Harbin Law School

Since the beginning of the XX century. Harbin was the center of the largest Russian diaspora in East Asia. In 1899, about 14 thousand people lived in it, in 1903 - more than 44 thousand people, and by the end of the 1910s. there were 70 thousand people. By 1914, Russians accounted for 64.5% of the total population of Harbin. The Russian population of Harbin had a high percentage of literacy and education (53.9%), which was typical of large railway settlements. By international standards, Harbin was approximately at the same literacy rate as Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, while Russia officially recognized that literally just over 1/5 of the population is literate. It was very important for Russian Harbinians that their children receive a decent education. In 1912, at least 9% of the male population of the city were students. By 1910, the CER opened 12 Russian educational institutions, which were considered the best schools in the Russian Far East. Their graduates were given the opportunity to continue their education at universities in the Russian Empire , so the absence of such institutions in Harbin did not appear at the beginning of the 20th century. a serious problem for Russian families.

In the early 1920s, the situation changed. Harbin accepted thousands of refugees. In 1918, there were 38,024 Russian citizens in the city, and by January 1, 1921 their number increased by 4.5 times and together with the Russian population of the CER railroad exclusion zone amounted to 288,225 people. However, in the early 1920s there was a wide re-emigration of Russians from China to other states. And already in 1923 the population of this Russian city decreased to 127 thousand people. However, there were many young people in Harbin. One of the concerns of refugee families was to provide children with higher education. In general, in the early 1920s. in Harbin Russian educational institutions trained 6 thousand people. All of them still had to get a profession. But due to a break in ties after 1917, young people were not able to continue their studies at Russian universities. In Harbin, there was a Russian student society (1917-1935), which brought together those young men and women who did not have time to complete their higher education at the institutes of the empire due to war and revolution: its members consisted of more than 1,000 people.

However, for the organization of the university there were not enough teaching staff. For the first time, the question of organizing a higher education institution in Harbin was posed in 1915. But the real steps to create it were made only in 1918. On June 27, 1918, the "Committee on the Establishment of a Higher Education Institution in Harbin" was formed under the leadership of the director of the Commercial Schools of the CER Railway N.V. Borzova. A committee went from the committee to Tomsk to discuss with the professors of Tomsk University and the Tomsk Technological Institute the possibility of organizing a Polytechnic in Harbin with an economic department. But the professors refused to go to Harbin to lecture.

Due to the difficult political situation on the CER, it was possible to open a university only in the early 1920s. Despite the needs of CER for technical specialists, the first university of Harbin was humanitarian in nature. According to the historian of the education system Harbin N.P. Avtonomov, the future Faculty of Law arose by chance. The lack of lawyers with oriental training in the CER railway exclusion zone and emigration from Russia played a decisive factor. The fact is that as a result of the defeat of Kolchak in late 1919, a large group of professors from the Omsk Agricultural Institute and other universities appeared in Harbin. The residents of Harbin asked them to read a series of informative lectures, as it was in the tradition of Harbin life. And the teachers had the idea of ​​systematic lecturing - as for the first year of high school. They turned to N.V. Borzov with a request for organizational and material assistance. As a result of this cooperation, the Higher Economic and Legal Courses arose, which began work on March 1, 1920 under the first-year program of Russian law faculties. Lectures were given on the general theory of law (workshops were also held), Roman law, state law, political economy, and the history of economic doctrines. In the future, it was planned to deploy them either to the Faculty of Law or to the Commercial Institute. In 1922, the courses were transformed into Harbin Law School.

It is worth talking about two stages in the history of the university. 1920-1929 - this is the stage of development of a higher educational institution in an ascending line, when its curriculum was developed, the structure and sources of financing were determined, the teaching staff was formed, and a management system was formed. From 1929 to 1937, a downward trend was clearly traced, which led to the liquidation of the university.

The origins of the courses were their initial leader, N. V. Ustryalov . Lectures were given by G.K. Gins, N.I. Petrov, M.V. Abrosimov, N.A. Strelkov. By July 1920, a first-year program was completed with 20 weeks of classes. The total number of students was 98 people. (75 students and 23 volunteers).

