The present article analyzes the basic principles on which the Upper Legislative Chamber of the Russian Empire was formed, generally similar to the upper legislative chambers of the parliaments in some European and Asian countries. The most attention is paid to the corporate principle of acquisition reform of the Upper Legislative Chamber of the Russian Empire (it was named the State Council) its features, aspects of legal regulation and also the changes associated with the right of participation of the representatives of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the legislative activity of the Upper Chamber of the Russian Empire. The article considers the functional consequences of this model on the example of the Church and the Academic Groups in the State Council structure. The authors note that the basic principles and methods of formation of the State Council were enshrined in the Constitutional Laws of 1906-1910 but cannot be assessed as optimal. However, the basic principles were adequate to the tasks of the initial formation period of the Dual Monarchy in Russia, and domestic experience in corporate representation allows us to raise the question of constitutionalization of this institution.