Legal Education in the Russian Empire in the 18th century

This paper examines the efforts to organize legal education in the Russian Empire undertaken by the Russian government in the 18th century. Primary use was made of research findings from scholars researching the system of public education in Russia in the period between the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as the statutory framework relating to the topic. By and large, the Russian Empire did not yet have in place a robust system of public education in the 18th century. This, in turn, reflected on the pace of the development of legal education in the country. At the same time, the idea of developing this area was quite a popular one, including at the governmental level. However, legal education was only in its infancy throughout the 18th century. One of the reasons behind this, arguably, was that at that time there was no social need in the Russian Empire for training future lawyers. The provision of legal education sought to fulfill a purely utilitarian goal - to train future functionaries capable of ensuring the proper operation of government institutions. To this end, legal training was first organized by the government at collegiums, where young people could combine training with public service (in entry-level positions). Afterwards, jurisprudence classes were introduced in cadet corps. With the opening of Moscow University, the nation's first law department was also established. The teaching of legal disciplines in the Russian Empire left much to be desired for a long time, with the primary reasons including severe shortages of instructors and textbooks and instruction often being conducted in a foreign language.