In 1920-1921 The teaching staff was replenished with qualified personnel: N.I. Mirolyubov (professor, civilist, graduated from Kazan University), V.V. Engelfeld (professor of the State Duma and the Beijing Institute of the Russian Language), V. I. Surin (graduate and teacher of the General Academy Staff, head of the Economic Bureau of the CER) and ME Gilcher (known practicing lawyers, attorney, a graduate of the University of Novorossiysk, according to Roman law specialist, student of Heidelberg, Margburskogo and the University of Paris), GK G ns (Roman and commercial law). In the academic years 1921-1922, such prominent lawyers as V. A. Ryazanovsky , N. I. Kokhanovsky (specialist in the history of finance and financial law), V.V. Lamansky, N.I. Nikiforov and N.D. Mironov . In 1925, the faculty invited Mikhail Yakovlevich Parchment - a former professor of St. Petersburg University and Petrograd University, the permanent dean of the Faculty of Law of the Higher (Bestuzhev) Women's Courses, who lived in exile in China - to the economic department of the department of modern civil law. However, for material reasons M. Ya. Parchment refused the offer and did not come to Harbin.

In 1921, N.I. Mirolyubov was elected Dean.

In 1922, the Council of Courses established relations with the State Far Eastern University. Harbintsy asked for their graduates to take test exams at the university (that is, to issue full diplomas). The GDU approved a special Test Commission consisting of six professors of the GDU and Courses under the direction of V. A. Ryazanovsky.

According to N.P. Avtonomov, since November 1922, when Primorye became part of Soviet Russia, relations with the State Duma were lost, and the Harbin Testing Commission of the Law Faculty assumed the right and responsibility to issue diplomas. In 1925, its composition was approved by the board of the Union of Russian Academic Organizations Abroad in Prague.

Two years of the existence of the Courses have confirmed their viability and need for the region. In 1920-1922 they began to receive subsidies from the Chinese Eastern Railway, the Harbin Public Administration, the railway assembly and the Exchange Committee — 8 thousand gold per each. rub. in year. The Council of Professors was given the opportunity to work out a budget and determine a curriculum for the coming years. And on July 8, 1922, the Higher Economics and Law Courses were renamed the Faculty of Law.

The Council of Faculty Professors was guided by the program and procedure of the General University Charter of 1884 with subsequent additions. It was an example of a typical Russian law school. 12 departments are formed: Roman law and legal proceedings, civil law, commercial law, criminal law, history of Russian law, state law, international law, administrative law, financial law, canon law, political economy and statistics, encyclopedia and history of philosophy of law.

However, the coexistence of the Russian colony of Harbin and the CER with an alien ethnocultural environment left an imprint on the formation of the faculty program. Since 1923, a local history bias and elements of oriental studies have been introduced into teaching - the teaching of Chinese law: state and administrative, civil law and process, criminal law and process, and commercial law. After the restoration of relations with the USSR, the university curriculum included a cycle of disciplines in Soviet law.

In 1924, V. A. Ryazanovsky was elected dean of the faculty.

Since 1923, the first business trip of the lecturer of the faculty associate professor Abrosimov to Europe took place. On January 25, 1924, the first six students graduated successfully from the full course of law.

In 1924, in connection with the conclusion of the Soviet-Chinese agreement, the Soviet administration took control of the CER. The administration left the faculty the right to use the premises at the Commercial School of the Road and expanded financial assistance. Credits were made to the library, business trips, publishing. The library of the law faculty for 1929 totaled up to 4000 volumes.

Of great importance at the Faculty of Law were the public meetings of the Council of Professors. In addition to the dean's report on the state of affairs at the faculty in the reporting year, scientific reports were also delivered to them. For example, an act of speech by Professor G. G. Telberg, “The Idea of ​​War in the New International Law” (March 1, 1927), reports by G. K. Gins, “Law is a Factor of Progress” (January 12, 1925) and “New Law” (29 November 1937).

After recruiting all 4 courses in 1924, the annual budget of the university amounted to 30 thousand evils. rub. in year. And in 1925, the Faculty of Law opened the Economics Department. The number of students is growing (in 1925, the number of students with cadets exceeded 1 thousand people). The Board of the Committee exempted up to 25% of students from the fee for listening to lectures. Until the beginning of the 1930s, management was tolerant of students' monetary debts. Thus, the Faculty of Law opened up the opportunity for higher education to the poorest youth.

