On the relocation of the Ostrogozhsky District Court to Valuyki: 1870–1880s

Importance. According to modern researchers, the organizing the activities process of district courts has not been studied sufficiently. One of the problems in organizing new judicial institutions after 1864 was the problem of providing district courts with buildings (premises). In the premises absence suitable for the purposes of justice, the authorities of the corresponding city, which had the opportunity to accommodate the court, often raised the issue of transferring the court. The mechanism identification for the possible transfer of district courts in the Russian Empire in the post-reform period is analyzed using the Ostrogozhsk District Court example (the purpose of this study). This goal led to the following tasks formulation: general reasons identification for the possible district courts transfer; the main reasons identification for the initiative to transfer district courts on the part of city authorities; the main problems analysis associated with the district courts organization.

Materials and Methods. The main sources of the study are the following materials: archival files from the funds of the State Archives of the Voronezh Region; regulatory legal acts, rules and laws collections; periodicals; statistical and reference publications. The methodological basis of the study is both general and specific methods of scientific knowledge: the structural analysis method; historical-comparative method; historical-systemic method; formal-logical method; other methods of scientific knowledge.

Results and Discussion. Based on the results of the study (based on the Ostrogozhsk District Court archival materials), the reasons for the possible transfer of district courts in the second half of the 19th century are identified. The main reasons for the initiative to transfer district courts on the part of local city authorities are identified. The archival materials analysis made it possible to identify the main problems associated with the district courts organization in the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century, and also showed the mechanism for the possible district courts transfer from one city to another.

Conclusion. The transfer initiator of the Ostrogozhsk District Court was the Valuysk City Duma. The main reason for the initiative shown by the Valuysk City Duma to transfer the Ostrogozhsk District Court to the city of Valuyki was a material issue. The decisive factor for officials of the judicial department in the issue of transferring the district court was financial benefits. Officials were ready to neglect the principle of accessibility of the court for the population if only the financial component in the organization of new courts was profitable for the treasury. The main reasons for the transfer of district courts in the Russian Empire can be called the following reasons: 1) the presence (absence) of suitable buildings (premises) for the purposes of justice; 2) the geographic location of the city where it was supposed to place the district court.