‘SALT CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS AND OTHER OFFENSES CONTRARY TO THE LAW’ OF OFFICIALS OF THE NOVGOROD PROVINCE IN THE 18TH CENTURY

Abstract

The article examines the practice of implementing the legal responsibility of officials for manifestations of official misconduct in Novgorod province of the 18th century. The author analyzes the materials of the funds of the State Archives of the Novgorod Region in order to determine the peculiarities of the implementation of the principles of legal responsibility for malfeasance. The study of the materials of criminal cases allows us to assess the law enforcement practice of the provincial judicial authorities. Analysis of the results of the implementation of the legislation of the 18th century at the local level gives reason to conclude about the fragmentation and inconsistency of legal regulation of the legal responsibility of civil servants at that time. The author examines the problem of ensuring the rule of law in the sphere of state monopolies using the example of organizing the salt trade and the service of salt bailiffs. It is the sphere of realization of state monopolies, according to the author, that most clearly demonstrates the vices of state administration that exist for a given historical period. The author pays special attention to the problem of contradictions between legislative provisions and measures to ensure the implementation of legislation. Among the shortcomings of the organization of public administration are the low level of funding, the preservation of vestiges of the system of ‘feeding’ officials, the declarative nature of the principles of self-government. Based on the study of the characteristics of modern judicial practice in cases of abuse and abuse of office committed jointly by two or more persons, present in the scientific literature, the author concludes that negative signs of public administration are stable, regardless of the form of government and political regime. The author believes that an integrated approach to solving the problem of increasing the efficiency of public administration and ensuring the rule of law in the field of public service should be implemented taking into account historical background that can be found in archived legal materials.

Keywords

state monopoly; civil service; malfeasance; position; Novgorod province; Russian empire, legal responsibility

References

SANR. State Archives of the Novgorod Region. Ф. 537. Оп. 2. Д. 134. Л. 1, 24. (In Russ.).

SANR. State Archives of the Novgorod Region. Ф. 537. Оп. 2. Д. 420. (In Russ.).

SANR. State Archives of the Novgorod Region. Ф. 537. Оп. 2. Д. 1302. Л. 130, 202. (In Russ.).

SANR. State Archives of the Novgorod Region. Ф. 537. Оп. 2. Д. 1303. Л. 136, 147-149, 188. (In Russ.).

SANR. State Archives of the Novgorod Region. Ф. 537. Оп. 2. Д. 1304. Л. 3. (In Russ.).

SANR. State Archives of the Novgorod Region. Ф. 537. Оп. 2. Д. 1304. Л. 166 об., 139-140 (In Russ.).

Konovalov I.A. Formation of the Siberian police bureaucracy in the 18th century // Tomsk State University Journal. 2018. No. 428. pp. 112-116. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17223/15617793/428/15

Litvyak L.G., Plygunov K.A. & Katasonov A.V. Corruption in Russia: past and present // Historical and Social-Educational Idea. 2015. Vol. 7. No 4. pp. 35-39. (In Russ.).

Lugvin S.B. The Russian bureaucracy on early stages of its institutionalization // Belgorod State University Scientific Bulletin. History. Political science. 2015. No. 19 (216). pp. 171-177. (In Russ.).

Lugvin S.B. Processes of rational-bureaucratic modernization of the Russian officialdom in the late 18th – early 20th centuries // Belgorod State University Scientific Bulletin. History. Political science. 2016. No. 15 (236). pp. 172-177. (In Russ.).

Mayorov A.V. & Chekunova V.V. The etymology of official crime // Legal Order: history, theory, practice. 2019. No. 1 (20). pp. 42-48. (In Russ.).

PSZRI. Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossiyskoy imperii (Uchrezhdeniya dlya upravleniya guberniy Vserossiyskoy imperii) [CCLRE. Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire (Administrative Institutions of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire)]. Collection I. Vol. XX: 1775-1780. No. 14392. SPb., 1830. (In Russ.).

PSZRI. Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossiyskoy imperii (Ustav o soli) [CCLRE. Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire (Charter on salt)]. Collection I. Vol. XXI: 1781-1783. No. 15174. SPb., 1830. (In Russ.).

Rumyantseva Yu.N. & Bychkov A.V. Safety index and its role in the improvement of legislation on the abuse of official position in Russia and in France // Russian Journal of Criminology. 2016. Vol. 10. No. 4. pp. 838-846. (In Russ.).

Stepanova Yu.P. Local Elections in the 18th Century in Novgorod Province // BENEFICIUM. 2020. No. 3 (36). pp. 86-94. (In Russ.). DOI: http://doi.org/10.34680/BENEFICIUM.2020.3(36).86-94

Chub N.V. Human resource management in the Russian gubernia institutions of the 19th century in the fonds of federal and regional archives // Herald of an Archivist. 2018. No. 2. pp. 343-351. (In Russ.).

Chubrakov S.V. & Danilov D.O. Is joint participation possible in crimes provided for by articles 201, 285, 286 of the criminal code of the Russian federation? // Tomsk State University Journal. 2016. No. 405. pp. 194-199. (In Russ.).

About the Author

Svetlana I. Mitina – Doctor of Law, Docent; Head, Department of Theory of State and Law, Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, Veliky Novgorod, Russia. E-mail: april5298@rambler.ru. SPIN РИНЦ 5305-8802

For citation:
Mitina S.I. ‘Salt Criminal Proceedings and Other Offenses Contrary to the Law’ of Officials of the Novgorod Province in the 18th Century // BENEFICIUM. 2020. No. 4 (37). pp. 80-87. (In Russ.). DOI: http://doi.org/10.34680/BENEFICIUM.2020.4(37).80-87