The number of teachers has increased. By the mid-1920s The teaching corporation totaled more than 80 people. The whole team conducted a large research work. In 1925, a collection of scientific papers, “Proceedings of the Law Faculty,” began to be published. In 1925, V.V. Engelfeld held a scientific mission to America and Europe to establish ties with universities in the world and defend his master's thesis in Paris , as in 1928 N.I. Nikiforov to Prague .

March 1929, when Order No. 107 of the Directorate of the Chief Executive of the PWS on the conversion of the private Law Faculty into the state one was issued, this is the starting point of the second stage. The university received a new name - "Faculty of Law of the Special Region of the Eastern Provinces." There were changes in management: it was rebuilt in the image of Chinese universities. The Committee, the board, and the professorial disciplinary court were liquidated. Chinese rector Zhang Gochen was appointed, who claimed the dean. V. A. Ryazanovsky refused to hold this post, and he was replaced by V. V. Engelfeld. The Council of Professors remained. But the Chinese administration decided to divide the faculty into Russian and Chinese parts.

The faculty of law as a special Russian university on the European model ceased to exist. The situation was difficult. The Russian branch was deprived of the support of the CER. Moreover, the Chinese leadership has embarked on squeezing Russian students out of the institute: first-year students had to listen to lectures in Chinese, and older students were required to pay off all debts. As a result, the first course was not recruited. At the same time, a parallel faculty was created from students of preparatory Chinese courses. After their graduation, the students were not accepted to the Russian faculty: they formed the first course of the Chinese Economic Department.

In the fall of 1929, there was already talk of a Russian professors moving to Shanghai and liquidating the university. But a compromise was found: teachers give lectures at the Chinese faculty, and Russian students get the opportunity to graduate.

However, life has made its own adjustments. Just a month after the reform, it turned out that Chinese students were not prepared to listen to even simplified lectures in Russian. And the administration agreed with the teachers that the Russians would be allowed to graduate, and the Chinese would listen to lectures in a year. As N.P. Avtonomov wrote: “Professor’s fees dropped to the size of pocket expenses, but students got the opportunity to complete their education.”

Thus, the Faculty of Law was divided into Chinese and Russian-speaking parts. However, the Russian branch retained its academic autonomy, as the Chinese administration avoided participating in the fate of emigrant students. She seemed interested in preserving the teaching staff, so she reserved the right to oversee only financial and economic issues. Despite the difficult financial situation, the Faculty of Law continued to publish its Izvestia. However, if before 1928 there were 8 volumes, now - until 1938 - only 4.

In 1929, two (the last in the history of the faculty) missions to Europe took place: G.K. Gins in Paris defended his master's thesis in civil law, and N.E. Esperov passed the master's exam there and received the title of privat-docent.

In the future, the faculty itself had to confer the titles of extraordinary professors and privat-docents, given the duration and nature of teaching at universities and the feedback of experts on the scientific work of candidates. The faculty was very difficult to work. He was deprived of the wonderful free premises at the Commercial Schools. The salary was systematically delayed. In February 1930, prof. V.V. Engelfeld resigned from the post of dean, and he was replaced by N.I. Nikiforov (until 1937).

With the appearance in 1932 of Manzhou, new perspectives emerged in the work of the Russian Law Faculty. The Japanese returned to the Russian administration the functions of financial control over the university. The faculty even got a free room again. However, the largest Russian university in Manchuria entered its liquidation period. The critical point was the split in the professorial corporation in June 1934 between groups emigrating and sympathetic to the USSR (not factions!). On July 1, 1934, professors and teachers who accepted Soviet citizenship or came from the USSR (V. A. Ryazanovsky, E. M. Chepurkovsky, N. V. Ustryalov , M. N. Ershov, A. A. Kamkov, V. I Surin, A. I. Citizens, N. A. Setnitsky, N. N. Trifonov), left the faculty. An attempt to replace the departed colleagues with new members was unsuccessful.

