Juridical Council at the Provisional Government: Russian Intelligentsia and Formation of the Legal State

The article examines the activities of the Russian intelligentsia to modernize domestic legislation after the February revolution of 1917. In the Juridical Council formed under the Provisional Government, the Russian intelligentsia was engaged in standards control of pre-revolutionary legislation, as well as gave a legal assessment to the draft laws of the new government aimed at creating a democratic legal state. In this regard, the aim of this study is to identify the role and specific actions of the Russian intelligentsia in modernizing Russian legislation in 1917 as part of the legislative activities of the Juridical Council under the Provisional Government. The issue of the activities of the Juridical Council has been repeatedly highlighted in Russian historiography. The main focus of the works of Soviet and modern historians and lawyers is on specific legal reforms carried out by the new government with the support of the Juridical Council. It should also be noted that the researchers have studied in detail the biographies of some participants of the Council, and analYzed their political and legal ideas. However, despite the fact that many aspects of the activities of the Juridical Council have been studied, the participation of the Russian intelligentsia and its role in the work of the Council were not the subject of a research. In the course of the study, questions about the legal foundations of the emergence and activities of the Provisional Government and the Juridical Council formed under it were considered, the most effective areas of the Council’s activities were studied, which include the reform of local self-government in Russia and the formation of the legal status of Russian citizens. As a result of the analysis, it was proved that the expert advisory activities of the Russian intelligentsia within the framework of the Juridical Council contributed to the modernization of Russian legislation, but many legal achievements were lost after the appearance of the new government in October 1917.

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