scholarly journals Formation of the System of General Courts of the Russian Empire: St. Petersburg Judicial District during the Formation and Reorganization of 1865-1878

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (91) ◽  
pp. 10-18
Author(s):  
A. A. Sapunkov ◽  

The article considers the history of the formation of the system of General courts of the post-reform St. Petersburg judicial district on the territory of three provinces of the Russian Empire: St. Petersburg, Novgorod and Pskov. The system of formation of General district courts (judicial chamber, 6 district courts) and subsequent reorganization of the district structure was studied. In 1878 was disbanded on 2 County court (Ustyinsky bilozers'kyi) and simultaneously open the Cherepovets district court, were reallocated border jurisdiction within the County and transferred part of the territory in the jurisdiction of the Moscow judicial district. System interaction in the opening of "new ships" with the re-formation of the bodies of the Imperial law to the court (prosecutors and judicial investigators) or the judiciary (bailiffs, lawyers, notaries). Little-studied issues are pointed out: mergers and disbanding of pre-reform courts, unrealized plans to open judicial bodies: 1) selection of buildings for the district courts in St. Petersburg province in the cities Luga, Peterhof, Gdov, Yamburg and New Ladoga; 2) the comments of the Minister of justice against plans by the placing district courts in the province of Novgorod in the cities of Cherepovets and Somyn; 3) unrealized remarks by the interior Minister with a proposal to include the Tikhvin uyezd, Novgorod province to the jurisdiction of the St. Petersburg district court, and Gdov County of St. Petersburg province to the jurisdiction of the Pskov regional court. The legal framework regulating the system of formation of the post-reform St. Petersburg judicial district was studied. We used archival materials that were not introduced into scientific circulation in publications on this topic. The final conclusion is that the collected material makes it possible to develop a systematic understanding of the process of implementing the judicial reform of 1864.

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
Victoria Vengerska ◽  
Oleksandr Zhukovskyi ◽  
Oleksandr Maksymov

Right-bank Ukraine became part of the Russian Empire after the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1792. The integration of these territories into the new administrative, economic and cultural space caused certain difficulties. In the first half of the 19th century, the region had the highest percentage of peasant serfs and the elements and institutions of the non-existent state (including the courts) still existed and kept functioning. The defeat in the Crimean War of 1853–1856 imposed on the Russian Empire the need for radical reforms in all spheres of life. The wave-like periods of cooperation-confrontation between the Russian authorities and the local nobility brought about regional provisions in virtually all the reforms, launched by the peasant reform of 1861. The judicial reform and the emergence of new institutions and practices had to resolve existing problems, disputes, and punish criminals legally. The social estate (stanovy) character of the society was reflected in the establishment and activities of the volost courts, as the lower courts. The district courts were a completely novel phenomenon in the legal culture; their functioning was ensured by professional lawyers on the basis of new judicial statutes. The purpose of this article is to consider the court practices and functioning of penitentiary establishments in Right-Bank Ukraine (on the example of Volyn province) under implementation of the judicial reform through the prism of social and estate factors, based on the cases of the Zhytomyr District Court and the reports of the heads of local prisons. The methodology of the research includes the tools of social history and the so-called "new imperial history" that have helped to trace the adaptation of new legal practices to the socio-ethnic peculiarities of Right Bank Ukraine. The methods of history of everyday life and history of reading have been employed to consider the under-researched component of the penitentiary system of the Russian Empire, namely the libraries and their funds. This component should be attributed to the novelty of the suggested research findings. Conclusions. Estate privileges were maintained in the Russian Empire throughout the "long 19th century". Belonging to a higher social status practically made the Polish nobles equal in the rights with the imperial officials, endowed with power. During court decisions and sentencing, an ethnic criterion was not taken into consideration or had secondary significance. Many years of placing the peasants outside the legal field developed a steady arrogant attitude of the power-holders towards the representatives of this social estate. Though the peasants dominated in the social structure of the Empire population, they remained the most prevalent class. Since the early 20th century, some shifts in perception and attitudes towards peasantry were observed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46
Author(s):  
T.V. BOGDANOVA ◽  

