations which unite 
 Me to the brave and loyal 
 Finnish people. It will con- 
 tribute powerfully to the 
 prosperity of a country very 
 dear to My heart, and will 
 supply Me with a new motive 
 for assembling you periodi- 
 cally. 
 
 " It is for you, the Represen- 
 tatives of the Grand Duchy, 
 to prove, by the dignity, the
 
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 27 
 
 et le calme de vos discussions, moderation, and the calmness 
 
 qu'entre les mains d'nn peuple of your discussions, that in 
 
 sage, decide a travailler, the hands of a wise and well- 
 
 d'accord avec le souverain, conducted people, determined 
 
 dans un esprit pratique au to work, hand in hand with 
 
 developpement de son bien- the Sovereign, in a practical 
 
 etre, les institutions liberates, manner for the development 
 
 loin d'etre un danger, devien- of its well-being, liberal in- 
 
 nent une garantie d'ordre et stitutions, far from being a 
 
 de prosperite. danger, become a guarantee 
 
 of order and prosperity. 
 
 " Je declare ouverte la pre- " I declare the present Diet 
 
 sente Diete." open." 
 
 The Diet of 1863-1864, inaugurated by this 
 
 memorable speech, has marked a new era in the 
 
 constitutional history of the Grand Duchy. The 
 
 periodical convocation of the Diet was assured 
 
 by a law promulgated in 1869, after having been 
 
 approved by the Estates in the Session of 1867. 
 
 The Estates assembled again in 1872, 1877, 
 
 1882 and 1885. All these Diets have been 
 
 fertile in legislative works, as also in financial 
 
 and economical measures. Government and the 
 
 Diet have done their utmost, to grapple with the 
 
 work accumulated since 1800.* 
 
 * Those who desire to see an account of the legislative 
 activity of the Finnish Diet are referred to Professor Mont- 
 gomery's pamphlet, in the French language, entitled " Notice gur 
 let i ravaux Ugislatifs dela diete dv, grand duche'de Finlande" 
 (1863-1879), published at Paris in 1881 by Arnous de Riviere, 
 Rue Racine 16. — (A uthor's noU I
 
 II. 
 
 THE LEGISLATIVE SOURCES OF THE 
 PUBLIC LAW. 
 
 (11) The Constitution of the Grand Duchy is 
 mainly based on the following fundamental 
 laws : — 
 
 That of the " Form of Government " (Rege- 
 rings-formen) of August 21, 1772, partly modified 
 by the " Act of Union and Security " (Forenings 
 och siikerhetsakten) of February 21 and April 3, 
 1789; and 
 
 "The law on the Diet " (Landtdagsordningen) 
 of April 15, 18G9 ; to this latter must be added, 
 by way of appendix, the Statutes of the Order 
 of Nobles, dated April 21, 1869. 
 
 To this group, likewise, belong some legis- 
 lative decrees amending certain articles in the
 
 LEGISLATIVE SOURCES OF PUBLIC LAW. 29 
 
 above-cited laws, e.g., the Ordinance of March 20, 
 1879, which has extended the electoral franchise 
 and eligibility amongst the burgesses, and tin- 
 law of July 16, 1886, according to which the 
 Estates will possess for the future the right of 
 initiative in legislation, in common with the 
 Emperor and Grand Duke. 
 
 The statute of the State Council (Senate) of 
 August 18, 1809, is of a mixed nature. The 
 principal provisions of this enactment appertain 
 to the Constitution, but it also includes several 
 minor administrative regulations. 
 
 Among the general sources of the constitu- 
 tional law must be enumerated the Act passed 
 by Alexander I. and the Estates of Finland at 
 the opening of the Borgo Diet, of which mention 
 ha3 already been made. — {Vide Section 3, pages 
 5 and 6).* 
 
 * The "King's Chapter" (Konungabalken) of the "Code 
 of the Land ' (Landslagen) of 1442, being eited in § 2 of the 
 law of 1772, on the Form of Government, has also a place 
 amid the constitutional acts. The Code of 1442 did not com- 
 prise the penal and civil laws only, hut the Constitution of thai 
 time as well, written in the "King's Chapter." The other 
 part-, ul the Code of 1442 have been replaced by thai of I "'■'< 1 ; 
 Imi the " Konnngabalken " is still quoted in the constitutional
 
 30 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 Another group of the sources of constitutional 
 law is formed by the special enactments touching 
 the privileges of the four orders, particularly — 
 The privileges of the order of the nobility 
 of 1723; 
 
 The privileges of the clergy of 1723 ; 
 The confirmation of the rights of the bur- 
 gesses and of towns of 1789; 
 
 The confirmation of the rights of peasants 
 and the law on the rights of proprietors of 
 non-privileged lands of 1789. 
 These special enactments have been con- 
 siderably modified by various ordinances made 
 more particularly since 1863. 
 
 (12) The laws comprising the administrative 
 right are also in two distinct groups : 
 
 acts of the eighteenth century. It is in order to avoid break- 
 ing the chain of historical development that people were 
 reminded, by these citations, of the princij)les expressed in the 
 dispositions of the law of 1442 concerning the relations 
 between the monarchical power and the people. There are 
 besides, in the text of 1442, some regulations which have 
 neither been abolished, nor replaced by subsequent dispositions. 
 - It is worthy of remark, then, that the interpretation of the 
 fundamental laws of Finland, which have their roots in the 
 past, must of necessity be based on the study of historical 
 sources. — (Author's note.)
 
 LEGISLATIVE SOURCES OF PUBLIC LA.W. 31 
 
 The laws established with the co-operation of 
 
 the Diet, amongst which we will mention those 
 
 on communal administration of 1865 and 1873, 
 
 the Lutheran Church Code of 1869, the Law on 
 
 Military Service of 1878, the Statutes of the 
 
 Bank of Finland of 1867 and 1885, and the 
 
 Orders, Regulations, Statutes, and Instructions 
 
 emanating solely from the Government, and 
 
 regulating the working of the public services, 
 
 as well as the execution of the laws.
 
 III. 
 
 THE EMPEROR AND GRAND DUKE. 
 
 (13) The Emperor of Russia is Grand Duke 
 of Finland ; the throne of the Grand Duchy is 
 indissolubly united to the throne of the Em- 
 pire.* 
 
 Consequently the order of succession to the 
 throne of Finland is the same as that which 
 has been established by the Imperial laws for 
 the succession to the throne of Russia. 
 
 The Emperor, on his accession to the throne, 
 publishes, as Grand Duke of Finland, a mani- 
 
 * In par. IV. of the Russian Code of Fundamental Laws, 
 we find the law relating to the union of Finland with Russia. 
 It runs as follows : " From the Imperial throne of All the 
 Russias are inseparable — the throne of the kingdom of Poland 
 and that of the Grand Duchy of Finland."— {Author's note.)
 
 THE EMPEROR AND GRAND DUKE. 33 
 
 festo embody ing his promise to maintain the 
 inviolability of the fundamental laws. At the 
 same time lie issues a decree ordering the in- 
 habitants to take the oath of fealty to the 
 Sovereign. 
 
 (14) The political organisation of the Gram I 
 Duchy is that of a Constitutional Monarchy. 
 
 The authority to rule the country belongs to 
 the Emperor and Grand Duke — "to Him and 
 to no other/' 
 
 This authority is limited by the statutes ; it 
 is exercised in the manner established by the 
 fundamental laws. 
 
 It is incumbent on the Emperor and Grand Duke 
 to uphold and execute the laws of the State.* 
 
 * Here is the text of which we nave given a resume above 
 (par. 2 of the law on the form of government) : 
 
 The Emperor and Grand Duke " lias the right to govern the 
 State, as the law directs, He and no other ; he must uphold, 
 love, and maintain justice and truth ; hut prohibit, avert, and 
 suppress violence and injustice ; must, wrong no man whether in 
 his life, his honour, his personal liberty or his interests, without 
 his being legally convicted and condemned ; neither deprive 
 anyone nor allow anyone to be deprived of his personal or real 
 estate, without examination and trial in the order prescribed 
 by the statutes ; and rule the country according to the King's 
 Chapter of the code of the land, and the present law on the 
 form of government." — (Author's note.") 
 
 l)
 
 34 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 The judicial authority in the last instance is 
 exercised in His Majesty's name. 
 
 The Emperor and Grand Duke has the right, 
 in criminal matters, to pardon, to commute the 
 penalty of death, to pronounce the rehabilita- 
 tion of and to return forfeited property. 
 
 The Emperor and Grand Duke commands the 
 military forces, provides for the defence of the 
 country, declares war, concludes treaties of 
 peace, of alliance, and so forth. 
 
 The Emperor and Grand Duke appoints to 
 the higher offices of State. 
 
 He has the right of conferring titles on per- 
 sons who have particularly well merited of the 
 Sovereign or of the country ; he may also raise 
 nobles to the rank of baron or count. 
 
 By means of naturalisation, the Emperor 
 may grant to foreigners and Russian subjects 
 the status of Finnish citizens. 
 
 We will notice later on the manner in which 
 the above-mentioned prerogatives and privileges 
 of the executive, a part of which has been dele- 
 gated to the Finnish Senate, are exercised. 
 
 (15) Legislative power is exercised conjointly
 
 THE EMPEROR AND GRAND DUKE. 35 
 
 by tlie Emperor and Grand Duke and the Diet 
 of the country. 
 
 This authority, as well as the fiscal powers of 
 the Emperor and Grand Duke and of the Diet 
 respectively, will be the subject of special 
 chapters. 
 
 D l
 
 IV. 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 (16) The Emperor is assisted in the work 
 of governing Finland by the Senate, the 
 Governor-General, and the Secretary of 
 State's Office. 
 
 Organisation of the Imperial Senate of Finland. 
 
 (17) The Senate is composed of two Depart- 
 ments — that of Justice, which is the supreme 
 tribunal, and the Administrative Department, 
 which manages the general administration of 
 the country. 
 
 The two departments, united, form the 
 " Plenum " of the Senate. The Governor-
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 37 
 
 General presides both over the Plenum and 
 over each of the departments,* which is com- 
 posed of ten members, including a Vice-Pre- 
 sident. 
 
 The Administrative Department comprises the 
 six following- sections — home affairs, finance, 
 control, military matters, public worship and 
 instruction, agriculture and public works. 
 
 Each of these sections has a senator at its 
 head, besides which, two senators are deputy- 
 heads of the home affairs and finance sections; 
 the Vice-President and one of the members of 
 the Administrative Department have no port- 
 folios. 
 
 The Plenum of the Senate is composed of the 
 President and all the senators, or, according to 
 the nature and importance of the business in 
 hand, of four senators from each department, 
 besides the President. 
 
 In the absence of the Governor-General, one 
 of the Vice-Presidents takes the chair ; in the 
 
 * In practice, however, the Governor-General is rarely pre- 
 sent, as he is seldom able to follow the debates, which arc 
 conducted in Swedish.— (Translator's note.)
 
 38 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 departments, the oldest senator present pre- 
 sides at the Plenum. 
 
 The senators are appointed by the Emperor 
 for a period of three years, at the expiration of 
 which their appointment may he renewed. All 
 the senators of the Department of Justice, and 
 at least two of the members of the Administra- 
 tive Department, ought to be competent to dis- 
 charge the functions of a judge. 
 
 All matters to be discussed are reported upon 
 by referendary - secretaries, except financial 
 questions, the report of which is entrusted to 
 the controllers of the financial departments of 
 the Senate. The referendary-secretaries and 
 the controllers are appointed by the Emperor. 
 
 All cases are decided by a majority of votes, 
 the President having a casting-vote should 
 there be an equal division, 
 
 In the sections of the Administrative Depart- 
 ment the head senator alone, or his deputy, 
 decides as to the resolutions to be taken on the 
 report of the referendary-secretary, or of the 
 controller. 
 
 The Procurator-General has the right of
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 39 
 
 being present at the sittings of the Senate, 
 ■without however voting or taking part in the 
 deliberations. He is appointed by the Em- 
 peror, as is also his deputy and assistant. 
 
 The Senate has a permanent committee for 
 the preparation of projected measures, working 
 under the guidance of a senator, appointed by 
 the Senate, for each legislative measure with 
 which the committee is charged. The Plenum 
 of the Senate appoints the members of the 
 committee for a period of three years. 
 
 Function* of the Plenum of the Senate. 
 
 (18) The Senate, all its member's being pre- 
 sent — 
 
 Prepares the Bills and the other measures 
 which the Emperor and Grand Dnke will 
 submit to the Diet ; 
 
 Gives the Emperor its opinion on resolu- 
 tions and petitions of the Diet ; 
 
 Eeceives and promulgates laws sanctioned 
 by the Emperor, as also His Majesty's mani- 
 festos.
 
 40 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 A Plenum of eight members — 
 
 Decides questions of dispensation from the 
 law ; 
 
 Determines on various matters connected 
 with the administration of justice ; 
 
 Settles questions as to competency of 
 authority which have arisen in the Senate 
 itself ; 
 
 Gives its conclusions on international affairs 
 which are not within the jurisdiction of the 
 Administrative Department ; 
 
 Prepares for submission to the Emperor 
 and Grand Duke projected ordinances and 
 regulations, particularly those relating to the 
 administration of justice, or to the general 
 rights and duties of public functionaries; the 
 most important, however, of these legislative 
 matters are dealt with by the Plenum of all 
 the senators. 
 
 In certain matters, determined by law, the 
 Plenum is authorised to make regulations with- 
 out submitting the same for the Emperor's 
 sanction.
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 41 
 
 The Functions of the Department of Justice. 
 
 (19) The Department of Justice has to see 
 that justice is administered in the country 
 according to law. 
 
 It is the ti'ibunal, in the last instance, which 
 tries civil and criminal cases that are the 
 subject of an appeal to the Sovereign, after 
 being adjudged by a court of appeal, or by a 
 special tribunal for the distribution of land, or 
 even by a higher military tribunal ; sentences of 
 death, howevei*, before being put into execution, 
 are submitted to the Emperor for ratification. 
 
 The department examines appeals for pardon, 
 which, if the grounds for the same arc good, 
 are submitted to the Emperor ; otherwise they 
 are refused. But in cases of condemnation to 
 death, the appeal for mercy must always be 
 referred to the decision of the Emperor.* 
 
 The department is also authorised to pardon 
 persons senteuced to fine or imprisonment for 
 misdemeanours, ;is well ;is to commute or 
 
 * The sentence of death has never been carried out since 
 1826.— (Author' 8 note.)
 
 42 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 modify certain sentences imposed by the courts 
 of appeal. 
 
 The department presents for the Emperor's 
 selection candidates for the offices of burgo- 
 master, of judges in the first instance, and 
 of members of the courts of appeal; it also 
 appoints to the offices of secretary and pro- 
 curator of the courts of appeal. 
 
 Functions of the Administrative Department and 
 
 its sections. 
 
 (20) Every case to be submitted to the Ad- 
 ministrative Department passes first through 
 one of the sections. 
 
 The section for home affairs has charge of 
 all matters affecting public safety and public 
 health, the postal and telegraph services, 
 printing and booksellers' establishments, prisons, 
 public institutions (the management of which 
 is not otherwise provided for), official statistics, 
 the naturalisation of foreigners, pensions to 
 civil servants, provincial and parochial adminis- 
 tration and their relations with the GTovernment 
 authorities, also certain international questions. 
 To the financial section are allotted such
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 43 
 
 affairs as concern the establishment of the 
 general budget, the administration of the 
 treasury, public credit, the customs, the excise, 
 stamps, and other taxes (except that on land), 
 pilotage, lighthouses and hydrographic works, 
 banks, commerce, navigation, and commercial 
 industries.* 
 
 To the control section belong matters relative 
 to the land tax system, to the levying of taxes, 
 to the public accounts and to financial control ; 
 to geodesy and to the government lands and 
 fisheries. 
 
 The military section is responsible for the 
 preparation of the military budget, and for the 
 accounts in connection therewith, and it deter- 
 mines all questions as to the management of 
 the troops and military establishments. It has 
 also to see to the application of the law for 
 compulsory military service. 
 
