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Abstract

The main stages of formation and development of views on the problem of correlation between law and customs in volost’ courts of post-reform Russia (1861–1917) have been determined and considered. The concepts introduced by the leading scholars since the second half of the 19th century up to the present time (S.V. Pakhman, P.N. Zyryanov, and J. Burbank) with regard to the problem under study have been discussed. Using the chronological method, the main tendencies have been revealed and the following periods have been identified within the stages of historiography of the problem: the period of formation (1870–1920), Soviet period (1920–1990), and modern period (1990 – up to date). The point of view about the low level of legal culture in peasant courts, which prevailed in the scientific discourse since the middle of the 19th century, was in line with to the position of reformers, who excluded volost’ courts from the judicial system of the Russian Empire. However, when extensive archival research of volost’ courts decisions began, the idea about legal illiteracy of peasants gradually became less prevalent in historiography. All in all, the performed analysis shows that the conclusions of scholars of the second and third periods are in the conceptual framework created by authors of the period of historiography formation.

Keywords

• volost’ courts
• peasant justice
• local government
• post-reform russia
• s.v. pakhman
• j. burbank