The purpose of the article is to review the activities of the civil governor M.M. Oreus in the service in the Vyborg (Finland) province in 1799–1804. The guarantee of an effective mechanism of admin-istration creation as for over than 200-year period of the Russian Empire existence, as for modern conditions, it was and still is the effectiveness of the government policy on the ground. Based on this key task, the most important condition for its implementation at different stages of the development of the country was the effective selection of personnel for the post of a governor. It was the governor responsible for everything happened in his province, and the government expected him to under-stand the tasks assigned to him and take definite steps to solve them. The urgent management problem in these conditions was the strength of administrative resources capable of retaining their effective power in cases of emerging extraordinary situations, including which, will be discussed in this article. Emergency situations in the border areas occurred regularly and required the ob-servance of certain administrative traditions that influenced the success of the governor's initiatives in state tasks implementation. It will be all the more important to consider the history of the life and activities of one of the governors of the Finland (Vyborg) province, Maxim Maksimovich Oreus, who was at the head of this territory from December 14, 1799 to April 9, 1804.


Author(s):  
Alla Namazova

The author analyses the initial period of the history of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Kingdom of Belgium, from 1853 onwards. The essay is based on the study of diplomatic documents from the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire. The author focuses on Russia’s important role in the international recognition of the independence of Belgium: after the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the former was one of the great powers which guaranteed, through international legal acts, the existence of a young neutral Belgian state. The close dynastic ties between the House of Romanov and the royal family of Belgium, House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, especially between the Romanovs and the first King of the Belgians, Leopold I. The latter took up a military career in the Imperial Russian Army (1812–1815), gained a certain degree of credibility at the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg; the personal correspondence established between the two ruling Houses helped to strengthen Russian-Belgian relations. Official documents of this period demonstrate that Brussels was strategically important as an information centre where information from the nearest European capitals was accumulated. That is why the Russian Foreign Ministry approached the selection of diplomatic personnel for the Russian representation in Brussels with special care, as evidenced by the guidelines of the Foreign Ministry to envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary cited in the article. The author also gives close attention to the life and work of the Belgian envoy in St. Petersburg, Count Camille de Briey, and the first Russian envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary in Brussels in 1853–1869, namely Count Mikhail Khreptovich and Prince Nikolay Orlov, as well as Alexandr Rikhter, who contributed to the development of friendly relations between the two countries.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Smykalin ◽  
Tat'yana Bazhenova ◽  
Natal'ya Zipunnikova

The second part of the anthology contains legal acts published in the XIX century: extracts from the Code of laws of the Russian Empire, acts of peasant, judicial reform, University Charter, provisions of the 80-90-ies of the XIX century and other materials. The documents are arranged in chronological order.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Olha Posunko

Novomoskovsk is the city in the Dnipro Ukraine, for which the period of the late 18th and the first half of the 19th century became very significant. This is the beginning of the city in its modern sense, the beginning of many institutions functioning, the time of inclusion in the new administrative-territorial system within the Russian Empire. The specified period due to many objective circumstances is not sufficiently provided with scientific sources, and therefore requires the use of all possible archival materials. This article describes the information capabilities of the forensic documentation of the above-mentioned chronological boundaries for the study of the history of Novomoskovsk and Novomoskovsk district. Attention should be paid to the descriptions of the lost funds of the Novomoskovsk Lower Zemsky court, the Novomoskovsk and Pavlograd Lower Reprisal, Novomoskovsk District Court, and the Novomoskovsk City Hall, which were stored in the State Archives of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. These materials often mention the names of famous landowners in the county: Rodzianko, Alekseev, Gersevanova, Kochubey, Faleeva, Miloradovich, Losev, Mizko, Magdenka. Brief information about them in the names of the cases makes it possible to follow (at least partially) the history of ownership, sales, inheritance of the place; conflict situations they were involved in or their peasants. As a separate example, the case of the Yekaterinoslav Chamber of Civil Cases of 1810–1811 is presented by the inhabitant of Novomoskovsk Anna Skalon. The noble family of French descent, Skalon, is associated with the region, some of the new evidence presents this trial of the dispute over the legacy of her husband, Fyodor Scalon. Particular attention should be paid to the report on the inspection of the cities of Yekaterinoslav province in 1833 by the order of the governor N. Longinov. This document captures the following facts: in 1833, 7 096 peoples lived in Novomoskovsk (slightly less than in the province of Yekaterinoslav); there were 1 429 wooden houses in the city; 65 merchants. The report also contains information about the hospital, the prison of the city; characterizes the work of various institutions; gives an idea of the level of crime in the county. It was concluded that the documents of the judicial institutions of Yekaterinoslav region should be involved in the study of various problems of regional history.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1131-1142
Author(s):  
Dmitriy M. Legkiy ◽  

