Oriental Studies (Apr 2022)
History of Notarial Affairs in Tuva: From Noyons and Senior Electives to the First Notarial Office of Kyzyl, 1914 to 1940s
Abstract
Introduction. The article provides a historical review of how notarial system of the Tyva Republic — an eastern region of Russia — was taking its shape. The research interest towards the territory is determined by specific development features characteristic of public and state institutions in Tuva. Goals. The article aims to identify facts of historical experience in functioning of notaries in the territory of the republic from 1914 to the 1940s. Materials and methods. The study primarily explores documents from the National Archive of the Tyva Republic, such as official papers of the Department of the Commissioner for Uryankhai Krai and the Resettlement Agency, local khoshuu and sum administrations, and the Notarial Chamber of the Tyva Republic. Comprehensive analysis of normative regulations for notarial system issued after 1946 makes it possible to assert its complete existence in the mid-to-late 1940s. Results. The Russian Protectorate of 1914–1917 did not introduce the Notarial Regulations (1866) in the Uryankhai region due to national and geopolitical characteristics of the territory. In fact, notarial functions were performed by representatives of local ethnic elites (noyons), senior electives of Russian settlements, officials of the Resettlement Agency and the Department of the Commissioner for Uryankhai Krai. At that time, the indigenous population and peasant settlers had no shared understanding of private property, which caused many disputes resolved by local Russian officials. So, the period of the Tuvan People’s Republic (1921 to 1944) witnessed no shaping of notarial system. In a figurative sense, ‘notarial affairs’ were entrusted to local khoshuu and sum administrations (like village Soviets, notarial tables in district or city executive committees). The revealed documents, including the ‘Book of Orders for Kyzyl Notarial Office of Tuvan Autonomous Oblast, 1950 to 1958’ make it possible to precisely identify the earliest working day of the First Notarial Office of Kyzyl — February 1, 1945. Analysis of normative regulations for notarial system in Tuva presumes that general features of its functioning were formed along with other regions of Soviet Russia.
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