Вопросы правосудия и безопасности в реформировании юстиции позднеимперского Охотско-Камчатского края

Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Серия 2. История. 2025. Т. 70. № 2. С. 345–361.

Крестьянников Е. А.

The end of the 19th century was marked by the extension of the judicial reform of 1864 to Siberia, but the northeastern part of the province still lived without justice institutions. Magistrate’ and district courts did not appear in the Okhotsk-Kamchatka territory of the Primorskii region. The police officials here performed the functions of justices of the peace in a very un-scrupulous manner, and important cases were decided in the Vladivostok district court, which was inaccessible to residents due to its remoteness. The article focuses on the history of subsequent judicial reform in the extreme eastern territory of Russia, specifically addressing the issues of its determinacy and effectiveness. At the beginning of the 20th century the threat of losing this region of the country forced it to be urgently developed, as a result of which the Kamchatka province was established there, and then justices of the peace and the Petropavlovsk district court were introduced. The judicial reform, which required significant financial resources and efforts to attract qualified personnel, was ambiguous and, due to the unconvincing arguments, caused negative responses from legislators, but was implemented under government pressure. Statistical data on the activities of the emerging judicial authorities confirmed that full-fledged demand for them, given the underdevelopment of the territory and the specific composition of the population, had not yet fully formed. Military circumstances made one doubt even more about the advisability of the justice system for the Okhotsk-Kamchatka region, and in the conditions of the Civil War, a decision was made to transfer the Petropavlovsk district court.

Keywords: судебная реформа, правосудие, юстиция, поздняя Российская империя, безопасность, Охотско-Камчатский край