Sobornoye Ulozheniye
Encyclopedia
The Sobornoye Ulozheniye was a legal code promulgated in 1649 by the Zemsky Sobor
under Alexis of Russia as a replacement for the Sudebnik of 1497 introduced by Ivan III of Russia
, which is based, among others, on the Third Statute of Lithuania
. The code survived well into the 19th century (up to 1849), when its articles were revised under the direction of Mikhail Speransky
.
The code consolidated Russia's slaves and free peasants into a new serf
class and pronounced that class hereditary and unchangeable (see Russian serfdom
). Travel between towns was made forbidden without an internal passport
. Russian nobility
agreed to serve in the army, but were granted the exclusive privilege of owning serfs.
ended, a new dynastic government (Romanovs) commenced active law-making. An intensive growth of the number of edicts ("ukases") since the Sudebnik of 1497 can be seen from the following data:
Overall, in the years 1611-1648, a total of 348 edicts were issued, and in the period of 1550-1648, another 445 edicts. This led to a situation in a Russian state when there existed an immense number of state edicts, which not only were obsolete, but even contradicted each other.
This chaos was contributed to by the scattering of normative acts throughout different state institutes (traditionally new edicts were made on demand of some prikaz
, and after their promulgation were attached to an edict book of this prikaz). There was also an absence of coordination in law application: a new article in this book was often known only to the statesmen of the given prikaz. Also, the casual character of legal rules was becoming inefficient. The legislators now sought to regulate legal rules, that is, to pass on to a normative interpretation of legal rules.
The Salt Riot
, which broke out in Moscow in 1648, also contributed to the promulgation of the Sobornoye Ulozheniye, one of the demands of the rioters being to call the Zemsky Sobor
and to make a new legal code. The riot was suppressed, but as one of the concessions to the rioters, the czar called the Zemsky Sobor, which continued to work until the promulgation of Sobornoye Ulozheniye in 1649.
Nikita Odoevskiy (Н. И. Одоевский) was created to make bill of Ulozhenie. Other members of that committee are: Prince Prozorov S. V. (С. В. Прозоров), Okolnichy Prince (one of highest ranks of boyars in old Russia), Volkonskiy F. F. (Ф. Ф. Волконский), scribe Gavrila Leontev (Г. Леонтьев) and scribe Fedor Griboedov (Ф. Грибоедов). At that time, practical job of Zemsky Sobor
had been started.
Zemsky Sobor
was intended to consider a bill of Ulozhenie. Many members, include representatives of posad
people (:ru:Посадские люди) communities. Zemsky Sobor
consisted of two houses. At one of them Tsar, Boyar Duma and Consecrated Sobor (Освященный собор). Elected people of different ranks took part in sessions of another house.
Deputies
of Nobility
and posad
people had a big impact to adoption of many norms of Ulozhenie. At 29-th of January, 1649 making and editing of Ulozhenie had been ended. Original of this historical document is scroll
consist of 959 narrow columns. At the end of it, Ulozhenie had been signed by 315 signatures of Sobor members. Signatures of scribes located at splicings of columns. Centuries later, at the times of Catherine II
reign a silver ark had been made for storage of this original scroll. At the present time, original of Sobornoye Ulozheniye is kept in Kremlin Armoury
.
Then a copy of scroll had been written in book format. From this book, Ulozhenie had been printed twice (1200 copies each time) during year 1649. Sobornoye Ulozheniye 1649 was a new stage in the development of Russian legal technicality
.
All Sobor members had also signed handwritten copies of Ulozhenie which had been sent to all state offices (prikaz
es) in Moscow
as blueprint for action.
Elected people inserted own amendment and additions to Duma
as petitions of Zemstvo
. Some decision were being made by elected, Duma and Tsar together.
Vasily Klyuchevsky
singles out several technical stages at process of lawmaking of Ulozhenie:
First time legislator tried to form system of norms and classify it by the areas of law.
Great attention had been given to procedural law
.
of Sobornoe Ulozhenie was as Russian as international law
.
Zemsky Sobor
The zemsky sobor was the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term roughly means assembly of the land. It could be summoned either by tsar, or patriarch, or the Boyar Duma...
under Alexis of Russia as a replacement for the Sudebnik of 1497 introduced by Ivan III of Russia
Ivan III of Russia
Ivan III Vasilyevich , also known as Ivan the Great, was a Grand Prince of Moscow and "Grand Prince of all Rus"...
, which is based, among others, on the Third Statute of Lithuania
Statutes of Lithuania
The Statutes of Lithuania originally known as the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were a 16th century codification of all the legislation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its successor, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth...
. The code survived well into the 19th century (up to 1849), when its articles were revised under the direction of Mikhail Speransky
Mikhail Speransky
Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky was probably the greatest of Russian reformers during the reign of Alexander I of Russia. He was a close advisor to Tsar Alexander I of Russia and later to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, he is sometimes called the father of Russian liberalism.-Early life and...
