DOI: 10.25136/2409-868X.2018.1.23772

Abstract: The object of this research is the legal policy with regards to indigenous peoples of Siberia in the XIX century. The subject of this research is the organization of local administration and legal status of the natives in accordance with the “Statute on Alien (Inorodsty) Administration” of 1822”. The scientific novelty consists in the escalated interest towards the history of local administration among the indigenous peoples of Siberia; it is caused not only by the desire of historians to have a more profound look into the past, but specifically practical needs. Referring to the forgotten traditions of administration it is important to consider the extensive historical experience acquired over the centuries. It is also useful to have a new perspective on the known facts and events in order to overcome the old myths and deceptions, as well as prevent the emergence of new. Special attention is given to structure and organizational legal questions of the work of local self-governance of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, its cooperation with the local administrative and police bodies. The author concludes that the administrative bodies of the indigenous peoples of Siberia were formally included into the system of local institutions of state power. They differed from the state authorities only in the form of organization, conditions, and nature of activity. In the course of reform of the administration of native population of Siberia, the crown administration acted very cautiously, considering the Siberian specificity to the fullest. In this regard, the governmental approach can be viewed as a regional component of the Russian imperial administrative policy.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-868X.2017.12.22717

Abstract: Based on the previously unknown documents of the archival documentation and pre-revolutionary legislation, this article examines the municipal and peasant self-governance in Siberia in the XVIII century. The growing interest to the history of local self-governance is associated not only with desire of the historians to look more thoroughly into the past, but also strictly practical needs. With reference to the forgotten traditions of public administration, it is important to extensively consider the historical experience that was acquired over the centuries. Special attention is given to the structure and organizational legal questions of the work of local self-governance and its cooperation with the local administrative-police bodies. The author concludes that the bodies of municipal and peasant public administration of Siberia in the XVIII century were incorporated into the system of local branches of government. Competences of the branches of local self-governance were quite limited,  for instance, they had no authority to solve many of the economic issues without sanction of the crown administration. Their effectiveness was reduced due to the extremely undemocratic system of class representation. The main differences between public administration bodies and state government bodies consisted in the forms of their organization, character and conditions of work, subordinate to oversight of the local administrative-police bodies, which at that time, was perceived by the Siberians as the fully justified conditions of their life.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2017.5.22538

Abstract: The topic of this article is the general police in Siberia. The research subject is the reorganization of the agencies of the general police in Siberia in the post-reform period during the second half of the 19th century. The history of the pre-Revolutionary Siberian general police has not yet been the focus of scholars' close attention – only some aspects of this topic have been underlined in studies of a more general nature. Returning to the forgotten traditions of the organization and activities of the police agencies, it is important to take into full account the historical experience that had been accumulated over the centuries. It is also necessary to take a new look at already known facts and events in light of today’s realities in order to overcome the old myths and misconceptions and also to prevent the appearance of new ones. The theoretical and methodological basis of this research is made up of such principles of historical knowledge as objectivity, historicism, determinism, alternativeness and the social approach, which require an unbiased approach to the analysis of the researched problems, as well as a critical treatment of the sources. The author comes to the conclusion that the powers of the police agencies in the region had their own specificities and were much broader than in the central provinces of the Russian Empire. The reorganization of the general police in Siberia during the second half of the 19th century changed the structure and method of staffing the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was not of a fundamental but rather of an external character. The police reform of 1867 in Siberia left almost unchanged the limits of power, the subjects of the department, the distribution of duties, the procedures, the responsibility and accountability of the general police, pending the transformation of the administrative and economic management and the judicial system. The police agencies were left with a fairly large circle of prerogatives. In addition, many policemen continued to work in the old-fashioned way, trying to ignore the changes in the current legislation. The legislator had failed, as local leaders and visiting auditors admitted, to place the uyezd's internal affairs agencies within the strict framework of the law.