The position of the faculty was also affected by the impoverishment of students and the ebb of emigrants from Harbin. To save the situation, the faculty leadership attempted to merge March 1, 1936 with the Pedagogical Institute. But this did not ease the situation, and on January 1, 1937 the Pedagogical Institute ceased to exist, and on July 1, 1937, the Faculty of Law was closed. His Commercial Department was revived to some extent at the Higher Commercial Institute at the Bureau of Russian Emigrants in Manchuria, opened in April 1937, and with which the Faculty of Law helped to develop a curriculum. After the latter was closed, G. K. Gins, K. O. Zaitsev, N. I. Nikiforov, I. I. Gogvadze and L. G. Ulyanitsky moved to the Higher Commercial Institute).

The structure and curriculum of Harbin Law School was not unchanged. The Faculty of Law consisted of two departments: legal and economic. The curriculum of the Legal Department was a copy of the curricula of pre-revolutionary law schools and remained virtually unchanged from 1925 to 1937, with the exception of courses in Chinese law added in 1923, and from 1926 to Soviet law. Students were offered courses in various fields of law (Roman law, general theory of law, state, civil, criminal, administrative, church, commercial, financial, international law, criminal justice), the history of Russian law, the history of philosophy of law, political economy, statistics. Oriental disciplines (Chinese civil law and Chinese criminal law) were introduced in the last year. In their fourth year, their teaching took 1/4 of the required study time. Of the additional courses, a number of commercial and railway disciplines were offered, as well as English and Latin languages ​​and any courses of the Economic Department ^[3] .

Such a variety of subjects could serve as a rebuke to the new institution. However, anticipating the bewilderment of the lawyers of both the old and the new (Soviet) schools about this, V. A. Ryazanovsky in 1924 explained this versatility: there are no concepts of “old” and “new” law; the right is one and develops. And for the higher school of any branch of science, the main task is not so much to give new knowledge, how to generalize the basic principles of science and introduce the student to the scientific method. “Old” Russian law was in effect among the Harbin emigrants, Chinese law must be studied, since the specialist will have to work in China, and 150 million people lived under Soviet law, and you need to familiarize students with the state of the Soviet legislation of their homeland.

The economic branch consisted of a railway commercial and eastern economic. Subsequently, the first was divided into railway and commercial. From the 1st to the 3rd courses, the compulsory subjects for both cycles were the same and included disciplines in various branches of law (the volume of practice is the same as in the legal department), as well as an expanded program in economic and commercial subjects (political economy, history) economic studies, the history of economic life, general history, general theory of law, statistics, commercial calculations, economic geography, accounting, Russian history, state law, civil law, administrative law, sociology, business science, commercial law, international law, criminal law, economic policy, Russian commercial correspondence, English and Chinese). Since the fall semester of 1925, for the first courses of both departments of the Faculty of Law, spoken Chinese was introduced as part of the elective. However, for the eastern economic cycle, its study was mandatory: 5 hours a week from the 1st to the 3rd year with practical exercises in the 3rd year. Nevertheless, many students of other specialties enrolled to lecturers I.G. Baranov and B. Tszun-mian to study the Beijing dialect.

Specialization in the economic department was finally determined in the 4th year. Now the cycle programs did not match at all. Future railway workers and economists studied complex commercial disciplines and subjects in railway business (higher mathematics organization, private enterprise, special course in political economy (banks and exchanges), civil and commercial process, railway business, railway bookkeeping, railway industry and English).

Oriental students devoted their study time only to courses with an oriental bias. In the late 20s and early 30s. they were supplemented by the ethnography of East Asia, the history of Chinese culture, state and civil law of Japan, international relations of East Asia, its routes of communication, the economy of economy, trade and industry of Manchuria. Many of them appeared in connection with the Japanese occupation. Since the second half of the 1920s. Orientalists-economists had the right to choose Chinese or Japanese for study. However, according to teachers of the Institute of Oriental and Commercial Sciences, by the end of the 1920s. not a single educational institution, except the Institute of Applied Mathematics, taught Japanese. That is, it can be assumed that the Japanese language was not taught at the Faculty of Law until 1932. The Chinese language course was taught for 5 hours before the 4th year, and after that - 10 hours a week. There were a number of additional courses, including Siberian studies, the worldview of the peoples of the East, the history of Mongolia, the common law of the Mongols, Chinese criminal law and economic disciplines. It was possible to study subjects of the Legal Department.

