ACTIVITIES OF COMMERCIAL COURTS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN THE LATE XIX AND EARLY XX CENTURIES

At the end of the XIX century the activities of commercial courts was characterized by a decrease in the number of cases. Purpose: to review the problem of the development and functioning of commercial courts as judicial institutions in the late XIX and early ХХ centuries. Methods: the author uses dialectical, historical, comparison, description methods. Results: the paper shows that in 1892 at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Empire the Special meeting on problems of commercial courts where the main problem what to do further with commercial courts as Institute of judicial power began to function. The paper analyzes the activities of a higher instance, The Commission for the revision of legal provisions on the judicial part of the State Council. The paper shows that in the period of counter-reforms there was a change in the position of the ruling elite of the Russian Empire on the future fate of commercial courts. It is emphasized that commercial courts, formed largely with the participation of the merchant community and in this regard, incorruptible, began to prevent many representatives of the ruling elite from deriving profits from ties to large capital, which did not facilitate commercial litigation.

Deliberations about clinical pharmacogenetic testing in pediatric oncology

This article summarizes the background, content and outcomes of a special meeting that was convened among oncologists and scientists to discuss the role of pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing in pediatric clinical oncology practice. This meeting provided an opportunity for what the lead author (AM Issa) refers to as the ‘voice of the clinician’ dynamic to be amplified in order to better understand how personalized or precision medicine applications such as PGx testing are adopted and incorporated into clinical settings and what we can learn from the experiences of current and ongoing implementation PGx approaches to further the implementation of precision medicine applications in real-world environments. Group dynamics and clinical experience with PGx testing and return of results shaped the discussion.

Kollegialentscheidungen unter Zeitdruck

Collegial bodies can react to time pressure either by speeding up their procedure or by transferring urgent decisions to a special organ which can decide very quickly. In Germany, the representative bodies of local government have both options. This article examines decisions of urgency taken by a special organ of local government. This article analyses the circumstances in which such decisions are taken based on the relevant literature as well as on self-collected data from cities in North Rhine Westphalia. The results can be put into five categories. Although the relevant Länder laws vary at the level of detail, they are united by a common structure. They determine that a decision is urgent only when the representative body – even applying an accelerated procedure – cannot decide in time. They set out which organ is legally competent to decide and require that the representative body of local government either approves the decision in retrospect or is, at least, informed of it. According to these regulations the decision of urgency is always concomitant with a decision on the legal competency of the special organ and on the administrative matter at hand. Their application raises numerous legal questions. In the majority of cases, decisions of urgency are taken in violation of the legal requirement, even though the representative body could have taken the decision by applying an accelerated procedure. From the perspective of those involved calling a special meeting takes too much time and effort to decide on an issue which is, in most cases, completely uncontested. Currently, a correction of this unlawful practice by legal means virtually impossible. It is, therefore, suggested that each member of the representative body should be given standing to bring a claim for judicial review. In terms of legal policy, urgent decisions should to be allowed also when the representative body cannot decide in time at the next regular meeting.

Stolypin village reform project: development and correction (1905–1908)

The article is devoted to the development and correction of the village reform project, one of the least studied reforms of Pyotr A. Stolypin. Based on the documents of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Duma of the Russian Empire, the author reconstructs the process of creating a draft law of the village reform and making amendments to it during 1905–08. It is shown that this bill was part of the complex Stolypin reforms of local self-government and was developed in compliance with the legislative acts of the tsarist government of 1903 and 1904, taking into account the views of the local committees of the Special Meeting on the Needs of the Agricultural Industry. There are several versions of the draft law: the initial one, which was discussed at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Council of Ministers in 1905–06; the draft law for submission to the Second State Duma in 1907; the draft law revised in the Council for Local Economy Affairs which was submitted to the Third State Duma in 1908. The article considers the discussions in the executive bodies and at the congress of the United Nobility regarding the most important articles of the draft law on property qualification, women’s suffrage, and inclusion in the village regulatory body without elections.

A special meeting as an institution of emergency management of the russian empire during the First World war

The article examines the issue of the effectiveness of the work of the Special meeting for combining measures to provide the active army with items of combat and material supplies, headed by the Minister of War. It is noted that the Special Meeting, which appeared on May 13, 1915, received extraordinary powers to carry out the economic mobilization of the entire national economy of the Russian Empire. These powers were legally formalized on August 17, 1915. From that moment in 1915, a Special meeting for the discussion and unification of measures for the defense of the state, for the provision of fuel for communication lines, state and public institutions and enterprises working for the purposes of state defense, for the food business and transportation of fuel and food and military cargo. This body, created in wartime conditions, was entrusted with extraordinary powers to manage state, public institutions and enterprises. The chairman of this meeting was the Minister of War, appointed directly by the emperor. It was he who could form commissions and subcommissions that dealt with both the procurement of weapons, equipment and equipment abroad, and directly with the implementation of a general domestic economic policy in the state for the development of certain branches of industrial and agricultural production. However, as the materials show, the transfer of management functions to the state apparatus and the entire mobilized economy of the country into the hands of the military department led to distortions in the development of the country’s national economy. Primary attention was paid to industrial enterprises working for the purposes of state defense, while the organization of food supply and transport support in the Russian Empire, despite the initiatives of the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the All-Russian Zemstvo Union, which had a representative in a Special Meeting, did not found due support and attention from the Chairperson of the Special Meeting.

SELECTED ASPECTS OF THE FINANCIAL SITUATION OF CRIMEA DURING THE CIVIL WAR

The article is devoted to the study of certain aspects of the financial situation of the Crimea in one of the most difficult and dramatic periods in history – the Civil War. Particular attention is paid to the creation of the Tavrichesky Commercial Bank. The ideological inspirers of which were representatives of one of the most famous dynasties of financiers in Russia – the Ryabushinsky. The characteristic features of the foundations of the existence of this bank are highlighted and described, the picture of the first meeting of shareholders held is recreated, the most difficult working conditions of a commercial institution in such unstable conditions are shown. The article summarizes new material on the topic under study, introduces valuable information from the official correspondence of the regional branches of the State Bank with the Crimean Regional Bank into scientific circulation. The article reflects the correspondence of the Tavrichesk governor Nikita Alekseevich Tatishchev, who took this position on the appointment of General A. I. Denikin, with the financial department of a special meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia.

Reform of the Zemstvo Representation: Development and Adjustment of P. A. Stolypin Project in 1906—1907.

The article is devoted to the little-studied issue of the development and adjustment of the reform provisions of the zemstvo representation of P.A. Stolypin in 1906—1907. The main programmatic requirements of liberal circles to change the procedure for elections to zemstvo assemblies, developed by zemstvo assemblies, zemstvo congresses, as well as local committees of the Special Meeting on the needs of the agricultural industry. For the first time, on the materials of the Russian State Historical Archive, the evolution of the provisions of the draft and their criticism in the Council of Ministers, as well as at the Congress of the United Nobility in 1907, is shown. It is emphasized that the development of the reform was a consequence of the Manifesto adopted in 1903 and 1904 and the decree on the need to transform local government and self-government. The author states that initially P. A. Stolypin sought to increase the share of representatives from cities and commercial and industrialists in zemstvo assemblies, however, at the insistence of the Council of Ministers, he was forced to retain the majority for landowners. The criticism of the united nobility in relation to the reform in connection with the expansion of the circle of voters and the organization of elections at the beginning of the non-class is highlighted in the article. It is concluded that the transformation of elections into zemstvo assemblies, planned by P. A. Stolypin was aimed at involving broad strata of the population in the representative institutions of local self-government at the expense of an unclassified beginning and the organization of elections based on a tax qualification.