The political and legal views of Mikhail Speranskiy in the Rules on the Siberian Kirghiz

Author(s):  
Roman Yu. Pochekaev

Mikhail Speranskiy, an outstanding Russian statesman and legislator of the first half of the 19th century, was Governor-General of Siberia from 1819 to 1821. The main result of this moment in his career was the government reform in Asiatic Russia as well as the formulation in 1822 of a set of codes – rules and regulations – for Siberia and its peoples. Speranskiy tried to incorporate his theories on state and law into these codifications. One of these codes was the Rules on the Siberian Kirghiz which provided for a reform of the government system of the Kazakhs (‘Kirghiz’ in the Russian pre-revolutionary tradition) of the Middle Horde, who were under the control of Siberian regional authorities. The Middle Horde became a place where Speranskiy could experiment with his ideas. Previous researchers have paid more attention to the consequences of the promulgation of the ‘Rules on the Siberian Kirghiz’ for the later history of Kazakhstan. This paper clarifies which specific ideas of Speranskiy on state and law the Rules on the Siberian Kirghiz reflect, and answers the question of whether they had practical importance. A substantial part of the ‘Rules on the Siberian Kirghiz’ was, in fact, ineffective and would not be used in practice because of Speranskiy’s lack of knowledge of the Kazakhs, and his underrating of their political and legal level. At the same time, the authority of Speranskiy in 19th century Russia as legislator and reformer was so high that his Rules on the Siberian Kirghiz remained in force until the 1860’s, when the next substantial administrative reforms of the Kazakh steppe took place.


Author(s):  
J. Monballyu

AbstractIn Belgium, the Royal Prerogative of pardoning convicted criminals was legally embedded in the Constitution of 14th February, 1831. It allowed the King to reduce a sentence or to grant a discharge of a sentence given by a court. Any Royal decision to pardon had, however, to be countersigned by a member of the Government, who took on the political responsibility of the decision towards Parliament. In most cases, the task fell upon the Minister of Justice. During the 19th century, in both Houses of the Belgian Parliament, the Minister of Justice was repeatedly questioned about the way the prerogative of pardoning was exercised. This usually occurred when a death sentence had been commuted to a lesser sentence. In such cases, members of the Chamber of Representatives or of the Senate would ask for an explicit justification of a particular pardon. Only exceptionally would a Government Minister be challenged about the legality of a decision either granting or refusing a pardon. Because of the constitutional convention which prevents exposing directly the political position of the King, Jules d'Anethan (Minister of Justice 1843–1847) defended the Minister's right to refuse to give any reasons for a decision regarding a pardon. He only acknowledged Parliament's right to question a Minister about his general policy on pardons. In his view, it was not within Parliament's powers to ask a Minister of Justice why a pardon had been granted or refused in a specific case. That view tended to limit considerably a Minister's responsibility for Royal pardons: it became no more than an empty shell. Another Minister of Justice, Théophile De Lantsheere (1871–1878), took an opposite view. He refused to state his general policy on pardons, but he accepted to explain the specific reasons why a Royal decision granting or refusing a pardon had been made. In his view, a pardon was in the first place a matter for the Minister's conscience. Parliament was therefore entitled to assess his particular actions. However, in the line of his predecessors' and successors' view, he believed that the reasons why the King had insisted on a pardon or refused to grant a pardon should not be mentioned to Parliament. Pardon was an issue between King and Government, not between King and Parliament. As the saying goes in Belgian constitutional law: The Crown should never be laid 'bare'.


2020 ◽  
pp. 95-111
Author(s):  
Punsara AMARASINGHE

The modern international law is considered an offshoot of European intellectual contributions as its basic foundation is deeply imbued with the political and social upheavals took place in European history. As an example, the Westphalian order emerged in the culmination of thirty years war in 1648 was regarded as the most pivotal mile stone in modern history of international law. Yet the European domination and its intellectual contribution to the development of international law systematically excluded non-European nations from international law and its protection, which finally paved the path to use international law in the 19th century as a tool of legitimizing the colonial expansion. This paper seeks to trace the historiography of modern international law and its dubious nature of disdaining non-Europeans and their civilizational thinking. Furthermore, this paper argues how European historical encounters carved the map of international law from a vantage point, which gave an utter prominence upon the European intellectual monopoly. The results emerge from this paper will strongly suggest the need of an alternative scholarship to unveil the history of international law.


Rangifer ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Anderson

This article reviews biological and anthropological literatute on wild and tame Rangifer to demonstrate the powerful effect that this species has had on the imaginations of biologists, social scientists and local hunters. Through identifying a general 'human interest' in Rangifer, the author argues that there is great potential for these three communities to work together. To demonstrate this idea, the paper reviews several examples of successful and unsuccessful 'alliances' between local peoples and both natural and social scientists which have had a fundamental impact upon the history of these sciences. The paper examines recent theorerical models which suggest that human action is a major factor in the behaviour and ecology of the animals. The paper also analyses the ideas of many indigenous people for whom there is no categorical difference between semi-domesticated, semi-sedentary and migratory Rangifer through comparison with many 'anomalous' texts in English and Russian language wildlife biology. By reviewing the history of scholarly interest in Rangifer, the author argues that contemporary models of Rangifer behaviour and identity could be 'revitalised' and 'recalibrated' through the establishment of that dialogue between scientists and local peoples which so characterised the 19th century. Such a dialogue, it is argued, would help mediate many of the political conflicts now appearing in those districts where Rangifer migrate.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-127
Author(s):  
Alexandru Popescu

The scientific interest for the study of the Romanian-Finnish relations considerably increased during the last years. Within this trend, this article focuses on the Romanian-Finnish cultural relations and briefly presents the most important events and moments in the history of these relations, from the 19th century to the present. It also includes a selective bibliography on the Romanian-Finnish cultural relations, with works published both in Finland and Romania. The article stresses the need for further research in the field of Romanian-Finnish cultural relations, noticing that when the quality of the political relations was negatively affected by different historical circumstances, the cultural contacts have been maintained and even developed.