The article and the published documents study the previously unknown documents on the judicial reform. Drawing on archival documents discovered in the Stasovs family archive (from the manuscript department of the Institute of Russian Literature) and in the secret archive of the Third Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancery (from the State Archive of the Russian Federation), including correspondence of D. V. Stassov with the chairman of the Yekaterinoslav criminal court chamber, A. S. Kuznetsov (1862–66), the publication reveals the unknown pages of the history of the judicial reform of 1864 in the Russian Empire. The sources highlight the activities of the commission for preparation of the reform under (initially) quite difficult conditions. The details of the judicial reform preparation are given against the background of constant struggles between conservative and liberal camps (with the gradual switchover of high-ranking officials from one camp to another, depending on the Emperor’s will), as well as between different groups and directions. Thus, the adoption of final decisions was delayed due to uncertain, evasive position of its members, as it happened during discussions of individual bills in the State Council. Attention is drawn to the reaction of officials of the Third Department, when perlustrating letters of the Councilor of State, Chief Secretary of the Governing Senate and Chairman of the Criminal Court Chamber of Yekaterinoslav containing quite immodest thoughts on the “behind-the-scenes preparation” of the Judicial reform. D. V. Stasov’s letters were actually weekly diary entries recording the preparation of the 1864 judicial reform, his tone picturesque, descriptions of ministers and high officials accurate and caustic. Such evidence from very authoritative sources provides a wealth of material on the attitude of the Imperial Court and the heads of state institutions (the Ministry of Justice, the State Council, the Senate, the Committee of Ministers, the Second Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancery) involved in decision-making concerning judicial projects, which has not been adequately covered in historical and legal studies. Publication of D. V. Stasov's letters (from the archival materials of the Stasov family fond) can significantly expand the source base on the history of preparation of the judicial reforms in the Russian Empire in 1860–64.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-99
Author(s):  
Alexey Kovalchuk

Introduction. The creation of a system of cassation courts of general jurisdiction organized on an extraterritorial basis and other significant changes in modern cassation proceedings quite obviously mediate a new wave of scientific interest in the history of the development of a system for verifying judicial acts in the domestic tradition of civil procedure. In this regard, the experience in carrying out the Judicial Reform of 1864, in particular, enforcement of the Statute of Civil Procedure regularized the cassation institution for the first time, became relevant. At the same time, despite the fact that many modern scientific works are devoted to the study of the Statute of Civil Procedure of 1864 itself (including possibilities for appealing court decisions provided for thereby), the studies of foregoing drafts also stay relevant. The draft of 1863 is one such example. This article is devoted to the analysis of this draft in accordance with the declared topic. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to describe the draft Statute of Civil Procedure of 1863 in the context of its provisions defining the content of cassation institution. Methods. In the framework of the study, mainly historical-legal and comparative-legal methods were used. Results. The significance of the draft Statute of Civil Procedure of 1863, in the context of establishment and development of cassation institution in the civil procedure of the Russian Empire, was manifested, first of all, in a sufficiently clear consolidation in it of the very grounds for cassation of decisions. Its definitions are very similar to its provisions have been already consolidated in the Statute of Civil Procedure of 1864. At the same time, existing in that period distinction between terms “cassation” and “revision” promoted the consolidation of two basic tasks of cassation proceedings in the provisions of the Statute of Civil Procedure of 1863: verifying of the final decisions for judicial errors with the purpose of their subsequent elimination and ensuring uniform application and interpretation of the law. Conclusion. The draft Statute of Civil Procedure of 1863, having incorporated the ideas of many subsequent legislative works into itself, became some sort of provisional result of development of the necessity of cassation court in the Russian Empire of the 1800s – 1860s. At the same time, of course, the work on drafting the Statute of Civil Procedure did not end there, wherefore the draft was actively discussed and improved, and its main provisions regarding the regulation of the cassation proceedings formed the basis of the Statute of November 20, 1864.