 The section of public worship and instruction 
 
 * Since October, 1888, part of the business of the section/or 
 home affairs lms been transferred to the recently instituted 
 " chancery section? and a new " section of commerce and in- 
 dustry " has taken over much of the work formerly assigned to 
 the financial section. (Translator's note.}
 
 44 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 controls not only the affairs of the Lutheran 
 Church, but also questions concerning other 
 religious denominations ; public instruction, 
 with the exception of professional schools and 
 the fine arts and sciences, is also under its con- 
 trol ; the University, however, enjoys an auto- 
 nomy of which mention will be made later on. 
 
 The section of agriculture controls all business 
 in connexion with agriculture and rural econo- 
 my, forestry, drainage works, railways, canals, 
 and other public works. 
 
 In general it is the function of the sections 
 to prepare matters for the consideration of the 
 Administrative Department ; to watch over and 
 control the actions of the officials and public 
 servants under their orders ; to take the ini- 
 tiative in measures of public utility, and to 
 submit to the department projects for carrying 
 these measures into effect. 
 
 Nevertheless, the sections are authorised to 
 decide, without reference to the department, a 
 number of questions of small importance deter- 
 mined by the regulations of the Senate. It is 
 worthy of remark, too, that the sections report,
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 45 
 
 by means of periodical digests, the progress of 
 business in their respective provinces ; these 
 digests are presented to the Senate, and are dis- 
 tributed among the members of the Diet. The 
 head senators and the deputy-heads of the sections 
 make tours of inspection through the country. 
 
 As regards the authority of the Administrative 
 Department, its action depends on the character 
 of the matters which are dealt with. Those of 
 a nature to require the Sovereign's decision take 
 the form of projects or resolutions, which the 
 department submits to His Majesty. Such are: 
 measures of reform in the administrative orsrani- 
 sation, the creation of new offices, the fixing 
 of the budget and every financial proposal 
 lying outside the estimates already settled, 
 appointments to the higher offices of State, the 
 naturalisation of foreigners, legislative acts 
 in the province of the administration, which 
 do not require the co-operation of the Diet 
 nor appertain to the Plenum of the Senate. 
 
 The Administrative Department advises on 
 projects of international conventions upon 
 economical mat tcr .
 
 46 THE PUBLIC LAW OP FINLAND. 
 
 But most matters are definitely and finally- 
 decided by this department of tlie Senate, as 
 tlie supreme authority for the administration of 
 the country. According to the statute of 1809, 
 the authority of the Senate is in general limited 
 by the laws, the budgets, and the ordinances of 
 the Emperor ; it is an executive power in the 
 strict sense of the word. But, in course of 
 time, the authority of the Senate, and especially 
 that of the Administrative Department, has been 
 considerably extended. Thus the department 
 is authorised : — 
 
 To control by instructions or statutes the 
 functions of subordinate authorities and the 
 administration of Government property; 
 
 To determine rates and charges and to 
 make regulations and bye-laws for the 
 management of railways and canals ; 
 
 To appoint to public offices of a rank below 
 the 7th class ; 
 
 To grant remissions in custom-house cases ; 
 To decrease or increase the number of 
 officials in the custom-house and at the pilot 
 stations and lighthouses ; 
 
 To sanction the organisation of associa- 
 tions, public companies, corporations, &c.
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 47 
 
 By the decrees of June 2, 1826, of November 
 28, 1859, of April 20, I860, and more especially 
 by that of January 15, 1883, the Emperor and 
 Grand Duke delegated to the Senate the right 
 of deciding upon many matters hitherto re- 
 served for the consideration of the Sovereign. 
 
 It must be added, that the Administrative De- 
 partment has also a contentious jurisdiction, in 
 the last instance, concerning all affairs of public 
 administration. 
 
 General Observations. 
 
 (21) We have already sta.ted, in reference to 
 the functions of the Plenum of the Senate, that it 
 promulgates the laws. In the same way, all the 
 legislative acts that have not required the co- 
 operation of the Diet are promulgated by the 
 Senate, either in Plenum or in the Administra- 
 tive Department. 
 
 The duty of executing, or of causing to be 
 executed, the decisions and commands of the 
 Emperor and Grand Duke, is also imposed on 
 the Senate.
 
 48 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 His Majesty's decision is always expressly 
 cited by the Senate when it has been given, 
 whether it refers to the promulgation of a 
 legislative act or merely to an administrative 
 measure. But for the decisions of the Senate 
 in its judicial capacity, as well as for its 
 decisions given in virtue of the power which 
 the Sovereign has delegated to it, the formula 
 "in the name of His Majesty" is always used. 
 Hence we see that the Senate has three 
 functions : that of a Council of the Sovereign, 
 submitting views and projects for legislative 
 reform ; that of the authority exercising the 
 powers of government ; and that of a supreme 
 tribunal of justice. But does not this organi- 
 sation depart from the generally -recognised prin- 
 ciple of separating judicial and administrative 
 functions ? Taking into consideration that the 
 very essence of this principle is, that the admi- 
 nistrative body should not be allowed to interfere 
 with the functions of the judicial body, and that 
 the Department of Justice of the Finnish Senate 
 exercises its functions of a supreme tribunal 
 quite independently of and separately from the
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 49 
 
 Administrative Department — a negative reply 
 to the question put above will be sufficiently 
 justified. In looking at the organisation of 
 the Senate from another point of view, it must 
 be admitted that the co-operation of the leading 
 jurisconsults in the preparation of projected 
 legislative measures and in matters relating 
 to the administration of justice cannot be with- 
 out utility for the country.* 
 
 Ministerial responsibility is not a part of the 
 constitutional institutions of Finland. Conse- 
 quently, by interpretation, ex analogia, of the 
 law of 1772 on the Form of Government, 
 senators may not be impeached otherwise than 
 by order of the Emperor and Grand Duke, and 
 the trial must be before a special " State 
 Tribunal,' 3 composed of high functionaries. 
 But the provisions of the law of 1772 as to the 
 composition of this tribunal cannot now be 
 applied in practice without being modified. 
 
 * The organisation of the Finnish Senate, so different from 
 the contemporary institutions of most States, has its origin in 
 the old Swedish State Council (Riksr&det), as il was framed 
 from L632 to 178'J. It, too, comprised a section for the exercise 
 oi the judicial power in the last instance.— (Author's note.) 
 
 E
 
 50 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 Since 1809, however, no incident has called 
 the attention of the legislator to the want of 
 this provision. 
 
 The Governor-General. 
 (22) The Governor-General being in the first 
 place President of the Senate, has his share of 
 its functions. The President's Office is — 
 
 To receive the Emperor's rescripts^ and to 
 deliver them to the Senate ; 
 
 To accept the reports of the Senate ad- 
 dressed to His Majesty, and to forward them 
 to the office of the Finnish Secretary of 
 State ; 
 
 To supervise the progress of the work of 
 the Senate, in order to see that the laws are 
 observed and the Emperor's orders executed, 
 for which purpose the Governor-General not 
 only receives all the reports of the referen- 
 dary-secretaries on the business in hand, but 
 also, for each half-yearly period, full accounts 
 of the matters discussed and the resolutions 
 come to by the Senate, as well as financial 
 accounts.
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 51 
 
 In cases where the Governor-General is not 
 in agreement with the Senate upon questions 
 to be submitted to the Emperor, he has the 
 right to append his own opinion to the reports 
 of the Senate. The Governor-General is like- 
 Avise the head of the executive authorities. As 
 such, it is his duty to provide for the public 
 safety, to see that the orders of Government 
 are strictly observed, and that the legal rights 
 of the inhabitants of the country are respected. 
 He superintends the acts of the police and other 
 public functionaries charged with executive 
 measures. In these matters he prescribes, in 
 conjunction with the Administrative Depart- 
 ment of the Senate, or even directly, in case of 
 urgency, the steps to be taken by the governors 
 of provinces; when, however, a direct order is 
 given, the Administrative Department must bo 
 informed of the same, so that there may be no 
 conflicting orders. 
 
 The Governor-General is expected to travel 
 about the country from time to time, to inspect 
 public establishments and report on the same 
 to the Emperor. 
 
 e 2
 
 52 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 He must acquaint himself with the state of 
 agriculture, commerce, and industry, and par- 
 ticipate in measures conducive to the develop- 
 ment of these sources of prosperity. 
 
 He presents to the Emperor public func- 
 tionaries and other persons who, by their dis- 
 tinguished services or useful work, have merited 
 reward. The senators, the procurator, and the 
 governors of provinces are appointed on the 
 nomination of the Governor-General. 
 
 The chancery of the Governor-General is 
 charged with his correspondence, except as 
 regards purely military matters. The director 
 of the chancery prepares questions, and reports 
 upon them to the Governor-General. 
 
 The Governor-General commands both the 
 Finnish and Russian troops in the country, 
 With regard to his functions as Commander-in- 
 Chief of the Finnish army, mention will be 
 made of them in speaking of the military 
 organisation. 
 
 The place of the Governor-General is filled, 
 in case of illness or absence, by the Deputy 
 Governor- General. This office, which existed in
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 53 
 
 former times, was re-established bv a decree of 
 1885. 
 
 The Procurator- General. 
 
 (2o) The procurator has to see that the laws 
 are observed by public officials, so that no 
 citizen, whatever his station in life, be deprived 
 of his rights. Being thus the coadjutor of the 
 Governor-General, it is from him that the pro- 
 curator receives his orders. 
 
 The procurator must be present at the sittings 
 of the Senate, as often as his other occupations 
 allow.* By this means, as also by the reading 
 of the procl's-verbal, or pleadings in judicial 
 matters, he ascertains that the rules of procedure 
 have been observed. 
 
 " Should it happen that the Governor-General 
 or the Senate, in the exercise of their functions, 
 transgress the laws, it is the procurator's duty 
 to remonstrate, showing, at the same time, in 
 what the transgression consists ; and should 
 no heed be given to his remonstrances he must 
 
 * [n practice the procurator is present :it all die sittings of 
 the Senate's Plenum ami al the reading <>l the proces-verbal 
 in tlif Department of Justice. — (Autlwr'a note.)
 
 54< THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 make a detailed report of the matter to the 
 Emperor and Grand Duke/' 
 
 The procurator is the chief of the public 
 prosecutors of the country. He institutes, or 
 causes to be instituted, proceedings against 
 Government officials, either for causes assigned 
 by the Senate or Governor-General, or on his 
 own responsibility, or upon complaints addressed 
 to him by private individuals. 
 
 He must give attention to the proceedings of 
 the tribunals and the treatment of prisoners in 
 the prisons, receive reports on these subjects, 
 and make tours of inspection and control. 
 
 Every time the Diet assembles, the procurator 
 remits to the Estates a report on the adminis- 
 tration of justice and the application of the laws 
 during the period which has elapsed since the 
 last Diet. 
 
 The Office of the Secretary of State for Finland. 
 
 (24) For the conduct of business requiring the 
 decision of the Emperor and Grand Duke there 
 is at St. Petersburg a Secretary of State's 
 office for the Grand-Duchy, composed of the
 
 THE ORGANS OP GOVERNMENT. 55 
 
 Minister- Secretary of State, of liis assistant 
 (both appointed by the Emperor), and of His 
 Majesty's chancery for Finnish affairs. 
 
 The Minister-Secretary of State reports to 
 the Emperor all matters, except such as are 
 exclusively military, submitted for His Majesty's 
 consideration by the Senate and the Governor- 
 General. For this purpose a short statement of 
 the case is made in Russian, together with 
 the opinion of the Senate and of the Governor- 
 General; but in very important matters the 
 statement of the Senate and the views of the 
 Governor-General, should he differ from it, 
 must be submitted to the Emperor in a full 
 translation. 
 
 The Minister-Secretary of State has the right, 
 before making his report, to ask, through the 
 Governor-General, for such further information 
 as he may consider necessary. 
 
 According to the statute of 1826, the Em- 
 peror's decisions are expressed, either in 
 rescripts, signed by him and countersigned 
 always by the Minister-Secretary of State 
 (the original documents being forwarded to 
 tlir Governor-General), or by annotations in
 
 5G THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 the margin of the report. In this latter case 
 His Majesty's decision is communicated to the 
 Governor General in a letter of the Minister, 
 who is responsible for the conformity of this 
 despatch with the wish of the Sovereign. 
 
 All documents forwarded to the Senate are 
 to be in both the Russian and Swedish lan- 
 guages. The first secretaries of the two sections 
 of the chancery are responsible for the con- 
 formity of the texts. 
 
 The Minister-Secretary of State is the inter- 
 mediary agent for correspondence with the 
 Ministers, and other higher authorities of the 
 Empire, on matters which relate to the Empire 
 as well as to the Grand Duchy, and which 
 occasion communications from either side. 
 There may, however, be a direct correspond- 
 ence between the Governor-General and the 
 authorities of the Empire in cases requiring 
 merely executive measures.* 
 
 * Besides this, it is established by the rules of the adminis- 
 tration of pilotage and lighthouses in Finland, that the 
 Governor-General may forward direct to the Imperial Ministry 
 of Marine communications concerning certain measures apper- 
 taining' to that department. — {Author's note.)
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 57 
 
 Committee for Finnish, Affairs. 
 
 (25) This committee (vide Section 8) is com- 
 posed of the Minister-Secretary of State, as 
 president, and of four members, one of whom is 
 the Assistant-Minister, the three others being 
 appointed by the Emperor for triennial periods. 
 Of these three, one is chosen by the Emperor 
 directly ; the two others are nominated by the 
 Governor-General and the Senate in common, 
 from amongst the senators or other high func- 
 tionaries. 
 
 The committee examines matters brought 
 before it by the Minister-Secretary of State, 
 by command of the Emperor, and gives its 
 opinion on these matters. The resolution of 
 the committee is recorded in a proces verbal, 
 which must also include the views of the 
 Senate and of the Governor-General. This 
 document is added to those which the Minister 
 presents to the Emperor in making his report.
 
 58 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 26 and 27. Ministers of the Empire exercising 
 functions for the Grand Duchy. 
 
 (26.) The Ministry for Foreign Affairs. — 
 Matters affecting the relations of Finland with 
 foreign countries are not reported to the Em- 
 peror by the Minister-Secretary of State for 
 Finland. The Union of the Grand Duchy to 
 Russia having as its consequence a community 
 of relations with foreign powers, the authority 
 of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs 
 extends to Finland as well. This Ministry 
 addresses itself to the Minister- Secretary of 
 State for Finland, either to ascertain the 
 views of the Finnish Senate on international 
 questions affecting the interests of Finland, or 
 to obtain such information as may be thought 
 necessary to represent those interests. 
 
 Treaties ratified by the Emperor, and not 
 relating exclusively to the affairs of the Em- 
 pire, are communicated to the Finnish Senate 
 and published in the collection of the laws of 
 Finland.
 
 THE ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT. 59 
 
 Russian Consuls in foreign countries are to 
 apply the laws of Finland on all questions 
 concerning Finnish subjects and shipping. 
 
 (27.) The Minister of War. — It has been esta- 
 blished by a provision of the law of 1878 on 
 the military service in Finland, that matters 
 relating to the Finnish troops, which are 
 neither of an administrative nor of a legis- 
 lative nature, or for which the law prescribes 
 no other procedure, are to be reported to the 
 Emperor by the Russian Minister of War ex- 
 ercising in this respect the functions of a 
 Minister of War for the Finnish army. A 
 Finnish major-general or colonel, an attache 
 of the Minister of War, is charged with the 
 direct presentation to the Minister of all ques- 
 tions relating to the Finnish army, which, in 
 virtue of the above-mentioned law, come within 
 the province of the Minister of War, or on 
 which his opinion is asked.
 
 V. 
 THE DIET. 
 
 (28) General Provisions. — The Estates of the 
 Grand Duchy of Finland are composed of four 
 orders — the nobles, the clergy, the burgesses, 
 and the peasantry. Each of these orders has 
 the same authority. 
 
 The Estates assemble at least every five years 
 at an ordinary Diet, convoked by the Emperor 
 and Grand Duke, who may also convoke an 
 extraordinary Diet ; the authority of the latter, 
 however, does not extend beyond the matters 
 assigned as the motive for its convocation, or 
 which may be submitted to it by the Emperor. 
 
 The Diet meets in the capital of the country. 
 
 The normal duration of an ordinary session
 
 THE DIET. 61 
 
 is four months, but it may be prolonged, and 
 may be closed before this term, on the appli- 
 cation of all the orders, or should the Emperor 
 deem it expedient to dissolve the Diet. 
 
