Юридическая компетентность без административного ресурса: уездные тяжбы отставного подканцеляриста Петра Викулина, 1774-1799 гг.

Cahiers d'histoire russe, est-européenne, caucasienne et centrasiatique (ex. Cahiers du Monde Russe). 2025. Т. 66. № 1-2. С. 177–200.

Boyarchenkov V.

The article examines the possibilities that a retired minor employee of one of the district offices had in the courts of the Russian Empire in the last quarter of the 18th century. Issues related to the legal competence, reputation and status of a retired administrative sub-clerk are considered. A microhistorical analysis of court case materials shows that the sub-clerk Vikulin used his professional experience to serve his personal interests. Acting boldly and inventively, he successfully confronted not only representatives of the unprivileged groups of the population, such as the plow soldiers of the Sapozhkovsky district, but also the nobleman who occupied the highest governmental position in the district. Only in his old age he suffered a sensitive defeat in court, which took the domestic serfs from his possession. Of particular interest is the analysis of law enforcement practice in such common cases in court proceedings as the collection of arrears of the poll tax and litigation over the right of ownership of serfs.

Keywords: Russian Empire, история права, Российская империя, history of law, district court, уездный суд, administrative office employees, канцелярские служители

Publication based on the results of: Russia’s Regional History of 18th – 20th centuries: socio-political, anthropological perspectives and agency relationships (2024)