Russian legislation on the court and legal procedure in the Buryat society in the 19th century and the Buryat local self-government bodies

The revival of Russian traditions of local self-government authorities began since the enactment of Federal Law 131-FL "On common principles of organization among the local self-government authorities in the Russian Federation" of October 6, 2003. The implementation of the reform revealed a lot of problems in local self-government, such as financial dependence, imbalanced financial and economic basis, questions in separation of powers in social policy, lack of interaction among the state authorities, weak consideration of the national peculiarities of the regions and others. As a result of it, the appeal to the historical experience of the past has become important nowadays. As a part of history of the local self-government authorities in the Russian State, the investigation of foreign self-government in Siberia has also become relevant. Foreign self-government was established by the Charter on Management of Foreigners (1822) for Siberian peoples (the Buryats, the Khakass, the Yakuts and the Tungus). Generalization of the historical experience of local self-government, studies of the history of formation, development and activities of the local self-government of the Buryats in the 19th - early 20th cc. is of importance for modern society in terms of a successful realization of the reforms related to local self-government. The issue of the local self-government of the Buryats has been covered in contemporary Russian source studies and historiography. The most relevant is the appeal to the historical experience of the legal system among aboriginal peoples, on this occasion it is the court system of the Buryats which is based on the common law standards. Before the annexation of Buryatia to Russia all kinds of crimes and offences among the Buryats were regulated with the common law standards. Since that period the influence of Russian legislation was intensifying gradually. Then, with the help of the Instruction. for the Border Guards (1728) for Firsov and Mikhalev who were under the rule of Count Vladislavich-Raguzinskiy, so-called "criminal cases" were withdrawn from the jurisdiction of non-Russian authorities. According to the Charter foreign councils and patrimonial administrations had the right to conduct trials and legal procedures. Patrimonial administrations were the first level of the court in verbal punishment, foreign councils the second level, and local police the third level. The Steppe Duma was not a verbal court, it was considered as mediators. The main responsibility of verbal courts was in settling private disputes between foreigners and in their reconciliation on the basis of "the steppe laws" and customs. The decision of the court had the power if all participants were satisfied with it. In case of an unsatisfactory legal decision of patrimonial administrations or of a dispute between people of different uluses and kins, the case went to the court of a foreign council.

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