Projects for Reforming the Court System of Kalmykia in the Early 20th Century

The article studies the elaboration of projects for reforming the judicial system and proceedings in Kalmyk Steppe in the early 20th century. Archival materials of the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia served as the basis for the research. Additionally, published sources by pre-revolutionary and contemporary authors were applied as well; the works are of great interest since those are empiric materials collected during corresponding expeditions and describing the structure of judicial bodies and their functions within the Kalmyk Khanate, thus establishing the basis for the further studies on the history of the traditional judicial system and proceedings. In the 19th century the judicial system and proceedings in Kalmyk Steppe were regulated by laws and enactments of the Russian state. The shallow analysis of the 19th century imperial legislative acts shows that as the Kalmyks were introduced into the common Russian legal framework the status of the Zargo as a judicial instance within the Kalmyk community got devaluated. In view of the actual state of judicial organization and proceedings in Kalmykia, there inevitably appeared a necessity for solving the issue of developing the court and investigative system in the steppe and its reorganization in order to enhance its efficiency. The microhistorical research of the region and its judicial system allowed to have a detailed look at the arrangements proposed by the Kalmyk People’s Supervisor and the Congress of Ulus (i.e. District) Curators within the projects for reforming Kalmykia’s judicial system. One of the basic problems was that when it came to hearings of cases, the Zargo had no unified court practices regarding the order and forms of judicial proceedings; the competence of the court was also not determined. The conducted analysis of projects for enhancing the efficiency of judicial system and proceedings in Kalmyk Steppe in the early 20th century has shown the mechanism of introduction of the Kalmyks into the common Russian legal framework by the 19th century imperial legislative acts. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the suggested arrangements developed on the basis of the administrative experience obtained by ulus curators during their service. The author concludes that the attempts to improve the efficiency of Kalmykia’s judicial activities made in the early 20th century were mostly of restructuring nature, i.e. contained proposals as to reorganize the activities but definitely introduced no essential changes - no special training, re-training or upgrade training programs were implied. Whereas the expertise of judges is a cue aspect in the delivery of justice.

judicial system, judicial proceedings, Kalmyk Steppe, Zargo, court system, projects

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