Antiquity ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (291) ◽  
pp. 184-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo Ruiz ◽  
Alberto Sánchez ◽  
Juan P. Bellón

IntroductionIn this article we set out to analyse, from an archaeological point of view, a political problem which, as demonstrated by current debate, including acts of violence, goes well beyond archaeology. Throughout the 19th century, and especially in its latter half, a centralist political model for Spain was developed in which a political balance could not be found between the State and [lie autonomous traditions of the varions regions of the Iherian Peninsula. As a result of this failure, legitimation programmes began to be constructed towards the end of 19th century, based on the history of the peoples of these regions. This led to a search in protohistorical archaeology [Iberians, Celts, Tartessians, etc.) for a possible solution to the political problems caused by a lack of institutional agreement between states and regions.


Author(s):  
Conrado Rodríguez-Martín ◽  
Rafael González-Antón ◽  
Mercedes Martín Oval ◽  
Candelaria Rosario ◽  
Mercedes Del Arco ◽  
...  

Two Guanche mummies from Tenerife along with a complete archaeological collection, were purchased by Argentinean businessmen at the end of the 19th century. The two mummies were kept at the Museo de Ciencias Naturales in the tourist city of Necochea (Buenos Aires Province) since the 1920’s. These specimens were restituted to the island of Tenerife (to the Museo Arqueológico de Tenerife, Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros of the Cabildo de Tenerife-the government of the island) in September 2003, following two years of negotiation between Spanish and Argentinean officials. The key part of the agreement was carried out by the President of the Organism along with the Canarian Institute of Bioanthropology and the Archaeological Museum, and the Municipality of Necochea and the National Government of Argentina. This paper deals with the story of the mummies and the steps followed by both parts to a successful restitution: indeed, an important development in the history of mummy studies and archaeology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 169-180
Author(s):  
Igor V.  Orzhekhovsky ◽  
Valentina A.  Teplova

The article examines the influence of the «Polish question» arising as the result of the division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the government policy pursued on Byelorussian lands in the first half of the 19th century. Remaining unchanged in its essence, the forms and methods of this policy changed depending on the political situation in the Byelorussian-Lithuanian region. The «Polish question» manifested itself most vividly in the class, legislative, national-religious policy and in education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-174
Author(s):  
Victoria Arakelova ◽  
Nelli Khachaturian

The paper is a part of a wider research on the Ismaili identity, peculiarities of the Ismailis’ self-identification in various parts of the world under different historical circumstances. The ambiguous status of the Ismailis in Afghanistan turned to be particularly problematic by the end of the 19th century when the Pashtuns became dominant in the traditionally Ismaili-inhabited areas. In a hostile milieu, under severe persecutions, the local Ismaili identity acquired a tendency of unification with other ethno-religious identities, the principle of taqiyya having been widely spread. Since then, the Ismailis became especially dependent on the political situation in Afghanistan and the policy of its rulers towards ethnic and religious minorities. The War of 1979-1989 turned to be the most dramatic episode in the history of the Ismaili community in Afghanistan when its very survival appeared to be questioned: Ismaili intellectuals left the region, and lower social layers got involved in drug cultivation and trafficking. Supporting any of the conflict’s sides could have led to a community tragedy, possibly to its complete annihilation. The limited information we obtained, including the memoirs of the Afghan War veterans, demonstrate the identity split in the Ismaili community of Afghanistan whose members were fighting on the opposite sides of the armed conflict.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-319
Author(s):  
Qing Han

The tradition of English classical public finance thinks the government are out of the society and can intervene it. Base on former thought and the market failure theory, the mainstream public finance has a clear tendency to oppose the market and the government. This approach not only ignored the political functions of government but also cannot explain the PPP and NPM. The cameralism’s view of the government provided new ideas for explaining this issue. Through the analysis and comparison of the financial thoughts of Britain and Germany before the 19th century, this paper clarifies the evolutionary logic of British fiscal thought, compares the similarities and differences between the British and German financial thoughts. Besides this paper also discusses the roots of these two traditions view of the government. The fiscal theory of cameralism not only reflects the subjective initiative of the government but also conforms to the reality of our country. These traditions interdisciplinary research tendency should also be re-emphasized.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Pochekaev

In his monograph The Burden of the Empire. The Administrative Policy of Russia in Central Asia. Second Half of the 19th Century, D. V. Vasilyev analyses imperial Russian policy in the region, focusing on the administration of the steppe provinces and Russian Turkestan between 1865 and 1891. This approach allows the author to observe the evolution of views of the central and regional authorities responsible for the administration of these regions and compare broader imperial policy. The monograph is innovative, as it provides a parallel examination of Russian policy in the steppe provinces and in Russian Turkestan, with the author analysing draft regulations in chronological order. The measures taken to adapt the administrative system in both regions are considered at specific stages of their development. Vasilyev refers to new archival materials, which should be of interest both to researchers of the imperial Russian policy in Central Asia and specialists in the administrative and legal history of the Russian state. Careful and comprehensive analysis of the sources offers the reader an informed perspective on these documents and makes it possible to trace specific aspects and changes in imperial policy.


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