Abstract
Finnish law graduates today have to face the demands of globalisation; already on the first day at work, in both public and private sectors, they are expected to be able to work across jurisdictions and in the international sphere. Employers seem to demand that students develop this ability during their education by studying other ways of understanding and practicing law. Internationalisation is achieved by subjecting students to legal theory, public and private international law, comparative law, European law, and international activities such as exchange programs, moot court competitions, or internships abroad. This report discusses why and how Finnish legal education has become more international (or global and transnational) since the 1950s. Finland’s joining of various international organisations since the 1950s clearly as resulted in increased influence of international legislation (e.g. human rights) and certain changes in legal education. Addressing primarily a reader unfamiliar with Finnish legal culture and education, this chapter strives to answer the following questions: What subjects are considered international or purely national? How have the legal academy and profession internationalised, respectively? How has internationalisation been debated? How does internationalisation manifest in practice? And (by way of conclusion), is internationalisation of legal education needed for the global lawyers to meet today’s national priorities?
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Notes
- 1.
On the emergence of the welfare state but on Finnish legal history more broadly, see: Kekkonen (2012), pp. 79–80.
- 2.
See Memorandum 1973:30 on the revision of Finnish legal education, published in 1973. This 330-page memorandum produced by a group of legal scholars and practitioners is a comprehensive analysis of the past, present and future of Finnish legal education. It served as a basis for drafting a new decree on legal education in the early-1970s.
- 3.
Lakimies has been published since 1903 and Oikeus since 1980. They both take a broad approach to legal issues.
- 4.
Speech on given in an event organised by the Finnish Lawyers’ Association on 26 January 2015 in Helsinki.
- 5.
On the influence of American legal education, especially master of laws degree programs, in the world in general and so called transition countries in particular, see Brand and Rist (2009).
- 6.
Some thoughts on what a ‘global approach to law’ could mean, see Letto-Vanamo (2012), pp. 92–94.
- 7.
Information obtained from the Coordinator of International Affairs in the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law, in January 2015.
- 8.
This information was obtained from the International Affairs Coordinator at the UEF law faculty in January 2015.
- 9.
This information was obtained from the International Affairs Coordinator at the UEF law faculty in January 2015.
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Tiittala, T. (2016). Keeping Up with the Changing Legal Environment: A Report on the Internationalisation of Legal Education in Finland. In: Jamin, C., van Caenegem, W. (eds) The Internationalisation of Legal Education. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29125-3_6
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