Encyclopædia iuridica fennica

Abstract

In Finland, a major legal encyclopaedia, Encyclopædia Iuridica Fennica (EIF), was
compiled in the 1990s. The project was initiated and directed by the most important
non-profit jurist association in Finland, Suomalainen Lakimiesyhdistys. EIF consists
of seven thematic volumes (in each volume the articles are placed in alphabetical
order) with a separate index volume. Besides practical purposes, EIF also has
cultural aims: the work codifies the totality of the Finnish legal culture. This is why
all longer articles include a historical and comparative survey, and one whole
volume is consecrated to legal theory, legal history, legal sociology, etc. The present
paper describes the properties of this encyclopaedia and the lessons of its compiling:
the aims of the project, the organization of its preparation, its structure, the principles
of redaction work and the timetable of the work are dealt with. At the end of
the paper, there is a summary where the positive and negative experiences gained
are described.