 (20) The Order of the Nobility.— All the heads 
 of noble families, duly inscribed on the rolls of 
 the " House of Nobles/' have an hereditary 
 right of representing this order. In case of 
 the abstention of the head of a family, tho 
 right of sitting at the Diet may be exercised by 
 another member of the family, following the 
 order of primogeniture. If, in the time pre- 
 scribed by law, no member of the family has 
 presented himself in order to take his seat at 
 the Diet, the head of the family may delegate 
 his right, by power of attorney, to a member 
 of another noble family. 
 
 At present the number of noble Finnish 
 families is 237, of whom 7 are counts and 45 
 barons, the remainder having no titles.* 
 
 The total number of this order sitting at the 
 Diet varies from 100 to 140. 
 
 * It will thus be seen chat the word "nobility " comprises 
 then on-titled gentry. — (Translator's note.)
 
 62 THE PULLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 (30) The Order of the Clergy comprises : 
 
 (a) The Archbishop and the two Bishops 
 of the Lutheran Church ; 
 
 (b) Twenty-eight representatives elected 
 by the Lutheran clergy of the three dioceses ; 
 
 (c) One or two representatives elected by 
 the professors and officials of Helsingfors 
 University ; 
 
 (d) From three to six representatives elected 
 by the professors and teachers of the lyceums 
 and other public schools. 
 
 The elections are conducted in the manner 
 which the different classes of electors have 
 respectively adopted for themselves ; the system 
 of direct elections has been fixed upon. 
 
 (31) The Order of Burgesses is composed of the 
 representatives of the towns. Every legally- 
 domiciled resident in a town, who is taxed 
 according to the communal law and has duly 
 paid the taxes, has the right of voting, except : 
 
 The nobles, and those having the elective 
 franchise in the order of the clergy ; 
 
 Women, soldiers, sailors, and domestic 
 servants.
 
 THE DIET. 63 
 
 Every town elects one representative for 
 each 6000 inhabitants. But a town having less 
 than 1500 inhabitants has the right of com- 
 bining with another town whose population is 
 less than (5000, in order to be represented. 
 The elections are direct in towns. 
 
 At the Diet of 1885 there were 54 members 
 for towns.* 
 
 (32) The Order of the Peasantry. — The rural 
 communes elect one representative for each 
 rural jurisdiction (domsaga), of which there are 
 at present sixty. 
 
 The right of voting belongs to every owner 
 of real estate paying the land tax, as also to all 
 tenants of Crown property. 
 
 Government officials, and those belonging to 
 any other order than that of the peasantry, 
 have no vote. 
 
 The elections are in two stages. The electors 
 of each rural commune choose an elector of the 
 second degree, or more than one if the popula- 
 
 * At the Diet of 1888, the towns were represented by 65 
 members, of whom eight were from Helsingfors, the capital. 
 — ( Translator's note.)
 
 64 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 tion of the commune exceeds 2000 inhabitants, 
 each complete 2000 inhabitants giving the right 
 to one elector of the second degree. 
 
 The electors of the second degree assemble 
 before the judge of the district and proceed to 
 the election of a representative ; each elector 
 has one vote. 
 
 (38) Electoral Qualification and the Suffrage. 
 — Every Finnish subject of full age has the 
 right to vote in the district in which he resides, 
 regard being had to the above - mentioned 
 special conditions for the election of members 
 in the orders of the clergy, the burgesses, and 
 the peasants. Religious profession does not 
 affect the right to vote, but this right, in each 
 of the three orders, is lost or suspended for 
 the following reasons : — 
 
 a. Tutelage ; 
 
 b. Insolvency or bankruptcy ; 
 
 c. Condemnation to an ignominious punish- 
 ment ; 
 
 d. Loss, by sentence of a court, of certain 
 specified civil rights ; 
 
 e. Purchase or sale of votes, corruption or
 
 THE DIET 65 
 
 electoral fraud, offence against the liberty of 
 
 suffrage. 
 In addition to which are excluded — 
 
 Those who have not been inscribed as 
 
 Finnish citizens during the three years pre- 
 ceding the election ; 
 
 Those who present themselves as electors 
 
 in the electoral assembly of one order, after 
 
 having already voted in another. 
 The right of voting cannot be exercised by 
 
 proxy. 
 
 Every elector is eligible for election in the 
 order to which he belongs, either in the district 
 where he resides or in another, provided he has 
 reached the age of twenty-five years, that he 
 professes a Christian faith, and that he is not 
 incapacitated from voting. 
 
 All that is enacted concerning the general 
 conditions for the suffrage and the eligibility of 
 candidates, as also concerning cases of inca- 
 pacity, applies ecp^ally to the order of the 
 nobility.
 
 66 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 (34) Guarantees for the Independence of the 
 Elections. 
 
 Every public functionary who takes advantage 
 of his authority in order to influence the elec- 
 tions will be deprived of his office. 
 
 Every interference with the freedom of the 
 suffrage, all exhortations, threats, or violence, 
 are punishable by imprisonment. 
 
 (35) Bights and Powers of the Members of the 
 
 Diet. 
 
 The duration of the mandate given to each 
 member is that of a session of the Diet. 
 
 A member may not be prevented from pre- 
 senting himself at the Diet and exercising his 
 representative functions except in case of war, 
 should he belong to the army. 
 
 The mandates impose no obligation on the 
 members. They are only bound, in the exer- 
 cise of their duties, by the provisions of the 
 fundamental laws. 
 
 Members are expected to be dignified and
 
 THE DIET. 67 
 
 to be moderate in their language ; but no mem- 
 ber of the Diet may be impeached or deprived 
 of his liberty for anything said or done in his 
 representative capacity, unless the order to 
 which he belongs authorises his impeachment 
 by means of a formal resolution, which at least 
 five-sixths of the members present shall have 
 supported. 
 
 If a member of the Diet, during the session, 
 or in travelling to or returning from the Diet 
 — the object of his travelling being known — 
 be molested by word or deed, or be subjected to 
 any violence whatever after the Diet, on account 
 of the exercise of his functions, the crime will 
 be punished as one taking place under aggra- 
 vated circumstances. 
 
 The members elected may claim indemni- 
 fication for their expenses during the session, 
 as also for travelling expenses. 
 
 (36) The Verification of Mandates. 
 Claims and complaints, to which the elect inns 
 may have given rise, are tried, in the Iasi 
 
 r 2
 
 68 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 instance, by the supreme tribunal (the Justice 
 Department of the Senate). 
 
 As soon as the Diet is assembled, the man- 
 dates of the members elected are verified and 
 seen to be in the prescribed form by a high 
 public officer nominated by the Emperor, but 
 the orders have the right of deciding for them- 
 selves as to the validity of the elections. 
 
 The members of the order of nobility have to 
 establish their right to sit before a permanent 
 committee for the affairs of their house. 
 
 (37) The Diet is constituted by the appoint- 
 ment of the Presidents, a solemn opening, and 
 then the formation of committees. 
 
 Each order has its President and Vice-Pre- 
 sident appointed by the Emperor and Grand 
 Duke, and respectively chosen from amongst 
 the members ; but, as to the order of the clergy, 
 the archbishop is always president — or, in his 
 absence, one of the bishops. 
 
 The secretaries are elected by each order, 
 except in the case of the peasantry, whose 
 secretary is appointed by the Emperor from 
 among the jurisconsults.
 
 THE DIET. 69 
 
 On the day fixed upon, all the orders, after 
 having been present at divine service, assemble 
 in the throne-room, where the Emperor or his 
 representative reads an address to the Estates 
 and declares the Diet open, after which the 
 Presidents in turn make speeches, in which 
 they tender their homage to His Majesty. The 
 Emperor then communicates to the Estates a 
 list of the legislative measures proposed to be 
 submitted to them. 
 
 Within eight days of the opening, each ordi- 
 nary Diet forms five committees charged with 
 the preparation of the various matters to be 
 considered. These are : the legislative com- 
 mittee, the committee on economical questions, 
 the finance committee, the extraordinary taxes 
 committee, and the bank committee. 
 
 The Diet may also form other special com- 
 mittees, should such be thought necessary. 
 
 There are twelve or sixteen members on each 
 committee, a quarter of whom are chosen by 
 each order, by means of electors nominated for 
 that purpose. Senators may not be members of 
 a committee
 
 70 THE PUBLIC LAW OP FINLAND. 
 
 The committees elect their own presidents 
 and secretaries. 
 
 (38) Sittings. — The four orders sit apart. 
 
 The definite resolution of a question which 
 has been the subject of discussion cannot be 
 proposed before the order, by the decision of 
 its President, has declared the debate closed. 
 After this declaration the resolution must be 
 drawn up in due form ; it must be decided by yes 
 or no ; and the President must announce what, 
 in his opinion, is the result of the division. 
 This declaration is accepted unless a secret 
 scrutiny be demanded, which cannot be re- 
 fused ; besides this, each member has the 
 right of adding his own personal opinion on 
 the record of the proceedings. The scrutiny 
 takes place by means of papers, with "yes" 
 or " no " printed on them, which must be 
 closed or rolled up before being placed in 
 the box. 
 
 The resolutions of one order are communi- 
 cated without delay to the other orders, under 
 the form of extracts from the records. 
 
 The orders may assemble altogether at a
 
 THE DIET. 71 
 
 general sitting on the proposal of one order, 
 supported by at least one of the other orders. 
 These sittings, at which the President of the 
 order of nobles takes the chair by right of 
 priority, and at which the senators may be 
 present on the part of the Government, can 
 only be deliberative ; the resolutions on ques- 
 tions thus debated are passed in an ordinary 
 sitting of each order, immediately after the 
 close of the general sitting, without any re- 
 newal of the debate. 
 
 The sittings are public, but strangers may 
 be excluded and the sitting be a secret one 
 by a previous declaration and decision to that 
 effect. 
 
 At the sittings of the order of nobles the 
 Swedish language is exclusively used; at those 
 of the other orders, Swedish or Finnish is 
 optional. At those of the order of the pea- 
 santry, translation* is obligatory, and is made 
 by official interpreters. 
 
 * i.e., from Finnish into Swedish. It may be as well to 
 remind the reader that the noble families of Finland arc almost 
 exclusively of Swedish descent, hence Swedish is their mother 
 tongue
 
 72 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 (39) Resolutions of the Diet. 
 
 Measures are passed in each order by a 
 majority of votes. We will show later on in 
 what cases all four orders must agree, so that 
 the resolution of the Diet may hold good, and 
 in what cases the concurrence of three of the 
 orders suffices; as also under what circumstances 
 a grand committee of sixty members is formed, 
 provided with all the powers of the Diet itself 
 for settling questions submitted to it. 
 
 A special committee, composed of two mem- 
 bers from each order, is formed for the despatch 
 of business, and for the precise wording of the 
 reports in which the Estates present to the 
 Emperor their answers to proposals emanating 
 from His Majesty, or else their own proposals 
 and petitions. 
 
 The same may be said of the upper and ruling classes in 
 general, whereas the clergy and peasantry are nearly all of the 
 native Finnish race, hence these two last-mentioned orders 
 cany on the debates in Finnish. In the order of the burgesses 
 the Swedish tongue still reigns supreme, but there are not 
 wanting signs that the rising Finnish party may one day 
 possess a majority here too. — (Translator's note.')
 
 THE DIET. 73 
 
 The drawing up of these documents is veri- 
 fied by the orders themselves, or by delegates 
 appointed for that purpose. 
 
 The recess (recez) is signed by all the mem- 
 bers of the Diet, but the other despatches by 
 the Presidents of the four orders only. 
 
 All these documents, as well as the projects 
 of the Emperor, are published in the two lan- 
 guages of the country. 
 
 (40) The Powers of the Diet. 
 
 The Estates of the country, assembled at the 
 Diet, represent the nation. 
 
 They exercise, conjointly with the Emperor 
 and Grand Duke, the legislative power. 
 
 They vote taxes ; they have their share in 
 settling financial questions. 
 
 They govern, supervise and control, through 
 their delegates, the work of the State Bank 
 (Bank of Finland). 
 
 They give their opinion on administrative 
 projects submitted by the Emperor for their 
 consideration.
 
 74 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 They have the right of petition, of which 
 they generally make use in order to ask for 
 measures emanating from the governmental 
 power; but they may also, by petition, pray 
 for projected legislative measures. 
 
 Any member of the Diet has the right to 
 propose a petition ; this proposal must be made 
 within fifteen days of the opening of the Diet ; 
 it is then submitted to a preliminary discussion 
 by one of the committees of the Diet.
 
 VI. 
 
 LEGISLATION. 
 
 (41) Different Categories of Laws. 
 
 From the point of view of the legislative 
 authority, from which they emanate, two cate- 
 gories of laws may be made — 
 
 (a) Laws, strictly so called, emanating from 
 the co-operation of the Sovereign and the 
 Diet; and 
 
 (b) Decrees, statutes, ordinances and re- 
 gulations of public administration not requir- 
 ing the co-operation of the Diet. 
 
 The constitutional acts, in their relative 
 provisions or legislative power, have regard 
 only to the first of these two categories, ad-
 
 76 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 niinistrative legislation being comprised in the 
 functions of the governmental power. 
 
 Legislation, properly so called, which is 
 exercised conjointly by the Emperor and the 
 Diet, comprises — 
 
 1. The fundamental laws and privileges of 
 the orders ; 
 
 2. The laws on civil and penal matters, 
 and those on civil and ci'iminal procedure ; 
 
 3. The laws regulating the Lutheran 
 Church, and the rights of other creeds ; 
 
 4. The maritime code ; 
 
 5. The laws on military organisation ; 
 
 6. The laws regulating the Bank of Fin- 
 land and the monetary system ; 
 
 7. The laws on taxation ; 
 
 8. The laws on economical and administra- 
 tive matters concerning, not the duties of 
 public servants, but the rights and duties of 
 citizens ; such are the laws on industry and 
 commerce and on communal administration, 
 the agrarian laws, &c.
 
 LEGISLATION. 77 
 
 (42) The right of Initiative. 
 
 The Emperor and Grand Duke has the right 
 of initiative in all legislative matters.* 
 
 The Diet has the same right, but with certain 
 limitations; it does not extend to the funda- 
 mental laws, nor to those on the organisation 
 of the national defence, nor to legislation con- 
 cerning the Press. 
 
 As to the exercise of the Emperor's right of 
 initiative, it is the Senate which first prepares 
 the laws (vide section 17).+ 
 
 But the initiative, properly speaking, only 
 takes place when the Emperor, after having 
 examined the projected measure, decides that 
 it shall be submitted to the Diet. 
 
 The right of initiative of the Diet implies the 
 
 * There is, however, a condition to be observed as regards 
 ecclesiastical legislation : every projected law concerning the 
 organisation of the Lutheran Church must be based on a pro- 
 posal made by the Council of that Church. — (Author's note.) 
 
 t The Council of the Lutheran Church must be heard on 
 any legislative question touching the relations of this Church 
 with other Churches, and with the State, as also on so-called 
 mixed questions (marriages, &c.) — (Author's note.)
 
 78 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 right for each representative to bring forward 
 motions in the order of which he is a member ; 
 these motions to be made within fifteen days 
 after the opening of the Diet, to be drawn up 
 in the form of a Bill, and to be preceded by a 
 statement of the reasons for the proposed mea- 
 sure. Different subjects may not be mixed up 
 in a single motion. It is only after the report 
 of one of its committees that the Diet decides 
 whether or not there is reason to submit to the 
 Emperor the Bill which is the object of the 
 motion. 
 
 (43) Procedure relative to Bills. 
 
 Government Bills are presented simulta- 
 neously to all the orders ; those on con- 
 stitutional matters must be referred, without 
 preliminary debate, to the legislative committee; 
 all other projected laws may be the object of 
 previous deliberation. 
 
 The projected laws mentioned in Groups (2) 
 and (5) [sec. 41] must also be referred to the 
 legislative committee, strengthened, if need be, 
 by a special committee. The economical com-
 
 LEGISLATION. 79 
 
 mitteo prepares Bills on economical and admi- 
 nistrative affairs. As regards financial questions 
 and projects affecting the Bank of Finland, 
 mention will be made of tfiem later on. 
 