The curriculum of junior students of the eastern economic cycle was based on the study of commercial and historical-legal disciplines, which was almost completed by the 4th year. Simultaneously, teaching an English and one of the eastern languages ​​was given an almost equal number of classes. At the 4th year, the picture is completely different: the emphasis in training is on subjects of Oriental studies (30% of the entire program). The number of classes in the English language is reduced, but twice as many hours are provided for learning the Oriental language. In general, Orientalism allocated 81% of the last year of study time, that is, intensive training takes place in many areas of humanitarian knowledge (law, history, economics, linguistics of the East), which would allow university graduates to integrate into the local labor market.

In the general program of the East Economic Cycle, Oriental studies occupied 37% of the study time. The study of commerce and jurisprudence was allocated respectively 24% and 25%, and English - 14%. ^[3] According to V. A. Ryazanovsky, the goal of the opening of the eastern economic cycle in 1925 was to train educated specialists in various fields, and mainly in the field of economics. «Наша цель скромнее и практичнее, — подчеркивал декан, — для экономиста, желающего работать на Дальнем Востоке, мы даем сведения… и будем учить его разговорному и затем уже современному литературному языку (китайскому, ниппонскому), не стремясь делать его глубоко образованным лингвистом».

Практическая направленность обучения на Юридическом факультете вызвала большой интерес у харбинцев. Так первый набор слушателей в 1920 г. составил 98 чел. (75 студентов и 23 вольнослушателя). В вуз принимались лица со средним образованием, обоего пола и без ограничения возраста.

Обучение было платным и составляло в начале 1920-х гг. 300 романовских руб. в год, затем — 150 йен. В 1930-е гг. плата колебалась от 130 до 140 маньчжурских долл. (около 100 зол. руб).

Таблица 1 ^[4]

Данные таблицы свидетельствуют о количественных изменениях численности студентов: её росте и падении. Рост численности студентов стабильно продолжался в течение почти десяти лет, и в 1929 г. она по сравнению с 1920 г. увеличилась почти в 6,5 раз. Наибольший рост приходился на 1926/1927 и 1927/1928 гг., когда число студентов увеличилось в 7,8 и 8,5 раза по сравнению с 1920 г. Уменьшение количества студентов начинается с 1930 г., и в течение трёх лет их численность держится на уровне 188—183 чел., то есть по сравнению с 1929 г. она упала более, чем в 3 раза. Снижение продолжается и в последующие годы, и в 1937 г. На юридическом факультете Харбина обучаются только 70 студентов, и данный показатель на треть меньше по сравнению с данными набора в первый год функционирования вуза. А если сравнить численность учащихся 1937 г. с данными за 1927—1928 и 1928—1929 гг., то она составила соответственно 8,4 % и 11 % от состава студентов тех лет.

Рост численности студентов в 1920-е гг. связан с оживлением хозяйственной жизни в полосе отчуждения КВЖД и увеличением спроса на специальное, в том числе и ориентальное образование. С 1929 г. после подчинения вуза китайским властям и запрета набирать первый курс приток слушателей иссяк. С образованием Маньчжоу-го , когда Юридический факультет получил некоторое послабление от японских властей, вероятно, набирается 1-й курс и увеличивается количество студентов.

Интересно распределение слушателей по специальностям: в 1925 г. юристов было набрано 250, а экономистов — 260 чел. В 1926—1927 гг. первых было уже меньше в 1,4 раза (180 чел.), а число вторых выросло в 1,6 раз и достигло 412 чел. В 1927—1928 гг. на юридическом отделении училось всего 140, на экономическом же прирост составил — 55 % (228 чел.) Как нам представляется, произошёл определённый спад спроса на классическое юридическое образование, и наблюдалось увеличение спроса на экономистов с практическими юридическими и ориентальными навыками. ^[5]

Качество и требования к подготовке специалистов были достаточно высоки. В 1922 г. ГДУ согласился признавать свидетельства (зачёты и практикумы) Юридического факультета. С 1925 г. такое же согласие высказали другие советские вузы ( Иркутский , Томский и Московский университеты).

