Polsky on The Concepts of Fundamental Law and Constitution in 18th Century Russia

Sergey Polskoy, National Research University, Higher School of Economics, has published The Concepts of Fundamental Laws and Constitution in the 18th Century Russia as Higher School of Economics Research Paper No. WP BRP 169/HUM/2018. Here is the abstract.

In this article, we attempt to trace the semantic changes two key concepts of the Modern period - fundamental law and constitution underwent at the 18th century and investigates how these European concepts were adapted and used in the Russian political language. The concept of the constitution and fundamental laws in eighteenth-century political discourse had differing connotations: while the constitution was used mainly to describe the form of government, the concept of fundamental laws referred to historically developing legal traditions which have been adopted as norms of political law. The most radical vision of constitution in the 18th century went further than identify it with the fundamental law, demanding that the latter should enshrine the principles of civil rights and liberties of the Nation, and the legal guarantees thereof. However, this radical view, arising at the end of the century, was far from universal, and the discussion around various understandings of this concept was still to continue for many years.

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Machuskyy on The Right of Blood-Revenge in a Medieval Ukraine

Volodymyr Machuskyy, Kyiv National Economic Univesrity named after Vadym Hetman, has published The Right of Blood-Revenge in a Medieval Ukraine: The Concept and the Evolution. Here is the abstract.

The idea and practice of blood-revenge existed in ancient societies around the world. Because of its high prevalence and significance, blood-revenge as a social phenomenon for a long time was the subject of study of a sufficiently large number of scientists, representatives of various sciences from many countries. The scientific diversity in the context of the study of blood revenge paradoxically leads to contradictory scientific results and, as a consequence, makes it difficult to obtain true knowledge about the nature of blood-revenge. Hence, there was an objective need to study the general patterns of the emergence, functioning and gradual withering away of blood-revenge as a special institute in the system of social regulation of the medieval society on the territory of modern Ukraine. Main conclusions: 1. The right of blood-revenge is a social institution of collective security in a primitive society aimed at protecting individuals from violent crimes. 2. The evolution of the right of blood-revenge in Kyivan Rus was due to the transformation from the right of blood-revenge into a cash ransom and, subsequently, in the death penalty as a surrogate of the right of blood-revenge.

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Bodrova and Zubkov on Nikitenko's Diary and the History of Censorship

Alina Bodrova and Kirill Zubkov, both of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, have published From A Historical Source To a Narrative Form: A. V. Nikitenko’s Diary and the History of Censorship as Research Paper No. WP BRP 23/LS/2017. Here is the abstract.

The study explores the narrative structure of Alexandr Nikitenko’s diary, one of the core sources for the history of Russian censorship, and on the role of the genre of anecdote in particular. Through an analysis of the ‘anecdotal’ entries about censorship in Nikitenko’s diary and their evolution (their number peaks during the years of Nicholas I’s reign, and plummets in the parts of the account dealing with Alexander II, particularly in the period of 1860-ies), the authors demonstrate the peculiarities of the ‘anecdotal’ frame in picturing the interactions between literary circles and censorship. The literary form of anecdote, whose strength is in picturing singular oddities and excesses, fails to account for the everyday quality of routine practices, the day-to-day modes of interaction between authors and censors, so that the ‘anecdotal’ narrative can only work as a segment of a more complex and multidimensional vision of how literary agency and censoring authorities interacted.

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Rubtcova, Pavenkov, and Pavenkov on Historical Prerequisites of Forensic Knowledge in Russia, 1697-1725

Mariia V. Rubtcova, Oleg V. Pavenkov, and Vladimir Pavenkov, all of St. Petersburg University of Cinema and Television, have published Historical Prerequisites of Forensic Knowledge in Russia: 1697-1725 Years, presented at the 20th Annual IBA Transnational Crime Conference, 17-19 May 2017. Here is the abstract.