 The reports of the committees are distributed 
 simultaneously to all the orders. The debate 
 does not take place at the same sitting at which 
 the report has been presented. 
 
 The committees are informed, by extracts 
 from the records, of the resolutions of each of 
 the orders. Should there not be the requisite 
 unanimity in order to form a valid resolution 
 of the Diet, the committee must frame a measure 
 which, whilst being based on the resolutions 
 taken, has for its object the conciliation of 
 divergent opinions. 
 
 In case of a constitutional reform (that is, of a 
 Bill effecting a revision or modification of the 
 fundamental laws) the assent of all the four 
 orders is necessary. The definite resolution in 
 such cases is adjourned to the next Diet, should 
 two of the orders vote for such an adjourn- 
 ment. Every legislative measure affecting the
 
 80 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 privileges of the orders likewise requires the 
 assent of ali the four orders. 
 
 In all other legislative matters (except finan- 
 cial laws) , whether projected by the Govern- 
 ment or by a motion of a member, a resolution 
 agreed to by three of the orders is valid as 
 the decision of the Diet. If the orders, in their 
 resolutions, are grouped two against two, the 
 Bill has not passed, unless the Diet should have 
 declared it to be urgent. In this case, and also 
 when the resolutions of the orders present 
 partial divergencies, which have not been 
 effaced by a measure of conciliation projected 
 by the committee, recourse is had to a grand 
 committee of sixty members {vide sec. 39). 
 This committee, which is really a delegation 
 of the Estates, is formed by increasing the 
 number of the members of the committee, 
 which has prepared the measure, to fifteen 
 from each order, by means of direct election. 
 The grand committee does not deliberate ; it 
 immediately proceeds to ballot on the propo- 
 sitions submitted to it, and what it decides
 
 LEGISLATION. 81 
 
 by an absolute majority of votes is valid as 
 the decision of the Diet. 
 
 (44) Sanction and Promulgation . 
 
 Every law passed by the Diet is submitted 
 to the Emperor and Grand Duke for his sanc- 
 tion, before giving which His Majesty consults 
 the Senate. 
 
 This sanction given, the law comes into force, 
 but in order that it may be applied it must be 
 promulgated and published. 
 
 Promulgation is made by the Senate, which 
 signs the law in the Emperor's name, citing 
 his sanction, and giving also the date of the 
 promulgation ; fundamental laws, however, are 
 promulgated by manifestoes, signed by the 
 Emperor, and bearing the date at which they 
 were sanctioned. 
 
 All laws are published in the Official Gazette 
 of Finland, in Swedish and Finnish, as well as 
 in the collection of the laws of the Grand 
 Duchy, also published in the two languages.* 
 
 The laws are read out in the churches. 
 
 * The above-mentioned collection i^- published in Russian, 
 too. — ( Author's note.) 
 
 G
 
 82 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 (45) Legislative Administration. 
 
 We have already said, in speaking of the 
 different categories of laws, that legislation, as 
 understood in constitutional acts, always pre- 
 supposes the conjoint action of the Sovereign 
 and of the Diet, whilst the Emperor's right to 
 legislate in administrative matters, without 
 the co-operation of the Diet, is understood to 
 form part of the attributes of the executive 
 
 power. 
 
 As the result of historical development and 
 
 of constitutional principles we may state — 
 
 That the Emperor and Grand Duke, in 
 virtue of his prerogative as ruler of the 
 country, has the right not only to decree 
 measures in casn, but also to make such 
 enactments as he may think necessary to 
 insure the execution and observance of the 
 laws, and, in general, the proper discharge of 
 their duties by the public authorities, as also 
 to carry out the work of government ; 
 
 That the enactments thus made, forming 
 what we term administrative legislation, have
 
 LEGISLATION. 83 
 
 the laws emanating with the co-operation of 
 the Diet for a basis and foundation, and may 
 not be in contradiction with either the letter 
 or the spirit of these laws. 
 Questions relative to the legislative power of 
 the Government sometimes present difficulties. 
 In making, e.g., regulations affecting the public 
 safety, it is not easy to avoid encroaching on 
 the rights and duties of citizens, which are 
 matters appertaining to legislation properly so 
 called, although such regulations are, generally 
 speaking, within the province of administrative 
 legislation. In order to avoid any departure 
 from the principles of the Constitution, the 
 practice is to have recourse to the Diet for 
 every legislative measure which is not un- 
 doubtedly in the power of the Government. 
 
 Concerning the exercise of the right of legis- 
 lating in administrative matters, we refer the 
 reader to sections 18 and 20, which treat of 
 the functions of the Senate. 
 
 G 2
 
 VII. 
 
 FINANCES. 
 
 (46) The Budget ; General Observations. 
 
 The budget of the State is divided into two 
 parts : the one ordinary, the other extra- 
 ordinary. This division is not based on the 
 financial character of the receipts and expen- 
 diture ; it expresses the distinction, in financial 
 matters, of the authority of the Emperor or of 
 the Diet. 
 
 The ordinary budget comprises the income 
 from the following sources : the revenue from 
 Crown lands and investments, from the post- 
 office and other public establishments, from per- 
 manent taxes and from miscellaneous sources.
 
 FINANCES. 85 
 
 The totnl constitutes what ia termed the general 
 fund of the State. 
 
 In the ordinary budget is included, in the 
 first place, all the normal expenditure of the 
 State — the expenses of government, of adminis- 
 tration, of public institutions ; also accidental 
 expenses. 
 
 The ordinary budget is fixed by the Emperor 
 without the co-operation of the Diet. 
 
 Up to 1865 there was no extraordinary 
 budget, the resources of the " general fund ' 
 having sufficed to cover the whole expenditure, 
 or, to speak more exactly, any increase of 
 expenditure beyond the amount of these re- 
 sources was impossible so long as the Diet 
 was not convoked, for on it depended the 
 voting of taxes. 
 
 The credits and taxes voted by the Diet in 
 1863-64 were the commencement of the extra- 
 ordinary budget. This budget, the importance 
 of which has been constantly on the increase, 
 includes — 
 
 (a) All revenues, the disposal of which 
 depends on the decision of the Diet, i.e.,
 
 86 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 temporary or extraordinary imposts, viz., 
 those voted for a stated period, and the 
 income from railways, from the Bank of 
 Finland and from State loans. 
 
 (b) The expenditure voted by the Diet, 
 whether for occasional purposes, as the cost 
 of construction of railways, or for more 
 extended periods, as annuities or interest on 
 the public debt. 
 
 Regarded from a financial point of view, the 
 two parts of the budget might be designated 
 ordinary and supplementary budgets. 
 
 (47) Establishment of the Budget. 
 
 The resolutions of the Diet on the budget 
 refer to the years following that in which the 
 Diet is assembled, including also the year in 
 which the next Diet will be convoked j this is 
 what is called a financial period.* 
 
 Every credit asked for by the Government 
 
 * The financial period may thus be of five years. But the 
 last periods have only been of three, the Emperor having 
 decided in 1882 to convoke the Diet in 1885 and again in 
 1888.— {Author's note.)
 
 FINANCES. 87 
 
 forms the object of a special vote. But, at the 
 same time, a collective vote is taken upon a 
 summary of all these credits, and upon the pro- 
 vision to be made with regard to the revenues 
 to be applied to that purpose. To this provision 
 is added an estimate for the period in question, 
 worked out by the financial department of the 
 Senate. 
 
 The financial committee of the Diet, which 
 has to prepare these matters, whilst keeping in 
 view the Treasury accounts, must ascertain 
 whether or not the state of the finances necessi- 
 tates extraordinary resources. The committee 
 makes a special report on each credit proposed, 
 and a general report as well, in which it submits 
 to the Estates its financial calculation and its 
 views as to the ways and means of covering the 
 expenditure, so far as this depends on the 
 Diet. 
 
 The agreement of all the four orders is neces- 
 sary for resolutions on financial questions; but 
 if the orders have come to different resolutions 
 on these matters, the business is referred to a 
 grand financial committee of sixty members
 
 88 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 (compare sections 39 and 43). A credit not 
 approved by two-thirds of this committee is 
 considered as rejected by the Diet. 
 
 The resolutions of the Diet relative to the 
 budget are submitted to the Emperor and 
 Grand Duke for his sanction, and are pro- 
 mulgated by the Senate. They serve as the 
 basis for the annual framing of the extraordinary 
 budget. 
 
 As far as the ordinary budget is concerned, 
 the Senate submits to the Emperor, in the 
 month of May, its projected measures in regard 
 to the increase or decrease of expenditure to be 
 introduced into the estimates of the following 
 year. These estimates are prepared towards 
 the end of the current year, and are submitted, 
 together with the extraordinary budget, for the 
 Emperor's approbation. There may also be 
 supplementary credits; in the month of March, 
 after having ascertained that there is a surplus 
 on the ordinary budget of the preceding year, 
 the Senate asks the Emperor's authorisation to 
 make certain incidental expenditure considered 
 necessary or useful ; this expenditure may not
 
 FINANCES. 89 
 
 exceed the amount of the surplus, and is brought 
 into the accounts of the current year. 
 
 We must add that, in connection with the 
 adjustment of the budget, its unity is not only 
 broken by the division into an ordinary and 
 extraordinary budget, but also by certain sub- 
 divisions : the army estimates and the " com- 
 munications fund " constitute special parts of 
 the total budget. 
 
 There is, besides, still in existence, coming 
 down from the times of the former military 
 organisation, a " militia fund," represented 
 by the revenues of the Crown lands (formerly 
 applied to the maintenance of officers and non- 
 commissioned officers of the army) and by a 
 certain proportion of the land taxes. But, in 
 virtue of a provision of the law of 1878 con- 
 cerning military service, the sums required for 
 the army estimates, over and above the militia 
 fund, may not be granted from the ordinary 
 resources (the " general fund " of the State), 
 but must be supplied by the Diet. That is 
 wliy the military estimates form a special 
 section of the State budget.
 
 90 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 The u communications fund " dates from a 
 resolution of the Diet of 1872. 
 
 It was thought desirable to secure the deve- 
 lopment of the railway system by assigning for 
 that purpose sufficient resources, independently 
 of the general budget. This fund, or this 
 special budget, comprises at present nearly the 
 whole amount of the national debt, as with two 
 exceptions all the loans have been contracted 
 for the construction of railways. 
 
 The inconveniences which the divisions and 
 subdivisions of the budget present, make it 
 impossible to show the total revenue and expen- 
 diture at a glance. These inconveniences 
 would be somewhat sensibly felt, perhaps, if 
 the unity of the budget could not be established 
 in the calculations which serve to guide the 
 estimate of the state of the finances. 
 
 (48) Taxes. 
 
 New taxes may not be imposed, nor old ones 
 altered or abolished, without the consent of the 
 Diet.
 
 FINANCES. 91 
 
 Projected measures relating either to altera- 
 tions in the assessment or in the manner of 
 collecting permanent taxes, or to the abolition 
 of established imposts, are submitted to preli- 
 minary consideration by the finance committee. 
 
 With regard to the extraordinary taxes, form- 
 ing part of the ways and means which the Diet, 
 on the report of the finance committee, shall 
 have desired to appropriate for the purposes of 
 the extraordinary budget (vide section 46), the 
 committee on extraordinary taxes must make 
 proper provision for the assessment of these 
 taxes; it has the right of initiative in this 
 matter. This committee, augmented to sixty 
 members, having the powers of the Diet, 
 decides by a majority of two-thirds of its 
 voices such provisions relating to the said 
 taxes as the four orders have not been able 
 to agree upon. 
 
 The general rule of the Constitution, according 
 to which taxation depends upon the vote of the 
 Diet, is subject to a rather important exception : 
 the customs duties are fixed by the Government 
 without the co-operation of the Diet. Want
 
 92 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 of space prevents our explaining here the his- 
 torical facts which gave rise to this exception, 
 which has been acted upon since 1772. 
 
 There is one other exception, expressly recog- 
 nised by law. 
 
 If the country is attacked by an enemy, the 
 Emperor and Grand Duke has the right of 
 imposing contributions necessary for its defence. 
 But, immediately after the termination of the 
 war, the Diet must be convoked, and the levy- 
 ing of these contributions must cease. 
 
 (49) Other Revenues of the State. 
 
 The Crown lands, fisheries, and forests are 
 utilised for the benefit of the State, according 
 to regulations established by the Government. 
 No expropriation of Crown property may take 
 place without the consent of the Diet. 
 
 The Emperor regulates the administration of 
 State investments. 
 
 The Diet determines the proportion of the 
 annual profits of the Bank of Finland to be 
 assigned to State revenue.
 
 FINANCES. 93 
 
 The postal, railway and canal rates, pilotage 
 fees and lighting dues, as well as other charges 
 for services rendered by public institutions, are 
 fixed by the Government. 
 
 No loan can be contracted without the con- 
 sent of the Diet. 
 
 (50) Financial Control. 
 
 At the commencement of each ordinary Diet 
 a summary of the financial situation is made to 
 the Estates, " so that they may learn how the 
 Crown revenues have been employed for the 
 profit and good of the country/' 
 
 This summary, containing the accounts of the 
 latest receipts and expenditure, with special 
 reports on the public debt and on the adminis- 
 tration of the extraordinary taxes, is examined 
 by the finance committee, which must control 
 more especially the application of the financial 
 resolutions of the last Diet. All the account- 
 books of the several public departments must 
 be placed at the disposal of the committee. 
 
 Win 'ii the Diet informs the Government of
 
 94 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 the observations made by the finance committee 
 relative to the administration of the finances, 
 these observations are taken into consideration 
 by the Senate, and the ensuing Diet is informed 
 of the measures taken in consequence of the 
 same. 
 
 All public accounts are likewise subjected to 
 annual revisions, made by auditors nominated 
 for that purpose.
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 
 
 (51) Class Privileges. 
 
 The principle of the equality of all citizens 
 in the eyes of the law, a principle held sacred 
 by the ancient Swedish laws, became sensibly 
 modified in the course of centuries. 
 
 The order of nobles was distinct from the 
 rest of society. At the end of the Middle Ages 
 it already had important privileges, which were 
 still further extended during the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries. 
 
 Of these privileges, as far as they relate 
 to social and economical conditions, there now 
 remain only a few insignificant remnants. 
 Since 1863 they have been abolished cither
 
 96 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 by special laws or by legislative reforms, modi- 
 fying in general the social conditions. Yet the 
 nobles have retained a precious privilege by 
 way of legacy from past ages — that of consti- 
 tuting a part of the Diet (vide section 29). 
 But if this right of representation is a privilege, 
 which is beyond all doubt, it implies at the 
 same time a public duty, a political function 
 outside the pale of the common law. 
 
 As touching the order of burgesses, its pri- 
 vileges have all been abrogated by modern 
 legislation. The guilds and bodies of wardens, 
 which formed exclusive corporations of mer- 
 chants and manufacturers, no longer exist ; the 
 right of administering the local affairs of towns 
 and representing them at the Diet no longer 
 belongs exclusively to the enrolled burgesses. 
 
 The rights of the peasantry have also been 
 the object of special confirmations. These 
 rights concern more especially the free usufruct 
 of certain public lands — a right which was for- 
 merly limited in order to secure the interests 
 of the treasury. As to the right of represen- 
 tation at the Diet, it is no longer exclusively
 
 THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 97 
 
 confined to the peasant class, properly so 
 called. 
 
 The privileges of the clergy are the only 
 ones which have been preserved in full. But, 
 looking at these privileges from the point of 
 view of social equality, they can hardly be 
 considered as exceptions to the common law, 
 the clergy being a body of public functionaries 
 and uot a social class strictly speaking. The 
 immunities enjoyed by ecclesiastical property 
 are in reality merely a way of paying the 
 clergy ; the general character of the privileges 
 in question is to secure State protection for the 
 Lutheran Church and economical advantages 
 for its clergy. 
 
 (52) Rights and Duties of Citizen*. 
 
 The common law applies then to all mem- 
 bers and all classes of society. We will 
 give a summary of the main features of the 
 general rights secured by law to Finnish 
 citizens : 
 
 (a) Security and individual liberty are 
 
 giniranteed by law ; no one can be deprived 
 
 H
 
 98 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 of his liberty by the authorities, except in 
 cases of a criminal offence or else by virtue 
 of a sentence of a court of justice or of a 
 legal conviction (vide Note, section 14). 
 
