During the reign of Nicholas I, a code of laws of the Russian Empire was drawn up. Moreover, the formation of both state and social life evolved in accordance with this document. In the article below, the reader will be able to get acquainted with the nuances of creating this collection of decrees, and also find out which specific orders were approved.
Backstory
As you know, the second half of the 18th century was marked by the collapse of the existing feudal-serf system. In addition, bourgeois relations began to develop intensively during this period. This subsequently led to the emergence of a crisis and the formation of a capitalist structure. But since the old mode of production still dominated at that time, the development of new relations provoked an aggravation of the class struggle and led to the expansion of the anti-serfdom movement in Russia. Against the backdrop of lawlessness and arbitrariness of landowners, peasant unrest gained more and more strength. With the advent of the new century, the number of strikes increased significantly, not only within the serfs and wage laborers, but also amongmilitary personnel. The beginning of the revolutionary movement in Russia was marked by the armed uprising of the Decembrists in 1825. As is known from history, these uprisings were extinguished by the tsarist administration.
However, they managed to influence the further socio-political development of the state. At that time, the leading figures of the country, when making changes to legal norms, sought to strengthen the feudal-serf system. But at the same time they had to take into account the interests of the developing commercial bourgeoisie. All attempts to somehow systematize legal relations in Russia ended in failure. But the need for such work was felt more and more. Since the adoption of the Council Regulations, most of the acts not only contradicted each other, but also did not fully reflect the interests of the country's socio-economic development. The next attempt to carry out codification work was made in 1804. Then projects were developed on criminal, civil and commercial law. However, these documents were never approved, since the nobility saw in them a reflection of the French civil code. It was clear that the adoption of the basic laws of the Russian Empire was necessary. It was supposed to be a collection of decrees, divided according to thematic categories.
Principles of systematization
The above orders were combined into the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire of 1832 issue. However, this Charter came into force onlyin 1835. It included more than 40 thousand articles, which eventually amounted to 15 volumes. The 16th book was published in 1864 and was called Judicial Charters. Only functioning documents were included in the complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire. Some of the orders have been reduced. And among the decrees that went against the grain, preference was given to later options. In addition, the drafters pursued the goal of arranging the acts so that they were consistent with the branches of law.
Description of volumes
As mentioned above, the complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire consisted of 15 books. The first 3 contain the main decrees, government regulations, and so on. The fourth work includes the regulation of recruitment and zemstvo obligations. From volumes 5 to 8, tax and drinking fees, duties, etc. are indicated. The 9th edition includes laws on estates and their powers. The tenth meeting immortalized the boundary and civil decrees. Books numbered 11 and 12 regulated the work of credit and trade organizations, as well as all industries. The next 2 volumes extended to medical practice, included the subtleties of being in custody, etc. The last work included criminal decrees. The code of laws of the Russian Empire mainly pursued the principles of feudal serfdom and was focused on maintaining, protecting and consolidating the tsarist regime.
The effect of laws on the territory of Ukraine
The collection of laws of the Russian Empire began to operate in this territory in 1835year. With only one difference - at that time they regulated only administrative-legal and state relations. After that, in the period from 1840 to 1842, regulations concerning criminal and civil law were gradually introduced. This charter was valid in Ukraine until 1917.
Ongoing adjustments
With the onset of the 19th century, the laws of the Russian Empire underwent a series of transformations. First of all, the changes affected civil law, which at that time began to move forward simply with huge steps. Moreover, such changes were explained by a significant increase in the volume of development in the commercial and industrial sectors. All adjustments on this issue were made in the 10th book of the collection of decrees. Here, property rights were especially highlighted in order to further strengthen them. In this regard, all property was divided into 2 types: movable and immovable. Moreover, the second was equally divided into generic and acquired. Due to the intensive expansion of commodity-money relations, increased attention was paid to the issue of obligations. As a result, they came to the conclusion to conclude agreements with the consent of both parties. The law allowed transactions to be made not only in writing, but also orally. In addition, it was agreed that a "correctly drawn up" contract must be implemented without fail. The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire highlighted this moment in particular. So, the following guarantees were provided:
- payment of a pen alty;
- guarantee;
- pledge of movable or immovable property.
Family Law
The main state laws of the Russian Empire in the first volume regulated marriage. So, it was agreed that men could start a family only after reaching 18 years. In turn, women received this right at the age of 16. Persons who have reached the age of 80 did not at all have the opportunity to bind themselves by marital ties. In addition, the issue of marriage depended not only on the spouses, but also on the permission for this action of parents, trustees or guardians. In the event that a man at the time of the decision to conclude an alliance was in military service, he had to obtain the written consent of his superiors for this ceremony. Serfs did not have the right to start a family without the permission of the owner. Marriages between Christians and non-Christians were forbidden. It was also not allowed to enter into new marital relations without terminating previously prisoners. Moreover, it was possible to make alliances of this kind only 3 times. Marriage was considered legal only if it took place in a church. The same body was allowed to terminate the union and only in some cases.
Inheritance law
The basic laws of the Russian Empire separately covered the property issues of citizens. It was possible to inherit property either by will or according to established norms. Moreover, such actions could be committed by citizens only after the age of 21 and having legal rights to alienated property. ExceptMoreover, a will was valid only when it was made in writing. It was impossible to inherit the property of a mentally ill person by will.
Criminal norms
It can rightly be considered that the 15th volume of the collection of laws marked the beginning of the development of criminal law in Russia. However, at that time there were still a number of controversial articles in it. They were discovered only after publication. In connection with the identification of problems in this area, M. M. Speransky was instructed to prepare another criminal code. But it was completed only after his death. As followed from the decree of 1801, the use of torture during interrogations was prohibited. However, they continued to be widely used. A special role in the code of laws was assigned to the police. Her duties included conducting investigative work and carrying out the sentence. In turn, search activities were divided into preparatory and official. The reason for initiating a case was considered to be a denunciation, a complaint or an initiative of the prosecutor. The investigative process was carried out under the supervision of officials or the accusatory party.
Meaning in history
The complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire to some extent took into account the interests of the developing bourgeoisie. However, the monarchy did its best to retain power. For this purpose, punitive units were even created in the state apparatus. At the same time, the classification work made it possible to form a number of industries. Of course, the Code of Laws contained many outdated norms,but such colossal work allowed Russia to significantly increase its prestige in front of developed Europe. For your information, having undergone a number of changes, this meeting existed until 1917, until the revolution itself.
