The Integration of the Kalmyks into the Legal System of the Russian Empire in the Late 18th and the First Half of the 19th Centuries. Translation from Russian

Abstract

This article analyzes the specific features of the integration of the Kalmyk population into the legal system of the Russian Empire over the period from the late 18th to the first half of the 19th century. Following the abolition of Kalmyk statehood, the Russian government initiated the implementation of the organizational principles and procedures of the imperial judiciary across the Kalmyk Steppe. Attempts to incorporate local (national) law into the country’s unified legal space culminated in a redefinition of jurisdiction and, in effect, a redistribution of powers over case adjudication. The gradual extension of Russian legislation into national judicial practice led to a reduction in the list of cases considered under ancient Kalmyk laws. Despite this, the judicial practice introduced in the territory of the Kalmyk steppe made it possible to take into account Kalmyk social life and everyday practices, the specifics of the national mentality and the peculiarities of legal consciousness.

While certain traditional local structures and institutions of authority were preserved in the Kalmyk Steppe, the role of Russian officials steadily increased, and the courts operated under stringent administrative oversight. A significant drawback of this process was that the new rules were imposed from above and were largely artificial in character. Kalmyk legal mentality remained much the same and could not change as quickly as the government desired. The new judicial process assumed a formalistic character, and the Russian courts—whose jurisdiction encompassed a substantial share of Kalmyk cases—required reforming. The integration progressed with difficulty and was not completed by the mid-19th century. As a result, heterogeneous practices took shape across the uluses with respect to procedure and to the jurisdiction of the ulus Zargo courts. The Kalmyks lost confidence in their own courts, which adjudicated under Russian law, as well as in judges who lacked practical experience in applying the norms of Kalmyk customary law.