.
The code consolidated Russia's slaves and free peasants into a new serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
class and pronounced that class hereditary and unchangeable (see Russian serfdom
Russian serfdom
The origins of serfdom in Russia are traced to Kievan Rus in the 11th century. Legal documents of the epoch, such as Russkaya Pravda, distinguished several degrees of feudal dependency of peasants, the term for an unfree peasant in the Russian Empire, krepostnoi krestyanin , is translated as serf.-...
). Travel between towns was made forbidden without an internal passport
Internal passport
An internal passport is an identity document used in some countries to control the internal movement and residence of its people. Countries that currently have internal passports include Russia, Ukraine, China and North Korea...
. Russian nobility
Russian nobility
The Russian nobility arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution of 1917.The Russian word for nobility, Dvoryanstvo , derives from the Russian word dvor , meaning the Court of a prince or duke and later, of the tsar. A nobleman is called dvoryanin...
agreed to serve in the army, but were granted the exclusive privilege of owning serfs.
The causes of promulgation
As the Time of TroublesTime of Troubles
The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third...
ended, a new dynastic government (Romanovs) commenced active law-making. An intensive growth of the number of edicts ("ukases") since the Sudebnik of 1497 can be seen from the following data:
| Years | edicts |
| 1550–1600 | 80 |
| 1601–1610 | 17 |
| 1611–1620 | 97 |
| 1621–1630 | 90 |
| 1631–1640 | 98 |
| 1641–1648 | 63 |
Overall, in the years 1611-1648, a total of 348 edicts were issued, and in the period of 1550-1648, another 445 edicts. This led to a situation in a Russian state when there existed an immense number of state edicts, which not only were obsolete, but even contradicted each other.
This chaos was contributed to by the scattering of normative acts throughout different state institutes (traditionally new edicts were made on demand of some prikaz
Prikaz
Prikaz was an administrative or judicial office in Muscovy and Russia of 15th-18th centuries. The term is usually translated as "ministry", "office" or "department". In modern Russian "prikaz" means administrative or military order...
, and after their promulgation were attached to an edict book of this prikaz). There was also an absence of coordination in law application: a new article in this book was often known only to the statesmen of the given prikaz. Also, the casual character of legal rules was becoming inefficient. The legislators now sought to regulate legal rules, that is, to pass on to a normative interpretation of legal rules.
The Salt Riot
Salt Riot
The Salt Riot, also known as the Moscow Uprising of 1648 , was a riot in Moscow in 1648, triggered by the government's substitution of different taxes with a universal direct salt tax for the purpose of replenishing the state treasury, which, in turn, made salt a much more expensive commodity.-The...
, which broke out in Moscow in 1648, also contributed to the promulgation of the Sobornoye Ulozheniye, one of the demands of the rioters being to call the Zemsky Sobor
Zemsky Sobor
The zemsky sobor was the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term roughly means assembly of the land. It could be summoned either by tsar, or patriarch, or the Boyar Duma...
and to make a new legal code. The riot was suppressed, but as one of the concessions to the rioters, the czar called the Zemsky Sobor, which continued to work until the promulgation of Sobornoye Ulozheniye in 1649.
Lawmaking
A special committee headed by PrincePrince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
Nikita Odoevskiy (Н. И. Одоевский) was created to make bill of Ulozhenie. Other members of that committee are: Prince Prozorov S. V. (С. В. Прозоров), Okolnichy Prince (one of highest ranks of boyars in old Russia), Volkonskiy F. F. (Ф. Ф. Волконский), scribe Gavrila Leontev (Г. Леонтьев) and scribe Fedor Griboedov (Ф. Грибоедов). At that time, practical job of Zemsky Sobor
Zemsky Sobor
The zemsky sobor was the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term roughly means assembly of the land. It could be summoned either by tsar, or patriarch, or the Boyar Duma...
had been started.
Zemsky Sobor
Zemsky Sobor
The zemsky sobor was the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term roughly means assembly of the land. It could be summoned either by tsar, or patriarch, or the Boyar Duma...
was intended to consider a bill of Ulozhenie. Many members, include representatives of posad
Posad
A posad was a settlement, often surrounded by ramparts and a moat, adjoining a town or a kremlin, but outside of it, or adjoining a monastery in the 10th to 15th centuries. Usually it was inhabited by craftsmen and merchants, known as posadskiye lyudi .In the Russian Empire a posad was a small...
people (:ru:Посадские люди) communities. Zemsky Sobor
Zemsky Sobor
The zemsky sobor was the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type, in the 16th and 17th centuries. The term roughly means assembly of the land. It could be summoned either by tsar, or patriarch, or the Boyar Duma...
consisted of two houses. At one of them Tsar, Boyar Duma and Consecrated Sobor (Освященный собор). Elected people of different ranks took part in sessions of another house.