 (b) Excepting the cases of legal punish- 
 ment entailing confiscation of property, no 
 one can be deprived of his property save for 
 the cause of public utility, in such cases and 
 in such manner as are established by the law 
 on expropriation, and then only for a fair 
 compensation made beforehand. 
 
 (c) No one can be deprived of his right to 
 be tried before the tribunal assigned by law, 
 nor prosecuted otherwise than according to 
 the rules of legal procedure. The formation 
 of extraordinary judicial tribunals or com- 
 missions is not allowed. 
 
 (d) Every Finlander, without distinction of 
 class, has a right to acquire real estate. 
 Some lands are more or less exempt from the 
 ordinary land tax. Formerly these favoured 
 lands could only belong to members of the 
 order of nobles ; but this exclusive right 
 having been abolished, the immunities in
 
 THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 99 
 
 question no longer represent a class privilege, 
 they are merely rights attached to the land 
 and pass to every purchaser. The land tax 
 once legally fixed cannot be augmented on 
 account of new clearings or new spaces 
 brought into cultivation. 
 
 (e) No preliminary permit from the autho- 
 rities is needed in order to exercise any trade 
 or profession. The main provisions of the 
 industrial law of March 31, 1879 (a law 
 which completed the emancipation of trade 
 from the old restrictive system), are as 
 follows : — 
 
 Every Finnish citizen, of either sex, has a 
 right to exercise the trade or profession of 
 his or her choice; so also has every society or 
 legally coustituted-compauy. 
 
 Any one who intends to carry on business 
 in a shop or office, or who wishes in his indus- 
 trial enterprise to employ workmen other than 
 the members of his family, must make a de- 
 claration to that effect, in towns before the 
 bench of magistrates, in the rural districts 
 before the bailiff. 
 
 u 2
 
 100 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 No prior declaration is needed to exercise any 
 trade for self-subsistence without workmen or 
 paid assistants. Every Finnish citizen has the 
 right to import goods from or export goods to 
 foreign countries, as also to be the owner or 
 part owner of a vessel. 
 
 Exceptions to the general rule are : the 
 trades of a bookseller, printer, chemist, dealer 
 in wines and spirits or in explosives, all of 
 which trades require a special licence. Hawk- 
 ing is allowed under certain restrictions. 
 
 Governors of provinces may grant to 
 foreigners residing in the country the right 
 of establishing themselves as merchants or 
 manufacturers. 
 
 (/) Associations for commercial or indus- 
 trial enterprises do not require a preliminary 
 licence ; but the articles of association and 
 rules and regulations of joint stock com- 
 panies must be submitted for the sanction 
 and approval of the Government. 
 In order to form societies or companies with 
 any other object, Government authorisation must 
 be obtained. Secret societies are forbidden.
 
 THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 101 
 
 Tlio law does not interdict the right of public 
 meeting. 
 
 (g) The liberty of the press is not guaran- 
 teed by law. Press matters are regulated 
 by administrative legislation, which, whilst 
 recognising the right of every Finnish citizen 
 to publish his ideas on all scientific objects, 
 obliges printers to submit their works to the 
 press censors before offering them to the 
 public. Periodical publications likewise re- 
 quire a preliminary authorisation ; each 
 number is submitted to the censor before 
 appearing. 
 
 (]<) There are no class privileges in the 
 matters of contributions or military service. 
 
 (i) Neither are there any class privileges 
 or distinctions as to admission to Government 
 offices or employment. 
 
 (Jc) The public schools are open to the 
 children of all classes of the population. 
 
 (/) Liberty of conscience is recognised in 
 principle.
 
 IX. 
 THE STATE AND RELIGION. 
 
 (53) The Lutheran Church. 
 
 We have stated, in speaking of class privi- 
 leges, that those established in 1723, and still 
 in force, secure to the Lutheran Church the 
 protection of the State, and to the clergy the 
 enjoyment of the economical advantages recog- 
 nised by pre-existent laws. 
 
 What particularly characterises the prepon- 
 derant position of the Lutheran Church is, that 
 its parishes are usually territorial parishes coin- 
 ciding with the communes ; a few towns and 
 districts in the provinces of Viborg and 
 Kuopio being the only exceptions. The tithes 
 that every landowner in the rural parishes
 
 THE STATE AND RELIGION. 103 
 
 (except those belonging to the Russo-Grreek 
 Church) must pay to the Lutheran clergy are 
 fixed by State laws ; the other dues, either for 
 the clergy or for the building and repair of 
 churches, are likewise based on legislative pro- 
 visions, which, however, allow the parishioners 
 to regulate these dues by conventions, to be sub- 
 mitted to the sanction of the Senate. 
 
 The law of 1869, on the organisation of the 
 Lutheran Church, has developed the adminis- 
 trative autonomy of the parishes, and freed the 
 Church from State tutelage, without modifying 
 any of the economical privileges. According 
 to this organisation, there are four authorities 
 for administering Church matters — the council, 
 the chapter, the parish council, and the con- 
 gregation. Each of these authorities has dis- 
 tinct powers and functions. 
 
 The council is the Church parliament or con- 
 vocation. It rests with it to propose legislative 
 measures for the organisation of the Lutheran 
 Church. Any projected measure adopted by 
 the council is submitted to the Emperor and to 
 the Diet. Tims, in crrlesiast .ical nmtters, the
 
 101 THE PUBLIC LAW OP FINLAND. 
 
 legislative power of the State is limited to 
 approving or rejecting the proposals of the 
 council. 
 
 It lies within the province of the council to 
 adopt new manuals for religious service and 
 teaching — such are the Book of Psalms, the 
 Gospels, the Catechism, the Liturgy, and the 
 translation of the Bible.* The council has 
 the choice of persons charged with the revision 
 of these books. 
 
 The council has the right to set forth the 
 wishes- and wants of the Church, regarding 
 either the relations of the Lutheran Church 
 with the State and with other Churches, or 
 mixed questions, more especially the provisions 
 of the civil law on marriage. Its views are 
 consulted on all projects concerning such 
 matters. 
 
 The council is composed — 
 
 (a) Of representatives of the clergy ; the 
 
 archbishop and the two bishops (their places 
 
 being taken, in case of their absence, by the 
 
 * According to the old Church code, the adoption of these 
 books depended on the Government. — (Author's note.)
 
 THE STATE AND RELIGION. 105 
 
 members of the chapter), and thirty ministers 
 from the three dioceses ; 
 
 (b) Of representatives of the laity ; a sena- 
 tor, a member from each of the three courts of 
 appeal and from the faculty of jurisprudence 
 of the University, a lay deputy from each 
 deanery of the diocese, all nominated b}^ 
 their respective electors. The archbishop 
 acts as president. 
 
 The chapter exercises spiritual government, 
 and has administrative jurisdiction within the 
 diocese. It comprises the bishop (or arch- 
 bishop) as president, and four members, the 
 minister highest in rank of the diocesan town, 
 two clergymen elected for a period of three 
 years by the clergy of the diocese, and a 
 member who must be competent in judicial 
 matters and perform the duties of a secre- 
 tary. 
 
 The parish council is composed of the rector, as 
 president, of the remaining clergy of the parish, 
 and of at least six members elected by the 
 parishioners, their mandate holding good for 
 four years. The duties of tins parish council
 
 106 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 are to direct and control the administration of 
 Church property, and to exercise a surveillance 
 over ecclesiastical morals and discipline. 
 
 The parishioners meet and decide by resolu- 
 tion upon the financial affairs of the parish. 
 The law has determined the matters (loans, sale 
 of real estate, &c.) on which the decision of the 
 meeting, in order to be valid, requires Grovern- 
 ment approval. The law of 1869 authorises, 
 under certain conditions, all members of the 
 Church to form religious assemblies in which 
 laymen have the right to speak. 
 
 The bishops are appointed by the Emperor 
 from among the three candidates who received 
 the most votes at the election. The right of 
 election belongs to the clergy of the diocese. 
 
 As regards the rectors of parishes, their 
 nomination is also based on suffrage. The 
 parishioners vote for one of the three candi- 
 dates who have applied for the appointment and 
 whose candidature has been approved by the 
 chapter. The one who obtains a majority of 
 votes is appointed by the chapter, except in 
 those parishes where the appointment of the
 
 THE STATE AND RELIGION. 107 
 
 rector is reserved to the Emperor ; in these cases 
 the Senate gives its opinion on the candidates, 
 amongst whom the Emperor chooses independ- 
 ently of the result of the suffrage. 
 
 (54) The Greek Church. 
 
 In a few communes on the borders of Russia 
 and in certain towns there are parishes of the 
 Russo-Greek Church.* The clergy of the rural 
 parishes are paid in almost the same manner 
 as the Lutheran clergy ; they receive the tithes 
 of land belonging to owners who profess the 
 Greek religion. In those towns where the 
 number of parishioners is very small, the priests 
 receive salaries from the State funds. 
 
 Finnish citizens belonging- to the Greek 
 Church have the same civil and political rights 
 as Lutherans. 
 
 There is, in the town of Viborg, as the 
 
 * The number of Finnish citizens professing the orthodox 
 faith, that is the faitli of the Greek Church, is about 40,000' 
 i.e., approximatively two per cent, of the population of the 
 Grand Duchy. — (Author's note.)
 
 108 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 central organ of the Greek parishes in Finland, 
 a chapter composed of a presiding canon and 
 of three members, appointed, as are the priests, 
 by the Holy Synod at St. Petersburg, which 
 has control over the clergy in all religious 
 matters. But the relations of the Greek parishes 
 with the State have been regulated by legisla- 
 tive acts of the Finnish Government. 
 
 (55) Other Religions. 
 
 According to old ecclesiastical law, Luthe- 
 rans were not allowed to abandon their faith. 
 The law of 1869, on the contrary, recog- 
 nises the right of Lutherans to chang*e to 
 another faith, according to the voice of their 
 conscience. 
 
 The principle of religious liberty thus esta- 
 blished, there remained the question of deter- 
 mining the relations of dissenting communities 
 with the State. A Bill, prepared for that pur- 
 pose, was submitted to the Diet of 1877, but 
 did not pass. The Government has prepared 
 a new measure upon which the Council, which
 
 THE STATE AND RELIGION. 109 
 
 will shortly assemble, will give its opinion 
 beforehand.* 
 
 In the meantime there remains a serious 
 want of provision in the laws on religious 
 matters. 
 
 It is worthy of note that the tendency of 
 modern legislation has manifested itself like- 
 wise in the provisions of the law of 18G9 on 
 the Diet, according to which the right of suf- 
 frage does not depend on religious belief, and 
 eligibility for candidature is compatible with 
 any Christian creed. The laws on communal 
 administration also make no distinction of 
 rights on account of the faith professed by the 
 members of the Commune, and the civil and 
 political rights of members of other Churches 
 are thus recognised as being the same as those 
 of the Lutherans, except with regard to admis- 
 sibility to Government service.t 
 
 * This Bill was submitted to the Diet of 1888 and passed, 
 but in a somewhat mutilated form on account of the oppo- 
 sition of the clergy and peasantry. — (Trcmslatov'i note.) 
 
 + Since 1741 the Anglican and Reformed Churches hav< 
 been recogui.-ed in Finland as authorised religions. — (Ant/mr'x 
 
 liotr.)
 
 X. 
 
 JUDICIAL OKGANISATION. 
 
 (56) Tribunals of First Instance. 
 
 (a) The borough jurisdictions are distinct 
 from those of the rural districts. The town 
 court (radhusratt) is composed of the burgo- 
 master as president, and of two or more 
 aldermen as members. The burgomaster is 
 appointed by the Emperor from among three 
 candidates selected by the municipal council ; 
 the aldermen are elected by the council, and 
 receive their investiture from the governor of 
 the province. 
 
 The burgomasters, in general, are not judges 
 only, but have municipal functions. In the
 
 JUDICIAL ORGANISATION. Ill 
 
 larger towns, however, there are two burgo- 
 masters, the one devoted exclusively to the 
 court, whilst the other is at the head of the 
 municipality. The court may be separated into 
 sections. In order to pass judgment or sen- 
 tence, three members must be present. It has 
 jurisdiction in all civil and criminal matters. 
 But, in cases of infamous crimes, the sentence, 
 whether it be one of condemnation or acquittal, 
 must be submitted to the court of appeal ; all 
 maritime cases require the presence at the 
 court of two experts, as assessors, who are 
 chosen by the court for a period of one year. 
 
 All judgments or sentences of a town court 
 can be appealed against. 
 
 (b) The country outside the towns is divided 
 into sixty jurisdictions (domsaga), each of 
 which comprises from three to five judicial 
 districts (tingslag). For each jurisdiction 
 there is only one judge (haradshofding), learned 
 in the law, who is nominated by the Emperor. 
 The district court (haradsriitt) is composed of 
 this judge, as president, and of at least five 
 councillors (namndeman) chosen from among
 
 112 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 the landowners of the judicial district. The 
 court sits twice a year in each district, the 
 district judge thus goes on circuit twice an- 
 nually (February to April and September to 
 November). The days on which the sessions 
 commence are announced to the public before- 
 hand. There may also be extraordinary 
 sessions, either for grave criminal offences or 
 at the request of one of the suitors. 
 
 In each cause, when the hearing is con- 
 cluded, the presiding judge must point out to 
 the councillors the provisions of the law appli- 
 cable to the case. The finding of the councillors 
 outweighs that of the presiding judge only 
 when they unanimously come to a conclusion 
 different from his ; but if the councillors are 
 not all agreed, the judge's decision is decisive. 
 
 The jurisdiction of the district court is analo- 
 gous to that of the town court, but it does not 
 extend to cases relating to bills of exchange, 
 nor to maritime cases relating to average or 
 insurance, these all being reserved for town 
 courts. 
 
 The tribuuals for division of lands (egodel-
 
 JUDICIAL ORGANISATION. 113 
 
 ningsratt) recognise, in the first instance, the 
 disputes arising between landowners, on account 
 of the divisional boundaries proposed by the 
 Government surveyors in those districts where 
 the appurtenances and boundaries of estates 
 have not yet been definitely settled and deter- 
 mined. These tribunals, established pro tern, 
 have the character of courts of arbitration ; they 
 are composed of a presiding judge, elected by the 
 landowners of the commune (save the ratifica- 
 tion of the court of appeal) and of councillors 
 chosen by the landowners. Appeals against 
 the decisions of these tribunals are addressed 
 to the Department of Justice of the Senate. 
 
 (57) The Court of Appeal. 
 
 There arc three courts of appeal (hofriitt). 
 That of Abo is constituted of a president, a 
 vice-president, and eighteen members ; that of 
 Viborg is similarly constituted, but with seven- 
 teen members; that of Vasa has a president 
 and nine members. The presidents and vice- 
 presidents are nominated directly by the 
 
 i
 
 114 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 Emperor, as are also the members, but the 
 latter are presented for nomination by the 
 Department of Justice of the Senate. 
 
 The courts of appeal are divided into sections, 
 each being complete with five members ; but 
 four members may pronounce sentence in non- 
 capital cases, provided three of them agree to 
 the sentence. 
 
 The court of appeal takes cognizance, in the 
 second iu stance, of all appeals from the deci- 
 sions of the town and district courts in all 
 matters within their respective jurisdictions, 
 and from the decisions of the governors and 
 some other public functionaries in certain cases 
 determined by law. It examines the sentences 
 imposed for infamous crimes, which sentences 
 are submitted to it by the tribunals of first 
 instance. 
 
 Besides the above, the court of appeal deals, 
 in the first instance, with blasphemies against 
 the Deity, after investigation before a lower 
 tribunal, offences against the Sovereign and 
 crimes against the State, crimes and misde- 
 meanours committed by judges of first instance
 
 JUDICIAL ORGANISATION. 115 
 
 in the performance of their duties. The higher 
 public servants (governors, officers of the Senate, 
 directors of central administrations) are tried 
 before the Abo court of appeal. 
 
 The procurator (advokatfiskal) of the court 
 of appeal is the prosecutor in such cases. 
 
 (58) The Last Instance. 
 
 In explaining the prerogatives of the Senate, 
 we have already stated that the judicial power, 
 in the last instance, belonging to the Emperor, 
 is exercised in his name by the Senate, in the 
 Department of Justice. 
 