Большой спрос на специальности Юридического факультета и доверие к качеству знаний были обусловлены тем, что в его стенах работали замечательные учёные и педагоги, большинство из которых закончило вузы в центральной части России и прослушало курсы лучших зарубежных университетов (в Кембридже , Гейдельберге , Париже, Марбурге , Берлине , Страсбурге и Лондоне ). В разные годы на факультете работало более 80 чел. На Юридическом факультете преподавали 16 профессоров, 2 доцента и 5 приват-доцентов. ^[6]

Юридические дисциплины преподавали такие корифеи права, профессора, как Г. К. Гинс, К. И. Зайцев, Н. И. Миролюбов, М. Н. Ершов, В. А. Овчинников , Н. И. Кохановский, В. А. Рязановский, Г. Г. Тельберг, Н. В. Устрялов, В. В. Энгельфельд и другие. Профессор В. В. Ламанский читал экономическую географию. Экономические и коммерческие дисциплины находились в ведении доцентов М. В. Абросимова и А. Н. Витта и преподавателей И. И. Серебренникова (одного из известнейших сибиреведов и статистиков), Н. А. Сетницкого, Е. Е. Яшнова. Железнодорожное дело читали Н. Х. Нилус и А. А. Неопиханов.

Английский язык студентам преподавали И. Г. Круглик и Ф. Г. Уйтик (оба выпускники английских вузов). Исторические науки читал проф. Н. И. Никифоров, а богословие — епископ Хайларский о. Димитрий (Н. Ф. Вознесенский). Выпускник Страсбургского университета, доктор филологии по санскритской словесности, проф. Н. Д. Миронов преподавал латынь. В 1923 г. Юридический факультет пригласил выдающегося японоведа, профессора Восточного Института и ГДУ Е. Г. Спальвина прочесть курс новейшей истории Японии. Но он успел прочесть только вступительную лекцию и скоропостижно скончался.

Для преподавания востоковедения в 1924 г. Юридический факультет пригласил И. Г. Баранова, известного в Маньчжурии синолога, который за всю историю вуза читал курсы китайского языка, китайской литературы, истории культуры Китая, торговых обычаев Китая, географии и этнографии Китая и Маньчжоу-Го. Китайский язык преподавали также С. Н. Усов, и В. Г. Зейберлих, окончившие Юридический факультет.

В 1924—1925 гг. приват-доцент В. И. Сурин, ещё с 1921 г. читавший статистику, начал преподавать экономику Маньчжурии, экономику и географию Восточной Азии.

С 1926 г. на Юридический факультет пришёл профессор Е. М. Чепурковский. С 1912 по 1918 гг. Е. М. Чепурковский являлся приват-доцентом Московского Университета, в 1923—1926 гг. — профессором ГДУ. В 1928—1929 гг. выпускник Санкт-Петербургского университета Г. Г. Авенариус, преподаватель харбинского Института Ориентальных и Коммерческих наук, читал историю Восточной Азии.

Другой выпускник Факультета Восточных языков Санкт-Петербургского университета К. В. Успенский с 1928 г. до 1937 г. преподавал китайский (а по другим сведениям — маньчжурский) язык, введение в изучение китайского языка и историю Китая. И, наконец, с 1936 г. на Юридическом факультете работал Л. Г. Ульяницкий, окончивший Факультет Восточных языков, который вёл курсы сибиреведения, экономики и истории Японии вплоть до закрытия вуза. ^[7]

Первым деканом факультета был профессор Н. В. Устрялов . В конце 1920 года на посту декана его сменил профессор Н. И. Миролюбов . Осенью 1924 года деканом был избран В. А. Рязановский . Последний пробыл деканом до 1929 года . 2 марта 1929 года в исполнение обязанностей декана (но уже при ректоре Чжан Гочене) вступил профессор В. В. Энгельфельд . 30 января 1930 года В. В. Энгельфельд в заседании Совета профессоров «в виду болезненного его состояния заявил о своём отказе от должности декана». Совет, «выразив благодарность за его деятельность, постановил принять его отставку и поручить вступить в исполнение обязанностей декана профессору Н. И. Никифорову , а его заместителя — доценту А. А. Камкову и ходатайствовать перед китайской администрацией об утверждении их в означенных должностях».

25 января 1924 года состоялся выпуск первых шести студентов, благополучно окончивших полный курс юридического факультета. Всего с 1923 по 1937 гг. состоялось 117 сессий Испытательной комиссии. Юридический факультет окончили 297 дипломированных специалистов, из которых 169 чел. окончили юридическое отделение и 128 чел. — экономическое (коммерческий, восточно-экономический и железнодорожный выдали соответственно 60, 43 и 25 дипломов). Получили высшее образование на Юридическом Факультете 206 мужчин и 91 женщина.