Deputies
Deputy (legislator)
A deputy is a legislator in many countries, particularly those with legislatures styled as a 'Chamber of Deputies' or 'National Assembly'.-List of countries:This is an list of countries using the term 'deputy' or one of its cognates....
of Nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
and posad
Posad
A posad was a settlement, often surrounded by ramparts and a moat, adjoining a town or a kremlin, but outside of it, or adjoining a monastery in the 10th to 15th centuries. Usually it was inhabited by craftsmen and merchants, known as posadskiye lyudi .In the Russian Empire a posad was a small...
people had a big impact to adoption of many norms of Ulozhenie. At 29-th of January, 1649 making and editing of Ulozhenie had been ended. Original of this historical document is scroll
Scroll
A scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper, which has been drawn or written upon.Scroll may also refer to:*Scroll , the decoratively curved end of the pegbox of string instruments such as violins...
consist of 959 narrow columns. At the end of it, Ulozhenie had been signed by 315 signatures of Sobor members. Signatures of scribes located at splicings of columns. Centuries later, at the times of Catherine II
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
reign a silver ark had been made for storage of this original scroll. At the present time, original of Sobornoye Ulozheniye is kept in Kremlin Armoury
Kremlin Armoury
The Kremlin Armory is one of the oldest museums of Moscow, established in 1808 and located in the Moscow Kremlin .The Kremlin Armoury originated as the royal arsenal in 1508. Until the transfer of the court to St Petersburg, the Armoury was in charge of producing, purchasing and storing weapons,...
.
Then a copy of scroll had been written in book format. From this book, Ulozhenie had been printed twice (1200 copies each time) during year 1649. Sobornoye Ulozheniye 1649 was a new stage in the development of Russian legal technicality
Legal technicality
The term legal technicality is a casual or colloquial phrase referring to a technical aspect of law. The phrase is not a term of art in the law; it has no exact meaning, nor does it have a legal definition. It implies that that strict adherence to the letter of the law has prevented the spirit of...
.
All Sobor members had also signed handwritten copies of Ulozhenie which had been sent to all state offices (prikaz
Prikaz
Prikaz was an administrative or judicial office in Muscovy and Russia of 15th-18th centuries. The term is usually translated as "ministry", "office" or "department". In modern Russian "prikaz" means administrative or military order...
es) in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
as blueprint for action.
Elected people inserted own amendment and additions to Duma
Duma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
as petitions of Zemstvo
Zemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
. Some decision were being made by elected, Duma and Tsar together.
Vasily Klyuchevsky
Vasily Klyuchevsky
Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky dominated Russian historiography at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is still regarded as one of three most reputable Russian historians, alongside Nikolay Karamzin and Sergey Solovyov.-Early life:...
singles out several technical stages at process of lawmaking of Ulozhenie:
- Codification — work with sources, editing) by committee headed by Prince Odoevskiy.
- Conference — bringing up petition for discussion.
- RevisionRevisionRevision is the process of revising.More specifically, it may refer to:* Update, a modification of software or a database* Revision control, the management of changes to sets of computer files* Belief revision...
— revision and edition bills by Duma and Tsar. - Legislative decision — a common decision about one or another article of Ulozhenie.
- Hand signing — signing of code of laws by all without any exception members of Sobor.
First time legislator tried to form system of norms and classify it by the areas of law.
Great attention had been given to procedural law
Procedural law
Procedural law or adjective law comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil lawsuit, criminal or administrative proceedings. The rules are designed to ensure a fair and consistent application of due process or fundamental justice to all cases that come before...
.
Sources of Ulozhenie
SourcesSources of law
Sources of law means the origin from which rules of human conduct come into existence and derive legal force or binding characters.It also refers to the sovereign or the state from which the law derives its force or validity....
of Sobornoe Ulozhenie was as Russian as international law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
.
- Prikazes' book of orders - from time of appearing of some Prikaz, current law in concrete area of law were being fixed in it.
- Sudebnik of 1497 and Sudebnik by Ivan IVSudebnik of 1550Sudebnik of tsar Ivan IV , a revised code of laws instituted by his grandfather Ivan the Great. This code can be considered as the result of the first Russian parliament of the feudal Estates type of 1549....
. - Statutes of LithuaniaStatutes of LithuaniaThe Statutes of Lithuania originally known as the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were a 16th century codification of all the legislation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its successor, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth...
(1588) had been used as model (pattern) of legal technicalityLegal technicalityThe term legal technicality is a casual or colloquial phrase referring to a technical aspect of law. The phrase is not a term of art in the law; it has no exact meaning, nor does it have a legal definition. It implies that that strict adherence to the letter of the law has prevented the spirit of... - Petitions (Russian: Челобитные (Chelobitnye))