 The suitor who wishes to appeal to the Senate 
 against a decision of the court of appeal in a 
 civil case must deposit 192 marks,* which sum 
 is forfeited should the sentence be confirmed. 
 This obligatory deposit, from which poor people 
 are exempted, is not required to be made by 
 those who have recourse to the Senate in a 
 criminal cause, nor on an appeal from the 
 
 * The Finnish murk corresponds to the French franc. — 
 C Translator's noU . | 
 
 i 1
 
 116 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 decisions of the tribunals for the division of 
 landed property. 
 
 The Department of Justice sitting as a legal 
 tribunal may be divided into two courts, each 
 consisting of five members ; but four suffice, in 
 non-capital causes, provided that three of the 
 members agree on the judgment or sentence 
 to be pronounced. 
 
 (59) Military Jurisdiction. 
 Each army corps has a military tribunal 
 composed of officers. This court has jurisdic- 
 tion in all cases of offences against the military 
 laws committed by members of the army, as also 
 in cases of crimes perpetrated by them in time 
 of war. The military auditor, appointed by the 
 Department of Justice of the Senate, performs 
 the functions of public prosecutor. He must be 
 a jurist. The chief military tribunal, established 
 at Helsingfors, is constituted of a president 
 appointed by the Emperor, and four members, 
 three of whom are officers nominated by the 
 governor-general for two years ; the fourth is 
 a chief auditor, nominated by the Emperor,
 
 JUDICIAL ORGANISATION. 117 
 
 on the recommendation of the Department of 
 Justice of the Senate. 
 
 This tribunal takes cognizance, in the second 
 instance, of appeals from the decisions of the 
 military tribunals. It tries, in the first instance, 
 certain cases determined by the law. 
 
 The Department of Justice of the Senate is 
 the final court of appeal to which resort can be 
 had in military matters.
 
 XI. 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 
 
 (60) General Observations. 
 
 It has been shown that the Administrative 
 Department of the Senate and the six sections 
 composing the same (corresponding to the 
 ministerial departments of most States) control 
 the public administration. These functions are 
 exercised with the assistance of agencies 
 established by the different branches of the 
 services. 
 
 There are central administrations whose 
 jurisdiction extends over the whole country, 
 and local administrations whose functions are 
 confined to certain districts.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 119 
 
 The central administrative authorities are 
 immediately dependent on the Senate ; the 
 local agencies depend partly on the Senate, 
 partly on the central administrations. 
 
 In the same way public establishments {e.g. 
 educational institutions) which require the care- 
 ful attention of the administration, supply 
 either local wants or subserve the general in- 
 terests of the country. The administrative 
 sphere of action of the Senate does not, how- 
 ever, include equally all State institutions ; the 
 Bank of Finland is governed by delegates from 
 the Diet, and the university enjo}^s much 
 autonomy in the management of its affairs. 
 
 A. — Administrations depending on the Senate. 
 
 (Gl) Distribution of Administrative Agencies 
 according to the sections of the Senate. 
 
 The following are subordinate : — 
 (a) To the Home Section : 
 Provincial administrations, of which men- 
 tion will shortly be made ;
 
 120 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 The public health board, to which doctors, 
 midwives, hospitals, and pharmacies are 
 amenable ; 
 
 The postal and savings bank department ; 
 
 The department of public buildings, having 
 under its orders the provincial architectural 
 offices ; 
 
 The prisons department ; 
 
 The department for press matters ; 
 
 The central statistic office. 
 (6) To the Financial Section : 
 
 The treasury department, charged with 
 the administration of the central pay-office 
 of the treasury, of the reserve, of other secu- 
 rities, and of the public debt ; 
 
 The customs department ; 
 
 The controllers of the duties on spirits, and 
 the stamp office ; 
 
 The pilotage and light-house departments, 
 including also hydrographical works ; 
 
 The local departments of schools of navi- 
 gation ; 
 
 The department of industrial affairs, which 
 has also supervision over the polytechnical
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 121 
 
 institute, industrial and commercial schools, 
 as well as the administration of the mint. 
 
 (c) To the Control Section : 
 
 The general court for the control of ac- 
 counts, together with the control office — an 
 institution which does not exercise adminis- 
 trative functions, but which represents a 
 branch of the administrative jurisdiction; 
 
 The general department of geodesy, which 
 supervises the surveyors, the registries of the 
 surveys of lands, and the administration of 
 weights and measures.* 
 
 (d) To the Section on Military Matters : 
 The troops and the military school, as far as 
 
 Iheir economical administration is concerned ; 
 
 The commissariat and the inspector of 
 barracks ; 
 
 The recruiting commissions. 
 
 (e) To the Section of Public Worship 
 and Instruction : 
 
 The chapters of the three dioceses of the 
 
 * In accordance with the law of July 1G, 1880, the French 
 metrical system has been introduced into Finland and will 
 become obligatory from the year 1892.— (Tranglatw's note.)
 
 122 THE PUBLIC LAW OP FINLAND. 
 
 Lutheran Church, as the organs of that 
 Church and of its clergy in their relations 
 with the Government ; 
 
 The school board, which comprises the 
 chief inspectors of schools and is charged 
 with matters concerning the national schools, 
 the pedagogical establishments, middle and 
 upper class schools for both sexes, as well as 
 the inspection of private schools that receive 
 subsidies from the State ; 
 
 The central archives of the State, 
 
 (/) The Section of Agriculture and Public 
 Works : 
 
 The general administration of the means of 
 communication, charged with canal and drain- 
 age works, as well as with the construction 
 of railways, not entrusted to a special com- 
 mission ; 
 
 This department has under its orders the 
 engineering staff and the canal directors ; 
 
 The railway department, which works the 
 whole State railway system ;* 
 
 * With the exception of one short branch line, all the Fin- 
 nish railways are Government property. Vide Appendix.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 123 
 
 The State forest department ; 
 
 The inspector of fisheries, the State agrono- 
 mists; the agricultural schools and estab- 
 lishments ; the agricultural improvement 
 societies which receive State subsidies. 
 
 (62) Organisation and General Functions of 
 the Central Administrative Departments. 
 
 The managing boards in matters of public 
 health, of the press, of the customs, of industrial 
 affairs, of schools, ways of communication and 
 railways, as well as the treasury, are organised 
 as councils (or colleges) of at least three mem- 
 bers, including the chief director. Decisions 
 are formed by a majority of voices ; there arc, 
 however, in several of these boards, more espe- 
 cially in that of the railways, matters reserved 
 for the decision of the chief director alone. 
 
 The other managing boards mentioned above, 
 as also the central offices of statistics and of 
 the commissariat, are organised like chanceries, 
 the chief director alone deciding questions. 
 
 Tlie chief directors and members of the
 
 124 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 central managing boards are appointed by the 
 Emperor ; the Administrative Department of the 
 Senate presents the candidates for these posts, 
 excepting for that of director of pilotage and 
 light-houses, to which the Governor-General 
 alone presents the candidate ; the pilotage 
 officers are nominated in the same manner as 
 the director. The secretaries, treasurers, and 
 other officials of analogous rank are appointed 
 by the Administrative Department of the Senate, 
 on the presentation of the boards of manage- 
 ment ; these latter appoint the lower officials. 
 The professors and teachers of the upper and 
 middle-class schools are nominated by the 
 school board. 
 
 The general functions of these boards consist : 
 In maintaining the strict application of the 
 laws and regulations concerning the working 
 of their respective departments ; 
 
 In executing the orders of the Govern- 
 ment ; 
 
 In striving* to develop the public institu- 
 tions entrusted to their charge, either by 
 measures coming within their own province,
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 125 
 
 or by submitting to the Senate projected 
 measures for the purpose ; 
 
 In exercising surveillance over function- 
 aries subordinate to them. 
 The authority of the administrative bodies 
 now under consideration is determined by laws 
 and regulations, and is besides limited by the 
 budgets. 
 
 They must issue annual reports of the work 
 done during the past year ; these reports being- 
 presented to the Senate and published in the 
 official statistics. 
 
 (03) Provincial Administration. 
 
 Finland is divided into eight administrative 
 provinces (Ian), each having a governor at its 
 head. Matters arc submitted to him either by 
 the provincial secretary at the head of the 
 chancery, or by the chief provincial controller. 
 These officials only have a consultative voice, 
 the governor alone decides ; but their counter- 
 signature is necessary, and, when their views 
 do not coincide with those of the governor,
 
 126 THE PUELTC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 tliey have the right to record them in a special 
 protocol. In case of the governor's absence, 
 the secretary and controller share his duties in 
 common. The other officials consist of under- 
 secretaries, under-controllers, treasurers, and a 
 head book-keeper appointed by the Senate; 
 there are also some officials nominated by the 
 governor. 
 
 The provinces are divided into administrative 
 districts (harad), of which the number is fifty- 
 one. The functionaries of these districts are 
 the bailiff (kronofogde) — charged more espe- 
 cially with the collection of taxes and with the 
 police of the bailiwick — and the secretary of the 
 bailiwick, appointed by the Senate. The bailiff 
 has under his orders the commissaries (kins- 
 man) appointed by the governor, each of whom 
 has the management of the police in one or two 
 communes of the bailiwick. 
 
 In towns it is the bench of magistrates and 
 the police offices (these latter in the larger 
 towns) who act as the agents of the governor 
 in police and executive matters. 
 
 Communal organisation is based on the prin-
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 127 
 
 ciple of self-government, but the administration 
 of the provinces is carried on without the co- 
 operation of the population. 
 
 The governor's functions are very numerous : 
 
 He must see to the public order and safety, 
 
 and to the maintenance of roads and bridges ; 
 
 He is the head of all the provincial police 
 
 branches ; 
 
 He executes the sentences of tribunals ; 
 He orders the levying of distress and 
 executions ; 
 
 He supervises, by means of Crown inspec- 
 tors, the tenants of Crown lands ; 
 
 He administers the State grain stores ; 
 He controls the collection of direct taxes 
 and excise, and the administration of the 
 provincial pay-offices ; 
 
 He presides over the higher recruiting 
 commission ; 
 
 He is the agent of the Senate in all mat- 
 ters for which the province has no special 
 officials or agents ; 
 
 The decisions of the communes in certain 
 cases require the governor's sanction ;
 
 128 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 He directs the attention of the Senate and 
 of the Governor-General to any measures 
 calculated to promote the prosperity of the 
 province ; 
 
 He presents every year, to the Emperor 
 and to the Senate, a report on the condition 
 of the province entrusted to him. 
 The functions of the governor place him in 
 communication, not only with the home section, 
 but also with the other sections of the Adminis- 
 trative Department of the Senate. 
 
 (64) Administrative Jurisdiction. 
 
 This department is not organised in Finland 
 so as to form a system of tribunals exclusively 
 charged with the conduct of litigation. 
 
 We have stated (sec. 57) that the court of 
 appeal takes cognisance of certain matters de- 
 termined by law in administrative spheres ; the 
 last resort in such cases is the Department of 
 Justice of the Senate. 
 
 But the general rule is, that administrative 
 jurisdiction belongs to the governor and to the 
 Administrative Department of the Senate.
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 120 
 
 The point of departure of the administrative 
 process is, as a rule, the decision of some ad- 
 ministrative authority ; it is only in exceptional 
 cases that differences have arisen between the 
 two departments. 
 
 Whoever considers himself wronged by the 
 decision of a public authority in an administra- 
 tive matter, may have recourse to a higher 
 authority. 
 
 Complaints against communal authorities are 
 made to the governor. 
 
 Applications by way of appeal from the de- 
 cisions of the governors, or of the central 
 managing boards, are made to the Adminis- 
 trative Department of the Senate. 
 
 Matters in litigation relating to the public 
 accounts form a special branch of administra- 
 tive affairs. The general court for the control 
 of public accounts deals with charges made 
 against the State receivers. This court in- 
 quires into and determines whether the re- 
 ceiver's cash account shows any deficit or 
 default, and, if so, to what amount. But it 
 be province of the tribunals of the judicial 
 
 K
 
 130 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 order to sentence to the payment of an in- 
 demnity or to a penalty for a criminal offence. 
 
 B. — The Bank of Finland. 
 
 (65) Organisation. 
 
 In virtue of a provision of section 55 of the 
 law of 1772, on the form of government, the 
 State bank is placed under the guarantee and 
 control of the Diet. 
 
 Each ordinary Diet chooses four delegates 
 (one for each order), who have the management 
 of the bank, and four others who control the 
 banking operations. All these delegates have 
 deputies, who are likewise appointed by the 
 Diet. Their commission expires with the closing 
 of the following Diet. 
 
 The administration of the bank is entrusted 
 to a board of directors, composed of a president 
 nominated by the Emperor, and two members 
 also appointed by His Majesty from among the 
 candidates presented by the Administrative 
 Department of the Senate, on the motion of 
 the delegates. The managing directors of the
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 131 
 
 branches of the bank are appointed by the 
 Senate, on the presentation of the delegates. 
 The bank officials are chosen by the board of 
 directors. 
 
 The authority of the delegates and of the 
 board of directors respectively is determined 
 by the bank charter. 
 
 The functions of the delegates consist more 
 particularly — 
 
 In supervising the operations of the bank, 
 paying special attention to everything con- 
 nected with the issue and circulation of bank 
 notes ; 
 
 In fixing the rates of discount and of advances 
 on securities, as also in making other important 
 arrangements relating to investments ; 
 
 In selecting- correspondents or agents 
 abroad ; 
 
 In deciding as to the establishment of new 
 branches in the country, cr as to the closing 
 of those already established — their determi- 
 nation in such cases to be submitted to the 
 Senate tor ratification ; 
 
 In determining, when the annual report of 
 k 1
 
 132 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 the revising delegates has been made, upon 
 the propriety of exonerating the board of 
 directors from all responsibility for the pre- 
 ceding year. 
 The delegates choose their own chairman, and 
 nominate their own secretary. 
 
 The chairman convenes the delegates, and 
 has a casting vote in case of an equal division 
 of votes. The delegates deliberate in common 
 with the board of directors on certain questions 
 determined by law. 
 
 The delegates must present to the bank com- 
 mittee, at the commencement of the Diet, an 
 account of the operations of the bank through- 
 out the period just concluded. 
 
 With regard to the functions of the board of 
 directors, which is charged with all the adminis- 
 trative details of the bank, they are similar to 
 those of all other banking boards. 
 
 (66) Operations of the Bank. 
 The chief role of the Bank of Finland, which
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 183 
 
 has the exclusive rig-lit of issuing notes,* is to 
 maintain the fiduciary circulation on a solid 
 basis, whilst providing, at the same time, for 
 the needs of the circulation. 
 
 The bank may issue notes to the amount of 
 twenty million marks over and above the 
 sum represented by the reserve of bullion, by 
 the deposits payable at sight in the hands of its 
 bankers abroad, and by the State funds quoted 
 on foreign Bourses. The notes are payable at 
 sight, t 
 
 * The law of May 10th, ISSfi, has abolished the. right of 
 banking companies to issue paper money, a right of which only 
 one company had availed itself, and which it will exercise till 
 its concession expires. — (Author's note.) 
 
 f The present monetary system of Finland was established 
 by the law of August 9th, 1877. The Finnish currency is 
 solely based on the gold standard. The " mark," sub-divided 
 into a hundred " penni," is the monetaiy unity. Two gold 
 pieces are coined, the one being worth twenty marks, the other 
 [in. both exactly similar as regards weight and alloy to tbe 
 French gold coinage. 
 
 There are also silver pieces of one and two marks, as well as 
 copper money. 
 
 Gold is received in payment to any amount. As far as the 
 silver and copper coinage is concerned, private individuals are 
 not compelled to accept more than ten marks in silver and two 
 marks in copper money. — (Author's note.)
 
 134 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 In case the reserve of bullion should fall 
 below ten millions, the Government is autho- 
 rised to negotiate abroad a maximum loan of 
 eight millions ; the amount borrowed to be 
 placed at the disposal of the bank which has 
 to pay back the loan. 
 
 The bank carries on, moreover, commercial 
 operations, having a special regard, however, to 
 the security of its investments, but it pays no 
 interest on deposits. 
 
 (67) Functions of the Diet with regard to the 
 
 Bank. 
 