Наибольшее количество студентов было в период расцвета юридического факультета в 1925—1929 годах. При этом число обучающихся на экономическом отделении было несколько большим, чем на юридическом отделении. Так, в 1925/1926 году на юридическом отделении было 250 студентов, на экономическом отделении 268 студентов. Всего через факультет прошло свыше 2600 студентов.

К числу наиболее выдающихся его выпускников можно отнести окончившего в 1923 году приват-доцента юридического факультета Н. Е. Эсперова , Е. Н. Рачинскую (1926 год) — впоследствии писательницу, поэтессу Н. С. Резникову (1929 год), К. В. Родзаевского , М. А. Матковского и других.

Юридический факультет Харбина постоянно отличался академическим качеством образования. Совет профессоров стремился поддерживать на факультете высокий уровень преподавания. Подобное созвездие педагогических кадров с огромным опытом исследовательской работы добилось и весомых научных результатов. Об этом говорят современные зарубежные и российские исследователи. Так М.Раев, американский историк, считает, что «уровень обучения и исследований столь высок, что вклад факультета в науку сохранил актуальность и по сей день». Раев М. Россия за рубежом. История культуры русской. эмиграции. 1919—1939.- М., 1994.-С.89)

Преподаватели Юридического факультета помещали свои работы во многих периодических изданиях Харбина, выпускали отдельные труды. Но основным изданием, публиковавшим их исследования, являлся журнал «Известия Юридического Факультета». Это был сугубо академический журнал. Всего с 1925 г. по 1937 г. вышло 12 томов «Известий…». Постоянного редактора у журнала не было. В разные годы его редактировали Г. К. Гинс, Н. В. Устрялов, В. В. Энгельфельд и В. А. Рязановский. До 1928 г. «Известия…» выходили регулярно — по 1-2 тома в год. Всего было выпущено 8 томов. С 1928 г. по 1937 г. — только 4. Это зависело от наличия материальных средств: до 1928 г. Факультету выделялись большие средства от КВЖД (в 1925 г. бюджет Факультета составлял 170 тыс. зол. руб.), а с 1929 г. он должен был сам изыскивать деньги. Этим фактором объясняется и уменьшение общего объёма журнала. При этом приходилось изобретать способы, как собрать средства (пожертвования преподавателей, сборы от коммерческих объявлений, субсидии Биржевого комитета, устройство платного вечера-диспута).

По подсчётам М. А. Дорофеевой, «Известия Юридического Факультета» в целом содержали более 3800 стр. Из них на долю научных исследований приходилось не менее 3500 страниц. Всего было опубликовано 78 работ (в целом, 81 исследование, но одно из них присутствует в трёх томах). Из них 32, то есть более 40 %, были посвящены тем или иным проблемам востоковедения, в том числе 27 — Китаю и 5 — Монголии.

По мнению историографии, очень большую ценность в научном плане имеют труды юристов факультета по праву и законодательству народов Восточной Азии.

На Юридическом факультете происходил интенсивный культурный обмен. Он, как и прочие русские вузы и техникумы Харбина, принимал на обучение лиц других национальностей. Ещё в 1925 г. при факультете были созданы курсы для китайской молодёжи, где китайцы обучались русскому языку и русским юридическим терминам и после их окончания зачислялись на 1-й курс. Принцип открытости для китайской молодёжи высших учебных заведений, созданных в Северной Маньчжурии представителями русской интеллигенции, был заложен Юридическим факультетом и стал обязательным правилом для всех институтов Харбина.

За 17 лет высшее образование в стенах Юридического факультета получили 19 китайцев и маньчжур, 1 японец, 1 кореец и 1 германский подданный. Причём, дипломы заслуженно выдавались и лицам почтенного возраста китайской и маньчжурской национальности, занимавшие иногда высокое служебное положение.

Поэтому неслучайно, что именно Юридический факультет Харбина, созданный русской профессурой, дал жизнь Маньчжурскому юридическому факультету.

• Русский юридический факультет в Праге

• На северо-востоке Китая