The article is devoted to the analysis of improving of the rules of crime scene investigation during reign of Peter The Great. The beginning of stage of development of forensic knowledge is connected with one of the first Peter I’s decree (1697 year). The development of forensic knowledge about crime scene investigation according to this decree included discovering the principles of investigation process. In our opinion, such increase of the significance of crime scene investigation in the criminal proceedings was caused by the formation of monarchical absolutist system in condition of the emerging Russian Empire. However, there is another point of view, that this trend was cause by individual qualities of Peter I: his inconsistency, impulsiveness and messy. Decree of Peter the Great (1723 year) "About the form of the court" came into conflict with the first decree because court get first position and formally abolished the crime scene investigation, however, crime scene investigation was soon restored.

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Influence of the French Bar on the Development of the Russian Legal Profession

Elizaveta Blagodeteleva, National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow), has published The French Bar and the Emerging Legal Profession in Russia as Higher School of Economics Research Paper No. WP BRP 110/HUM/2015. Here is the abstract.

The complex and seemingly inconsistent use of the social vocabulary has been on the research agenda of those who study the Russian Empire for quite some time. Historians have long believed that the indiscriminate use of such terms as "estate" ("soslovie") and "corporation" reflected Russian backwardness and eventually impeded further social and economic development, especially when it came to professional groups. The paper examines this assumption by focusing on the terminology deployed for the designation of Russian lawyers, in comparison to their French counterparts. Therefore, it dwells at length on the references to the French Bar in the bureaucratic discussion and in current press at the time of drafting the basic principles of the future Bar organization in Russia between 1857 and 1864. The comparison of the two sets of references provided plenty of evidence that the French notion of the estate (l'ordre des avocats) had a dramatic impact on the interpretation of Russian soslovie of legal practitioners. The French model seemed to spur social imagination and eventually helped Russian political and intellectual elites envisage a new type of social organization encompassing free, well-educated and politically engaged men.

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The Trial of Mendel Beilis

Vivian Grosswald Curran, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, has published At the Crossroads of Law and Society: The Trial of Mendel Beilis as University of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2015-28. It is forthcoming in the Journal of Law and Literature. Here is the abstract.

The trial of Mendel Beilis lies at the crossroads of numerous points of interests. It reveals on one level the intensity of one man’s rise in an existential sense to the demands of a situation into which he was thrust suddenly and utterly without warning. From this perspective, it is a story of captivating human and psychological interest. The legal proceedings reflected a torn and complex society on the verge of implosion, as well as one in which the tsarist judicial system, although subject to corruption and fraud at the highest levels, nevertheless had a considerable measure of independence. The trial oscillated between a story of the failures and the triumphs of justice. Finally, the trial reflected and animated fierce anti-Semitism as well as unexpectedly dedicated and enlightened support for Beilis in the Christian world of Russia and beyond, with the incipient Russian Revolution as an important context. I try to illustrate these various intersecting points of interest with the assistance of sources such as the trial transcripts; Beilis’ memoirs; the memoirs of one of his defense lawyers, O.O. Gruzenberg; and Léon Poliakov’s analysis of anti-Semitism in Russia during that period.

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Economic Theory and Legal Change In Russia In the 1920s and the 1990s

Simon Deakin, University of Cambridge, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, and European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI), and John Hamilton, University of Cambridge, Centre for Business Research, have published Russia's Legal Transitions: Marxist Theory, Neoclassical Economics and the Rule of Law as University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 42/2015. Here is the abstract.

We review the role of economic theory in shaping the process of legal change in Russia during the two transitions it experienced during the course of the twentieth century: the transition to a socialist economy organised along the lines of state ownership of the means of production in the 1920s, and the transition to a market economy which occurred after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Despite differences in methodology and in policy implications, Marxist theory, dominant in the 1920s, and neoclassical economics, dominant in the 1990s, offered a similarly reductive account of law as subservient to wider economic forces. In both cases, the subordinate place accorded to law undermined the transition process. Although path dependence and history are frequently invoked to explain the limited development of the rule of law in Russia during the 1990s, policy choices driven by a deterministic conception of law and economics also played a role.

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