 It is the duty of the bank committee ap- 
 pointed by the Diet (vide section 37) — 
 
 (a) To investigate the operations and finan- 
 cial position of the bank, and to report on 
 the same to the Estates ; 
 
 (b) To propose to the Diet such provisions 
 as it may deem necessary for the adminis- 
 tration of the bank, whether on the initiative 
 of the committee itself or at the instigation 
 of the delegates. 
 
 The assent of three orders suffices to con-
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 135 
 
 stitute a resolution of the Diet in these mat- 
 ters. 
 
 Legislative acts relating to the bank, that 
 have been adopted by the Diet, are submitted 
 for the Emperor's sanction. 
 
 The bank committee must verify the amount 
 of profits of the bank ; and the Diet decides, on 
 the report of the finance committee, what sum 
 shall be assigned to the State revenue. 
 
 Should it be thought necessary, in the in- 
 terval between two Diets, to modify any rules 
 relating to the operations of the bank, the 
 Emperor may, at the request of the deTegates, 
 authorise the publication of a provisional law, 
 which will be submitted to the approval of the 
 ensuing Diet. 
 
 C— The University. 
 (68) Organisation and Functions. 
 
 The advancement of science, and the pre- 
 paration of young people for the service of the 
 Sovereign and the fatherland, are entrusted to 
 the Alexander University — the only one in the 
 country.
 
 136 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 The university professors are either ordinary 
 or extra-ordinary, or are fellows (docent) or 
 else lecturers. 
 
 The university comprises four faculties — 
 theology, law, medicine, and philosophy, the 
 latter being divided into two sections. 
 
 The examinations of students who have con- 
 eluded their studies are conducted before the 
 faculties, whose certificates are valid as a de- 
 claration of competency to fill the various posts 
 of the civil service. 
 
 The decisions of the faculties are absolute 
 with regard to the scientific competency of 
 candidates for the university professorships. 
 
 The managing authorities of the university 
 are — the chancellor, the vice-chancellor, the 
 rector, and the academical consistory. 
 
 The chancellor, appointed by the Emperor, 
 is the intermediary between the university and 
 the Emperor.* He submits to the Emperor the 
 matters reserved for the Sovereign's decision, 
 
 * For the last 50 years, the Heirs- Apparent^of Russia (Tsare- 
 vitch) have succeeded each other as Chancellors of the Alex- 
 ander University. — (Author's note.)
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 137 
 
 such as modifications of the statutes of the 
 university, the appointment of ordinary pro- 
 fessors and of the chief librarian, after the 
 consistory has presented the candidates. He 
 appoints, on the presentation of the consistory, 
 the other professors and officials, as also the 
 rector, the vice-rector, and the deans of the 
 faculties; he decides certain matters of regula- 
 tion referred to him by the consistory. 
 
 The vice-chancellor, nominated by the Em- 
 peror and attached to the university, gives his 
 opinion first on the matters to be submitted to 
 the chancellor, and himself settles certain 
 current questions. 
 
 The consistory, presided over by the rector, 
 is the centre of the university's authority, and 
 is composed of twelve ordinary professors, six 
 of -whom are of the philosophical faculty, and 
 two from each of the other faculties. For 
 the purpose of nominating professors, of grant- 
 ing subsidies for scientific expeditions, or for 
 deciding other questions relating to the sciences, 
 all the ordinary professors are present at the
 
 138 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 consistory, as is also the case on the election 
 of the rector. 
 
 The ordinary consistory has authority in all 
 branches of university administration ; it has 
 the right of decision within the limits of the 
 statutes and budget ; it submits to the chan- 
 cellor questions reserved for his judgment, or 
 for that of the Emperor. 
 
 The rector of the university is the chief of 
 the chancery; he prepares the questions to be 
 submitted to the consistory; he manages the 
 finances of the university, assisted by a council 
 of professors appointed for that purpose; he 
 exercises, alone, or in council with the deans 
 of faculties, a disciplinary authority over the 
 students. 
 
 The university library is at the same time 
 the national library. 
 
 (69) Legislation ; Budget. 
 
 The maintenance of the university being 
 guaranteed by law, that institution cannot be 
 abolished without the consent of the Diet ; but
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 139 
 
 the Emperor and Grand Duke lias the right, 
 without the co-operation of the Diet, to issue 
 decrees relating to the details of its organi- 
 sation. 
 
 Every project tending to modify the university 
 statutes is examined by the Senate, before being 
 submitted for the Emperor's sanction. 
 
 The autonomy of the university — an autonomy 
 which, for that matter, does not constitute inde- 
 pendence of State authority — it is rather a 
 separate system from the other administrations — 
 does not extend to the budget ; it is the Senate 
 that considers and submits to the Emperor all 
 alterations to be made in the university budget. 
 
 D. — Public Functionaries. 
 
 (70) Qualification. 
 
 None but Finnish citizens may enter the civil 
 service of Finland. The law admits but one 
 exception to this rule, and that is in the case 
 of a foreigner who, by his great and brilliant 
 qualities, might be particularly useful to the
 
 140 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 country ; it is for the Emperor to judge of this 
 matter. 
 
 The competency of candidates is secured by 
 means of examinations held by one of the 
 university faculties, by the Polytechnic Insti- 
 tution, the Agricultural College, or by the 
 Military School. The examinations required 
 for the different branches of the service are 
 determined by regulations and ordinances. 
 A knowledge of the two languages * of the 
 country is one of the conditions of competency ; 
 but there are certain inferior posts for which 
 the law has fixed no conditions of competency. 
 
 Ability, experience acquired in the public 
 service, and civic virtues, give a claim to 
 nomination, whilst inequalities of birth are not 
 to be taken into consideration. 
 
 (71) Irremovability. 
 
 The principle of irremovability, by virtue of 
 which a public official may not be dismissed, 
 except in consequence of a legal sentence of a 
 court, is recognised, by the fundamental laws, 
 
 * Swedish and Finnish. — (Translator's note.)
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 141 
 
 as the general rule for public offices of the 
 
 Grand Duchy. 
 
 This principle is applied, without exception, 
 
 to the office of a judge.* 
 
 With regard to certain administrative and 
 
 military offices, there are some exceptions : 
 
 (a) The so-called confidential posts, such 
 as the higher offices iu the civil service, to 
 which the Emperor has the right of nomina- 
 tion, and, iu the army, the posts of com- 
 manders of battalions, or any place of the 
 same or a superior rank ; 
 
 (//) The police officers and collectors of 
 taxes ; 
 
 (c) The subordinate officials of the rail- 
 ways and canals. 
 
 (72) Salaries, Pensions. 
 
 Every public functionary has a right to the 
 
 * It does not apply to the members of the Department of 
 Justice of the Senate, because their functions arc, in the first 
 place, those of members of the Emperor's council ; it is only 
 by delegation that they exercise the judicial power belonging 
 to the Sovereign. — [Author's note.)
 
 142 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 salary fixed for the post he occupies. But he 
 cannot demand that portion of the salary which 
 is retained on behalf of the pension fund for 
 widows and children ; and he is obliged, in case 
 of temporary leave of absence, to surrender to 
 his substitute a proportion, determined by law, 
 of his salary. 
 
 The Lutheran clergy, with the exception of 
 the bishops who are paid by the State, receive 
 their salaries from their parishioners. 
 
 The district judges receive only a trifling 
 remuneration from the State, their main source 
 of income being a tax paid, in virtue of a 
 special law, by the landowners and house- 
 holders of the district. 
 
 All other officials receive their salaries from 
 the State. 
 
 Some of the offices have, in addition, per- 
 quisites in the shape of certain charges payable 
 by the public. 
 
 At the age of 63, and after 35 years of irre- 
 proachable service, a functionary can claim, on 
 retiring, the life-pension established for the 
 post he has held. Should he leave the service
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 143 
 
 sooner on account of certified ill-health, he has 
 a right to a portion of the pension. 
 
 For certain branches of the service there 
 exist some modifications of these conditions. 
 
 Should a public servant lose his place through 
 the abolition of the post, the law guarantees 
 him a compensation for life. Such a person is 
 obliged to accept any equivalent place that 
 may be offered to him, otherwise he loses the 
 right to the above-mentioned compensation. 
 
 The widows, the sons under age, and the 
 daughters of any age of deceased functionaries, 
 receive a pension from the fund established for 
 that purpose. These funds are supported by the 
 annual contributions of the functionai'ies, whilst 
 some of them are subsidised by the State. 
 
 The regulations of these pension funds are 
 sanctioned by Government, but the funds are 
 managed and controlled by delegates of the 
 respective groups of officials to whom they 
 belong. 
 
 (73) Duties of Public Serena f*. 
 On entering the service every functionary
 
 144 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 must take the oath to serve the Sovereign and 
 the fatherland honestly and faithfully. 
 
 To observe and apply the laws is the general 
 duty of every public servant, who must more- 
 over execute the orders of his chiefs and of the 
 higher authorities. 
 
 If the order given to an official is contrary to 
 law, whom must he obey ? 
 
 The law itself gives no direct answer to this 
 question ; it is a matter of principle. Adminis- 
 trative discipline seems disinclined to admit 
 that a subordinate should have the right to 
 criticise orders given to him by his immediate 
 superior. It is clear that he will be wrong if 
 he opposes the execution of a measure because 
 he himself does not consider it useful. But a 
 functionary, accused of disobeying the com- 
 mands of his superior, will not be punished if 
 it is shown that the command was contrary to 
 law. It is not a blind obedience, but a loyal 
 and intelligent obedience, that the constitution 
 of the State exacts from its servants. 
 
 Judges, however, in the exercise of their 
 functions, are under no obligation to conform
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION. 145 
 
 to orders that may be given to tliem. This 
 rule is likewise applicable to the administrative 
 functionaries whose business it is to decide on 
 the application of a law. 
 
 Discretion is one of the duties of a public ser- 
 vant ; he binds himself by oath not to divulge 
 that which requires secrecy. 
 
 He must abstain from any occupation which 
 could interfere with his public duties.
 
 £11. 
 
 THE COMMUNES. 
 
 (74j The Autonomy of the Communes. 
 
 Whilst the provinces and the bailiwicks 
 merely represent circumscribed parts of the 
 State administration (vide section 63) the law 
 recognises the right of the communes to self- 
 government. 
 
 Within the framework of communal adminis- 
 tration we find all the local interests of the 
 commune — finance, communal property, schools, 
 sanitary matters, legal assistance, and police. 
 The only exceptions are for certain cases 
 which, by virtue of special laws, come under 
 the jurisdiction of the State authorities. 
 
 Communal autonomy is, however, not un-
 
 THE COMMUNES. 147 
 
 limited ; in certain matters the decisions of 
 communal authorities are only valid after being 
 submitted to the governor or to the Senate 
 for approval. Resolutions concerning extra- 
 ordinary taxation for a long series of years, 
 with a special object, or relating to the esta- 
 blishment of sanitary or police regulations, 
 must be referred to the governor. All deci- 
 sions for the purpose either of selling or mort- 
 gaging real estate belonging to the commune, 
 by virtue of a deed of gift, or of fixing or 
 increasing the charges for highways, bridges, 
 &c, require the approval of the Senate. In 
 order to contract a loan for a long term, the 
 rural commune must request the authorisation 
 of the governor, the urban commune that of 
 the Senate. The towns must, moreover, sub- 
 mit to the approval of the Senate the salaries 
 of officials which they are obliged to have — 
 burgomasters, councillors, and some others. 
 
 The popular schools of the communes are 
 subsidised by the State, on condition that they 
 conform to the system established by the law 
 on popular schools. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 (75) The Towns. 
 
 Whoever exercises a commercial or industrial 
 trade or profession, or owns real estate, or lias 
 his legal residence in an urban commune, is a 
 member of that commune. 
 
 The right of administering communal affairs 
 is exercised, in towns with not more than 2,000 
 inhabitants, by the general assembly (radhus- 
 stamma) ; in towns with more than 2,000, 
 by the town council (stadsfullmaktige) or dele- 
 gates of the town. All towns of the first 
 category may decide, in a general assembly, to 
 establish a municipal council provided with this 
 right of administration. 
 
 The general assembly, in each town, deter- 
 mines the amount of income of a person which 
 forms the unit of taxation, 200 marks being the 
 minimum and 400 marks the maximum esta- 
 blished by law. This assessment is taken for a 
 period of from three to five years. 
 
 The franchise is based on taxation — two 
 units of taxation are counted for one vote, three 
 units for two votes, four for foui*, and so on up
 
 THE COMMUNES. 149 
 
 to twenty-five, the maximum of votes for any 
 one member of a commune. Women are not 
 excluded from the suffrage. 
 
 In the towns where there is no municipal 
 council, the general assembly, presided over by 
 the burgomaster, meets either at the times 
 fixed by law or when the bench of magistrates 
 considers necessary. All matters to be sub- 
 mitted to the assembly must be prepared by 
 the bench of magistrates. 
 
 In towns with a municipal council — as is 
 usually the case — the general assembly, as a 
 rule, only meets for the election of town coun- 
 cillors, of committees for the assessment and 
 revision of taxation, and of financial con- 
 trollers. 
 
 The number of councillors is fixed by the 
 general assembly in the proportion indicated 
 by law. It is from 12 to 30 in towns with 
 less than 2,000 inhabitants, from 21 to 40 
 in towns having a population of more than 
 2,000 and less than 10,000, and so on up to a 
 maximum of GO councillors. In certain finan- 
 cial questions of great importance the number
 
 150 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 of councillors must be augmented by special 
 election to a number exceeding by one-lialf the 
 ordinary number. All members of the com- 
 mune are eligible who have the right of voting 
 and are 25 years of age, excepting women, 
 bankrupts, and those accused of or condemned 
 for an infamous crime. 
 
 The governor, the secretary and the con- 
 troller of the province, the burgomaster, the 
 alderman, the police officials, the public prose- 
 cutor, and the communal functionaries subor- 
 dinate to the municipal council, are ineligible. 
 
 Councillors are elected for three years, a 
 
 third of them retiring annually; they receive 
 
 no salaries. They choose from amongst their 
 
 number a president and vice-president. The 
 
 burgomaster, or his deputy, as president of 
 
 the bench of magistrates, must be present at 
 
 the meetings of the council. 
 
 The council may appoint committees for the 
 
 » 
 preparation of business. 
 
 Every town must have a finance office 
 (dratselkammare), charged with the adminis- 
 tration of the finances. The regulations of
 
 THE COMMUNES. 151 
 
 the finance office are submitted to the Senate 
 for approval. The municipal council may also 
 constitute other agencies for different branches 
 of administration ; thus we find a school board 
 in each town. 
 
 The bench of magistrates joins to the func- 
 tions of an administrative tribunal and of the 
 executive and police authority those of super- 
 vising the administrative agencies established 
 by the municipal council. It has the power, 
 moreover, to oppose the execution of the 
 decisions of the municipal council, if it consider 
 them contrary to law. 
 
 The bench of magistrates is likewise charged 
 with the preparation of the annual town budget, 
 which is voted by the town council, or in 
 default of the latter by the general assembly. 
 
 The excess of expenditure over the revenue 
 of the commune and the indirect receipts is 
 met by an income-tax based on the above- 
 mentioned scale. The regulations for taxation 
 are fixed by law. There is a right of appeal 
 from the decisions of the assessment committee 
 to a revising committee.
 
 152 THE PUBLIC L&W OF FINLAND. 
 
 (76) The Rural Communes. 
 
 The organisation of the rural communes is 
 different from that of the towns, especially in 
 there being no magisterial bench nor other 
 
 ■ 
 
 public body of similar authority, and also in 
 that every commune, great or small, may 
 reserve to a communal council (kommunal- 
 stamma) the exercise of the right of adminis- 
 tration, the institution of a council of delegates 
 being merely optional. 
 
 As regards the qualifications required in 
 order to be a member of the rural commune, 
 and to exercise the franchise in it, they are 
 almost the same as in the urban commune. 
 Each unit of taxation counts as a vote. 
 
 The communal council elects its own chair- 
 man, by whom it is convoked ; it has authority 
 in all communal matters. 
 
 The communal vestry (kommunalnamud) is 
 charged with the execution of the decisions of 
 the council and with other functions belong-ino- 
 to an administrative agent.
 
