Professor of Contract Law and Tort Law, internationally renowned expert in Finnish contract and Scandinavian tort law, frequent international guest lecturer, and self-admitted Lord of the Rings fan: Juha Karhu’s many professional and personal achievements are as varied and colourful as his infamous collection of ties. Though based in the University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, however, Professor Karhu’s legal interests spread far further afield, both intellectually and geographically: to China, its laws and its legal culture.

“I have a genuine interest for China and Chinese legal culture”, Professor Karhu says, “and researching it has been a deeply attractive and wonderful experience”. As one of Finland’s leading academics in pioneering Chinese legal education and collaboration, he has been at the forefront of promoting the exchange of legal ideas between Finland and China. However, he says the credit should not go to him. “My students came to my office one anonymous afternoon in February 2004 and made an ultimatum”, he says. “They wouldn’t leave before I promised to do something to improve their knowledge in Chinese law.” And Professor Karhu has certainly kept his word. Among other initiatives, he has created a program in China Law Studies, in partnership with one of China’s leading tertiary institutions, Renmin University, and founded the China law ‘Center of Expertise’, both in the University of Lapland. In addition, he was Project Leader of the recently-concluded RUCHIN PhD Project, and is coordinating the University of Lapland’s “Legal Cultures in Transnational World” PhD Program.

Indeed, even before that fateful February afternoon a decade ago, it was clear that Professor Karhu’s academic work has been in response to and orientated towards the development of his students. Such is the high esteem in which he is held by students in the University of Lapland, that earlier this month the student association organised a seminar marking his 60^th birthday and his contribution to Finnish legal scholarship.

It is this focus on student education and development, as well as his decades of experience as a legal scholar, which Professor Karhu is bringing to bear in his position as a Board Member of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture. The Center, he believes, is a timely and valuable initiative. “Comparisons in law and legal development between Finland and China”, he says, “will offer a fruitful source for much discussion and improved understanding in the coming years.” It is this emphasis on what he calls a “fruitful interaction” between Finland and China that most interests Professor Karhu. This is especially the case given how quickly law and Chinese legal thinking are  evolving. Indeed, his own research suggest a new “Chinese legal mind is developing”, which he sees as combining a strong, distinctly Chinese legal mind with “living relations” to great Chinese legal traditions.

For Professor Karhu, the Center represents a unique opportunity for Finnish legal research to be influenced by modern Chinese legal thinking. In Finland, he says, “the border lines between various legal fields are rather fixed”. In the Chinese context, however, “much is possible, and a great deal of new legal innovations are being established.” By way of example, Professor Karhu notes new Chinese Tort Law, “where both the protected values and interest and the construction of liability have been legally developed in a ground breaking way.” Another area in which Finland can learn from China is its experience in what he calls “the multicultural interaction in law”, by which he means “the experiences in China about how to cope with the numerous practical issues of multicultural interaction in the family, regional and national dimensions.” At the same time, the Finnish legal system, with its strong emphasis on the respect for justice and legal protection for common people, is another area of potential mutual exchange.

Professor Karhu’s strong academic interest in investigating the developing relationships between Finnish and Chinese law, society and culture, however, are grounded firmly in practical reality. “I think law and legal professionalism always owes its core and essence to the practical life”, he believes. Professor Karhu’s focus on Chinese law and Chinese legal culture, consequently, has always had a strong practical emphasis. For example, he says that during his China law study trips he and his team have always visited Nordic companies doing business in China. “We have also benefited greatly by hearing about practical experiences. I think law in books – which is studied at universities – must be balanced with law in action.” And in China, Professor Karhu adds, “there is a lot of law in action to learn about!” Ultimately, he says, it is a shared pragmatic and goal-orientated attitude that has, and will continue to, facilitate the exchange of both theoretical knowledge and practical experience, both within the Center’s activities and more broadly between the two countries.

Given his many professional responsibilities and passion for both Finnish and Chinese law, one may ask how he has managed to hold the Finnish record of watching the extended version of The Lord of Rings the most times (an unbelievable 14, and counting). “Well”, he says, “my wife says I watch too much TV.”

 

Author: Stuart Mooney