Temporary Regulation "On Administration in the Ural, Turgai, Akmola and Semipalatinsk Regions" of 1868 and Its Significance in Modernization of Judicial and Legal System of the Steppe Region

Abstract

One of the most important documents of the second half of the XIX century in the history of the Central Asia outskirts of the Russian Empire is the Temporary Regulation "On administration in the Ural, Turgai, Akmola and Semipalatinsk regions" of 1868, which became the basis for the region administrational reform contributing to the integration of the region into the general imperial space. The Temporary Regulation played a special role in the formation of a new configuration of the judicial and legal system in the Steppe Regions. The article analyzes the process of preparing the "Temporary Regulation", defines the goals, objectives and results of the work of the Commissions of 1863 and 1865. The article considers the organization of the judicial system of the Steppe Regions, which was a complex one, combining the principles of the new and pre-reform judicial systems and institutions with the elements of traditional judicial and legal system. The biy court, while retaining its significance, was reorganized and integrated into the regional justice system. However, despite the importance of the "Temporary Regulation", several years after its implementation, significant shortcomings in the work of the judicial and legal system of the region were identified. This problem caused a wide discussion at the regional and central levels of the government. The low efficiency of the regional judicial system caused comments, while the principle of forming a judicial system intergrating formal and informal institutions was contradictory. The lack of effects made the Government start a new draft of the judicial and legal system reform, taking into account regional peculiarities and experience in implementing the "Temporary Regulation".