 THE COMMUNES. 153 
 
 It comprises a chairman, a vice-chairman, 
 and, at least, five members, all elected for three 
 years by the communal council. The vestry is 
 charged with the taxation (unless the council 
 has entrusted it to a special committee) and 
 prepares the budget, which is voted by the 
 council. Controllers, nominated by the council, 
 audit its accounts.
 
 XIII. 
 
 ORGANISATION OF NATIONAL 
 DEFENCE. 
 
 (77) General Dispositions. 
 
 Personal military service is compulsory for 
 every Finnish citizen. The army is composed 
 of : (1) Active troops on permanent service ; 
 (2) The reserve, the principal object of which 
 is to complement the active troops in case of 
 war ; and (3) The militia or national guard 
 (landtvarn), composed of all those who have 
 passed through the reserve. 
 
 The annual contingent comprises all young 
 men who, before January 1st of the current 
 year, have attained the age of twenty-one 
 years. 
 
 This contingent is distributed among the
 
 ORGANISATION OF NATIONAL DEFENCE. 155 
 
 active troops and the reserves, the distribution 
 being made by lottery. All those who have 
 been condemned for infamous crimes are ex- 
 cluded from military service. 
 
 (78) Duration of Service ; Exemptions. 
 
 The length of service in the active troops is, 
 in general, three years, followed by two years 
 in the reserve. 
 
 Those who enter the reserve direct are en- 
 rolled in it for five years. During the first 
 three years the reserves are annually called out 
 for training, the total duration of which is 
 three months. 
 
 Each annual contingent forms a class in the 
 army registers. 
 
 The citizens who have finished their service 
 in the reserve are enrolled in the militia, in 
 which they remain till the age of forty. 
 
 The militia may only be mobilised when an 
 enemy has entered the country. It is then 
 formed into national guard battalions, and 
 enrolled into the corps of the reserve troops of
 
 156 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 the depot, who have been re-called to their 
 colours by reason of the outbreak of war. 
 
 Exemption from or postponement of military 
 service is granted on grounds of infirmity or 
 sickness, as well as for family reasons deter- 
 mined by law (only son, &c.) Postponement of 
 service may be accorded for pecuniary reasons 
 and for the completion of studies. 
 
 The length of active service is shortened by 
 a year for those who have passed through one 
 of the higher public schools, by a year and a 
 half for those who have finished the course of a 
 lyceum, or higher commercial or agricultural 
 school, &c, and by two years for students of the 
 university. 
 
 Clergymen are exempt from military service ; 
 doctors, schoolmasters, sailors of the merchant 
 marine and pilots, in the exercise of their 
 duties, are only obliged to serve in time of war. 
 
 A limited number of one-year volunteers are 
 received among the active troops, on condition 
 that they have reached seventeen years of age, 
 and have passed through a lyceum or other 
 higher school. This year of voluntary service
 
 ORGANISATION OF NATIONAL DEFENCE. 157 
 
 is equivalent to the active compulsory service. 
 The enrolment of volunteers may also take 
 place under certain other conditions. 
 
 (79) Enrolment Service. 
 
 Each province of the country has been divided 
 by the Senate into districts of enrolment of 
 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. Commissions, 
 composed of a war commissary as chairman, 
 of an officer and of a magistrate, have been 
 formed for the purpose of carrying out the 
 measures relating to the enrolment of the con- 
 tingents, the drawing of lots, medical inspec- 
 tion, exemption from service, &c. When the 
 commission exercises its functions in the dis- 
 tricts, three members of the communal council 
 are added to it. The medical examination and 
 the drawing of lots take place in the districts 
 between April 15th and June 24th, and the 
 service commences on November 1st. 
 
 There exists in each province a higher com- 
 mission to which complaints may be addressed. 
 Against the decisions of this latter, an appeal
 
 158 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 is allowed to the Department of Justice of the 
 Senate. 
 
 (80) Command and Formation of the Troops. 
 
 The Governor-General is the commander-in- 
 chief of the Finnish army. The general man- 
 agement of military affairs belongs to him. 
 He presents to the Emperor, through the 
 medium of the war minister, the candidates for 
 officers' commissions. He appoints reserve 
 officers to the posts of heads of companies. 
 
 He has, as adjutant, a chief of the staff, who 
 manages the military chancery. 
 
 The Governor-General decides, concurrently 
 with the Senate, as to the mode of distributing 
 the ninety days of training for the reserves 
 over the three years prescribed, also as to the 
 assembling of the active troops in camps of 
 instruction within the country. 
 
 There is, too, a general commander charged 
 with the inspection of the troops and with the 
 management of the minor details of military 
 matters. He is likewise assisted by a chief of 
 the staff and a chancery.
 
 ORGANISATION OF NATIONAL DEFENCE. 159 
 
 None but Finnish citizens can enter the 
 Finnish army. 
 
 In time of peace every officer must retire 
 from the service at the age of from fifty to sixty 
 years, if he occupies a position lower than that 
 of a battalion commander. Officers enjoy the 
 same rights as civil servants. 
 
 The effective strength of the troops in time 
 of peace is fixed by law. Their formation, 
 their distribution over the different arms and 
 their localisation, are decided by the Emperor 
 and Grand Duke on the motion of the Senate. 
 
 The law establishes the order in which the 
 reserves must be called out in case of war, so as 
 to complement the active army, as also to form 
 depot troops. The object of the armed force 
 of Finland is to defend the Throne and the 
 Fatherland, and thus to contribute to the 
 defence of the Empire.
 
 TRANSLATOR'S APPENDIX. 
 
 Translation, from, the Swedish originals, of the Decrees 
 signed by Alexander I., Nicholas I., Alexander II. 
 and Alexander III. 
 
 His Imperial Majesty's Gracious Decree to all 
 mi. Inhabitants of Finland — given at Borgo, 
 
 , 1809: 
 
 trch 
 ■l April 
 
 We, Alexander I., Emperor and Autocrat over 
 all the Russias, &c, &c, &c, Grand Duke of Fin- 
 land. &c, itc., do make manifest: That when We 
 convoked Finland's Estates to a General Diet and 
 received their Oath of Allegiance, We did, on thai 
 occasion, desire, by means of a solemn Act prepared 
 in their presence and proclaimed in the Sanctuary 
 of the .Most High, to confirm and secure to them 
 the maintenance of their Religion and fundamental 
 laws, together with the liberties and rights thai 
 h Estate, in particular, and all Finland's [nhabi- 
 
 M
 
 102 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 tants, in general, have hitherto enjoyed. Moreover, 
 whilst hereby announcing to onr faithful Finnish 
 subjects the above-mentioned Act, We are also 
 desirous of notifying to them that as We have main- 
 tained and adapted Ourselves to the time-honoured 
 custom of this Land, We do deem the Oath of 
 Fealty that the Estates, in general, and the 
 Deputation of Peasants, in particular, did freely 
 and unconstrainedly take, in the name of their 
 brethren at home as well, to be good and binding 
 on all the Inhabitants of Finland without excep- 
 tion. Thoroughly convinced that this good and 
 honest People will ever cherish towards Us and 
 Our successors that same fidelity and unshaken 
 attachment for which It has always distinguished 
 Itself, We shall not fail, with the Almighty's aid, 
 to afford Them further proof of our constant 
 Fatherly solicitude for Their happiness and well- 
 being. Borgo, March 23, 1809. 
 
 (Signed) Alexander. 
 
 His Imperial Majesty's Gracious assurance to 
 all Finland's Inhabitants — given at St. Peters- 
 burg, December 12/24, 1825. 
 
 We, Nicholas I., by God's Grace, Emperor and 
 Autocrat over all the Russias and Grand Duke of 
 Finland, &c, &c, Make manifest : That as We, by 
 the will of Providence, have come into hereditary
 
 translator's appendix. 103 
 
 possession of the Grand Duchy of Finland, We 
 have hereby desired to confirm and ratify the 
 Religion and fundamental laws of the land, together 
 with the privileges and rights each Estate in the 
 aforesaid Grand Duchy, in particular, and all the 
 Inhabitants, in common, both high and low, have 
 hitherto enjoyed according to the Constitution: 
 Promising to preserve all these prerogatives and 
 statutes steadfastly and firmly in their full force. 
 In confirmation whereof, We have signed this Act 
 of assurance with Our own hand. Given in St. 
 Petersburg. December 12/24, 1825. 
 
 (Signed) Nicholas. 
 
 The Declaration of Alexander II.. signed at St. 
 Petersburg ir '^ h 3, 1855, is identical with the pre- 
 ceding, except that the words "according to the 
 Constitution " (enligt Constitution) have been 
 changed into " according to the Statute of the 
 laud" (enligt delta lands Forf attning) .* The last 
 sentence " In confirmation whereof, &e.," has also 
 been omitted. 
 
 The present Emperor and Grand Duke signed a 
 Manifesto exactly similar to that of Alexander II. 
 It is dated March 2 11. L881. 
 
 * Though worthy of notice, this slight alteration has no real 
 significance, the Swedish word " Forfattning " having pre- 
 cisely tlf same meaning as '■ < lonstitution." •( Vote.)
 
 164 
 
 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 BUDGET OF THE GRAND DUCHY OF FINLAND 
 
 FOR 1888. 
 
 Revenue. 
 (1) State Propert}- ; 
 
 Finnish mark; 
 
 s.» 
 
 Lands 
 
 ... 
 
 650,000 
 
 
 Forests 
 
 ... 
 
 1,100,000 
 
 
 Railways (net income) 
 
 ... 
 
 2,300,000 
 
 
 Canals (gross income) 
 
 ... 
 
 501,000 
 
 
 Interest on capitalised funds 
 
 ... 
 
 1,194,000 
 
 
 Interest and repayment of 
 
 sums 
 
 
 
 advanced for purchase of land 
 
 650,000 
 
 
 Bank of Finland (profits of 
 
 issue) 
 
 249,541 
 
 6,644.541 
 
 (2) Direct Taxation : 
 
 
 
 
 Land tax ... 
 
 ... 
 
 4,396,700 
 
 
 Personal taxes 
 
 ... 
 
 1,860,000 
 
 
 Trading licenses 
 
 ... 
 
 355,000 
 
 « r.i l too 
 
 (3) Indirect Taxation : 
 
 
 >J jlJ 11J - \J 
 
 Customs 
 
 ... 
 
 12,500,000 
 
 
 Excise 
 
 ... 
 
 4,360,000 
 
 
 Tobacco ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1,100,000 
 
 
 Light-dues on shipping ... 
 
 ... 
 
 550,000 
 
 
 Playing cards 
 
 ... 
 
 25,000 
 
 18,535,000 
 1,240,000 
 
 (4) Stamps 
 
 . . . 
 
 *•• . . . 
 
 (5) Post office (gross income) 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1,100,000 
 
 (6) Miscellaneous 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 867,861 
 
 (7) Surplus of 1887 
 
 Total Revenue 
 
 7,665,000 
 
 
 42,664,102 
 
 * The Finnish mark equals 1 franc.
 
 translator's appendix. 1 65 
 
 EXPENDITURE. 
 
 (1) Government : 
 
 Grant to H.I.M. the Emperor and 
 
 Murks, 
 
 Grand Duke 280,000 
 
 Allowance and office expenses of 
 
 Governor-General 201,600 
 
 Senate 1,154,200 
 
 Secretary of State's office at St. 
 
 Petersburg 294.900 
 
 Diet 27:»,000 
 
 2,205,700 
 
 (2) Law and Justice ... ... 1,219,800 
 
 (3) Military Forces 6,291,501 
 
 (4) Central and Provincial Administrations : 
 
 Inland section 3,734,598 
 
 Finance section 2,4.">2,019 
 
 Control section 380,794 
 
 Si ction of public worship and in- 
 struction 118.200 
 
 Section of agriculture and public 
 
 works 825,420 
 
 7,511,031 
 
 (5) Ecclesiastical and Educational Department : 
 
 Subventions to established church 431,643 
 
 Sciences and fine arts 199,853 
 
 I blsingfors University 699,226 
 
 Popular schools* 1,231,210 
 
 Higher educational establishments 2,33 1,310 
 Schools for the blind, and deaf and 
 
 dumb 92,667 
 
 Polytechnic 137,350 
 
 Other professional establishments 259,186 
 
 Miscellaneous 21,973 
 
 ,407.424 
 
 22,635,456 
 ir populai
 
 16G 
 
 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 ... 
 
 22,635,456 
 
 (6) Hospitals and Prisons 
 
 ... 
 
 2 579,479 
 
 (7) Public Works and Agriculture : 
 
 
 
 Maintenance of canals 
 
 2.39,000 
 
 
 Railway construction 
 
 3,540,000 
 
 
 Registration of lands 
 
 242,800 
 
 
 Grants to agricultural societies ... 
 
 99,129 
 
 
 Schools of agriculture 
 
 306,500 
 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 459,600 
 
 4,887,029 
 
 
 
 (8) Pensions aud Allowances 
 
 ... 
 
 1,524,623 
 
 (9) Public Debt : 
 
 
 
 Interest 
 
 2,978,011 
 
 
 Sinking fund 
 
 1,412,989 
 
 4,391,000 
 
 
 
 (10) Public Buildings and Miscella- 
 
 
 
 neous Expenditure 
 
 >cnditure 
 
 2,346,876 
 
 Total Ex] 
 
 38,364,463 
 
 PUBLIC DEBT OF THE GRAND DUCHY ON 
 
 JANUARY 1, 188S. 
 
 4.^ per Cent. Interior Loan 
 
 4 per Cent. Russian Loan 
 
 Erlanger Lottery Loan (bearing no interest) 
 
 4.} per Cent. Rotbschild Loan 
 
 4 per Cent. Rothschild Loan ... 
 
 Marks. 
 8,220,100 
 
 4,640,000 
 
 4,860,346 
 
 25,275,692 
 
 26,914,000 
 
 Total 69,910,138 
 
 Most of the above loans are at the present time 
 quoted above par on the Berlin Bourse.
 
 translator's APPENDIX. 1()7 
 
 Railways. 
 
 Finland lias 1540 kilometres of State' railway, 
 
 representing a capital of 120 million marks. A 
 
 new line between Kuovola and Kuopio will shortly 
 
 be opened. Its length is 249 kilometres, the cost 
 
 being reckoned at 17 million marks. Several other 
 
 railways are in course of construction. Besides the 
 
 above there is one short line belonging to a private 
 
 company. 
 
 Canal s. 
 
 The canals, all made by the State at a cost of 
 about 19 million marks, are of great importance for 
 maintaining communication with the vast lakes in 
 the interior. The most remarkable is the Saima 
 Canal, which connects the lake of that name with 
 the Gulf of Finland. Its total length is 59 kilo- 
 metres ; and, as the difference between the levels 
 at the extremities is 250 feet, no less than 28 locks 
 were rendered necessary, many of which had to be 
 built in the granite rock that abounds in the 
 country. 
 
 Telegraphs and Telephones. 
 
 All the principal towns and villages throughout 
 the C rand Duchy are connected by telegraph, which, 
 however, is under the control of the Russian 
 (Jo\ eminent. Private telephone companies have 
 reached an astonishing degree of development, espe- 
 cially in Eelsingfors, the capital (pop. 65,000),
 
 168 THE PUBLIC LAW OF FINLAND. 
 
 where probably more use is made of this institution 
 than in any other town of Europe of corresponding- 
 size. 
 
 Population. 
 
 The population of Finland has doubled since the 
 commencement of the century, and now reaches 
 nearly 2| millions, of whom, in round numbers, 
 about 2 millions are represented by the native 
 Finns, 350,000 by descendants of the Swedish 
 settlers, 40,000 by Russians, 2000 by other 
 foreigners* (mostly Germans), and 1000 by Lap- 
 landers, these latter living in the extreme north 
 only. 
 
 Education. 
 
 Education is almost universal, only two per cent, 
 of the children of both sexes being unable to read 
 or write. Considering the sparsity of the popula- 
 tion and the climatical difficulties, this splendid 
 result speaks volumes for the zeal of the Finnish 
 Government and clergy alike. 
 
 * The great majority of the Russians and other foreigners 
 are naturalised Finnish subjects. — {Note.) 
 
 Westminster : Printed by Nichols and Sous, 25, Parliament Street. 
 
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