The Variety of Legal Traditions in the Judicial Practice of Yekaterinoslav Region in the last quarter of the 19th century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the description of regional features of the judicial system of Yekaterinoslav province (1783–1796) and Novorossiysk province (1796–1802). The source of the study consists of two groups of materials. The first group is the documents of the highest judicial and administrative institutions of the province. The second group is represented by the county level of judicial institutions. On the basis of the analysis carried out, separate territories of the mentioned administrative-territorial units, which had legal specifics, were singled out. The first region is the lands of the former Hetmanate, which in the form of Kremenchuk, Poltava districts became part of the governorship in 1783. According to the decree of 1777, the use of the norms of "Little Russian law" was allowed here which was based on the Lithuanian Statute of 1588 and the Magdeburg Law. The documents are often instructed specifically on these legal documents; use of their special terminology; subordination of their norms with the customary right of Ukrainians of these territories. The second region are the northeastern provinces of the governorate (in 1783 Bakhmut, Sloviansk, Donetsk) which bordered on Slobidska Ukraine and the lands of the Don troops. The peculiarity of the cases from this corner of the governorship is the appeal exclusively to the Russian imperial legislation. Since the landowners involved the Don Cossacks to land conflicts there these clashes were more aggressive, court proceedings were more complicated. Also, the settlements which were inhabited by the Dons were distinguished by other principles of organization of social life, have specific family relations, which was reflected in the types of crimes. During the period of the existence of the Novorossiysk province (1796–1802), its provincial institutions were audits for cases sent from the Crimea. Immediately in 1783–1784, in order to stabilize the situation, the division into six kaimancies (provinces), which were divided into cadillics (counties), continued to operate there. They were judged, respectively, by the Caimakans and the Kadia. Criminal cases were considered at the courts of the imperial standard, and then they were sent to the Revolutionary Courts of Novorossiysk. Here we note the lack of understanding from the side of Russian bureaucracy of local traditions. The customs of marriage-family, inheritance law have often been ignored by general courts. It is concluded that the named administrative-territorial units in their size could not be a homogeneous field of implementation of the 1775 reform. The polyethnic composition of the population, the local traditions power could not be ignored until then and was forced to consider them in the organization of the judicial system and legal proceedings.