Author(s):  
I. G. Adoneva ◽  
◽  
Yu. V. Druzhinina ◽  

The article is devoted to resolving the issue of how the legal intellectual elite of the period under review understood the imperial power, its origin, capabilities and authorities. The legal professorship formed an outwardly consistent discourse between the theoretical aspects of state law and the content of the Basic State Laws of the Russian Empire: teachers had to justify and explain the existence of the unlimited power of the monarch. They analyzed the courses of state law developed by nine professors of the Imperial Universities and the School of Law. The methodological basis of this study is the history of intellectual culture as an analysis of legal ideas and discourses in the context of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. The power of the emperor is characterized by the authors of textbooks in a section that is most often called «On the Supreme Power». Russian autocracy was described by jurists in a conceptual and categorical apparatus borrowed from their European colleagues. Legal scholars were looking for a balance between their own personal and scientific ideas and the form of government that existed in the Russian Empire. Despite the differences in the political outlook, they saw the reason for the Russian autocracy in the historical development: a vast territory, low population density, and the virtual absence of a struggle between the government and society. For state scholars closely associated with Western jurisprudence, who shared its values, it was important to emphasize the belonging of the Russian Empire to the European world, where a skeptical view of the Russian monarchy remained. This way out was the idea of legality. Without disputing the content of the «Fundamental State Laws» and guided by censorship considerations, the professors tried to convey to the student university audience the idea that the bureaucratic apparatus formed in the empire is a natural limiter of the imperial power; the legal framework is an obstacle to despotism, and the judiciary is in fact independent. This kind of theoretical constructs became a compromise between the preservation of absolute monarchical power and the worldview of those jurists who shared liberal values


Author(s):  
Litvin Alexander Alterovich ◽  
Cherkashina Vera Vitalievna

The process of training and development of the Bar Institute at the beginning of the judicial reform of 1864 (Reshetnikova, 2014), dates to the government of Alexander II, on the example of the Volga region and the Urals, discusses the main directions and characteristics of the professional activity of lawyers in the region. It is a documentary and historical study that pays special attention to the formation of the Institute of Defense for a deeper understanding of its essence and its inherent characteristics. Currently, there is an objective need for a comprehensive and comprehensive study of the history of the training and development of the Bar Institute. The judicial system was divided into provincial and county. For the provincial system were the Criminal Cases Chamber of the civil court, provincial court, high provincial court, provincial magistrate, superior punishment; and for county - County Court, lower district court. The results can be concluded that the judicial system of the Russian Empire after the successful reform established a powerful and independent Defense Institute. The judicial reform of 1864 created a completely new professional group, which was very important for the legal future of the Russian Empire.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Yurii Demeshko ◽  
◽  

The article considers the process of evolution of notarial work in Ukraine during the second half of the XVIII – XIX centuries. The legal framework, which was the basis for the activities of notaries in the specified period of time, is studied. The contribution of merchants to the development of the institution of notary as a component and then a separate part of the judicial system of the empire is analyzed. This state was leading in the position of notaries in the second half of the XVIII –XIX centuries. Notaries prepared and certified various legal acts, giving them the meaning of public acts, engaged in the issuance of various types of evidence, compiling descriptions of property, public sales. The activities of the notary in each region were controlled by the provincial court, which checked the qualifications of the «applicant», appointed a person to the position of notary, checked his work. In the counties with the vacant position of notary, his functions were performed by a justice of the peace. The Regulations on the Notarial Part» of April 14, 1866 defined the rights and duties of a notary. It is investigated that the management of the notarial part under the supervision of judicial places was given to notaries and senior notaries who were at the notarial archives. In cities and towns where notaries were absent, attendance certificates were provided to justices of the peace. Notaries were appointed and dismissed by the senior chairman of the court chamber. The dismissal could not have taken place without a trial. Notaries were considered in the civil service with the assignment of the eighth grade, but they were not entitled to ranks or a pension for this title. It is noted that notaries appointed by the government had the right to enjoy the same rights as assistant secretaries of the district court. It was emphasized that they performed their functions only within the district to which the district court was assigned. In other regions, the act they carried out had no legal force. In all acts, notaries carried the secret of storage and non-disclosure, except for exceptions specified by the state. Notaries were required to keep a register of all acts, protests and certifications, as well as loan commitments and agreements. They had to carry out various acts at the request of the population: to issue extracts from act books and copies of acts, to accept for storage from individuals various documents. The senior notary had the same rights as members of the district courts. Senior notaries had the right to certify acts on the transfer of real estate, to approve acts and to make notes in the register of serfdom on the restriction of ownership of real estate.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document