Newspapers and the Legal Aid Question
The number of newspapers in Finland began to grow during the first half of the nineteenth century, and the concentration eventually shifted from Turku, which had been the capital until 1812, to the new capital Helsinki.[484] Especially since the 1860s, newspapers began to be politicised as tensions grew with regard to Finland’s relationship with Russia, Finland’s constituÂtional status, and the status of the Finnish and Swedish languages.
Some newspapers were liberal, others conservative, some supported the Fennoman agenda, and others promoted Svecoman ideas.[485] Newspapers participated in public debate especially through their editorials, and their role increased as political activity in society grew. The Helsinki-based, libÂeral newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad was a forerunner in this respect. Regardless of the newspapers’ agendas, the judiciary and administration were topics that were frequently discussed in editorials across the field.[486] These included proposals to restructure the judiciary, the qualifications of officials in general and lay judges in particular, as well as the publicity of trials.[487]The first time the question of legal aid was taken up in Finnish newspaÂpers was on 6 October 1883 when the liberal Helsingfors Dagblad reported that the Swedish capital Stockholm was going to appoint an advocate for the poor (Sw. fattigsakforare). Two weeks later, the Turku-based Abo Tidning reported on Stockholm’s plans.[488] Helsingfors Dagblad returned to the topic on 30 October in a longer piece, which reported on Stockholm’s plans and referenced experiences from Gothenburg in SouthÂWestern Sweden, where a poor’s advocate had been employed in 1873. The poor’s advocate offered legal advice and could represent his clients in both civil and criminal cases.
The newspaper remarked that the idea behind such a plan is “wise and right” (Sw. sund och riktig). Larger towns, it advoÂcated, should think about appointing such advocates in Finland, too— especially as the experience from Gothenburg was so positive. The newspaper quoted the justice burgomaster of Gothenburg who stated that legal aid had not only helped those receiving it, but it had also promoted justice and peace in society. The present situation, so the newspaper conÂtinued, put poor and inexperienced people at the mercy of unscrupulous lay advocates, so-called liquor advocates who were often incompetent and litigious. Thus, the poor’s advocates would also benefit the courts which would not have to deal with dubious shysters as much.[489] [490]A few days later, the conservative newspaper Ostra Nylandts addressed the same issues in an article “Justice for the poor,” a reprint of a story that had appeared in Swedish newspapers. The problem of “liquor advocates” was discussed at length. These shysters were portrayed as making their livÂing at the cost of the poor and striving only to prolong the process to increase their fees. At the end of the story, Ostra Nyland added its own comment, stating that the problem of liquor advocates was pressing here, too, and that it was “high time” to consider appointing advocates for the poor in Finland.[491] [492] One should note that the fear of shysters and the probÂlems they caused for poor people were not only discussed in late- nineteenth-century Sweden and Finland. In Germany, for example, the problem of “corner advocates” (Ger. Winkeladvokatenw), usually laymen practising advocacy as a business, was also seen as a reason for establishing legal advice centres.[493] In Russia, too, the unscrupulous practices of so-called underground advocates were challenged by consultation bureaus providing low-cost or free legal advice to the poor.[494] Where lay advocacy existed, the problems it caused were also acknowledged, and legal aid was seen as a remedy to the situation. In December 1883, the newspapers Morgonblndet, Hufvudstndsblndet, and Nyn Pressen reported about Stockholm’s plans on legal aid.[495] After a couple of months’ silence, on 1 May 1884, Helsingfors Dngblnd addressed the issue again in an editorial. It stressed the question of equality before the law: Equality before the law has since times immemorial been an important prinÂciple in Swedish-Finnish law; as has been the demand that protection of the law be accessible to poor and rich alike, to the day labourer and minister alike. However, for this principle to be realised, unawareness of the law and the impossibility to find assistance cannot be a hindrance to pursue one’s rights.[496] It went on to repeat the worries about shysters and referenced Gothenburg’s good experiences and Stockholm’s decision to appoint two advocates for the poor. Moreover, Malmo in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark had now also taken up the question of legal aid. Finally, the newspaper stated that especially the town councillors of the capital, Helsinki, should address this pressing issue.[497] The fact that the Stockholm council was discussing the question of legal aid in 1883 was a catalyst that prompted Finnish newspapers to report on the issue. As Finland faced similar problems, for example, regarding “liquor advocates,” it made sense to look to neighbouring Sweden—especially as Gothenburg had already set an example for a decade. It is also worth noting that the question of legal aid transcended other divisive factors in Finnish newspapers. The liberal Helsingfors Dagblad and the conservative Ostra Nyland both expressed the same conÂcerns and supported appointing poor’s advocates.