Convening of the commission of Catherine II, his role in the formation of Russian legislation

Empress Catherine II began her reign with reforms in the spirit of the policy of "enlightened absolutism", inspired by the works of many European thinkers. As is known, the "enlightened absolutism" itself assumed the equality of all the inhabitants of the country, regardless of their class, before a single law. So, in 1767, the Catherine's Settled Commission 2 was convened, the purpose of which was the establishment of a new set of laws protecting the interests of all classes of citizens. The Empress believed that her fairly free-for-all idea would find support among representatives of many ranks and estates, and, therefore, would strengthen her position on the imperial throne.

So, the Commission is a collegial body, convened to systematize laws that came into force in the distant 1649. In total for the history of the Russian Empire, seven such commissions were convened. The largest was the convening The commission was laid by Catherine II, which differed from the previous ones by a broad representative office (now city residents were allowed to vote - one representative from the city, noblemen, peasants, foreigners). The right to be elected to the deputies was deprived of representatives of spiritual authority and serfs. The commission of Catherine II was composed of 450 deputies, most of whom were representatives of city dwellers (36%), nobles (33%) and villagers (20%).

The deputies of the Standing Committee were given a lot of privileges. Thus, they received additional salaries, could not be subjected to corporal punishment, torture and death penalty, their estates could not be confiscated under any circumstances (except for debts). The insult to the deputy was punishable by imposing a serious fine.

The convocation of the Commission of the Catherine II was marked by another interesting innovation for the inhabitants of Russia. The Empress personally composed the so-called "Nazak" to the deputies, to whom they were to be guided in making important decisions. In her "Order", Catherine outlined her views on the main tasks of the Commission. The text of this document consisted of twenty chapters divided into articles. Some of them were written in the spirit of the laws of the French philosopher Charles Montesquieu, some in the spirit of the book of the Italian C. Beccaria "On crimes and punishments."

The Empress was convinced that the only possible form of government in such a huge country as Russia is an absolute monarchy. In order to protect all subjects from despotism and the willfulness of the monarch, a Settlement Commission must be created, whose deputies have the right to express to the incumbent ruler their opinion that, for example, the adoption of this decree is inadmissible within the current situation, that it contradicts the opinion of the established Commission, and Therefore, can not be made public. Part of the articles of the "Nazca" was devoted to the economic development of the country, the construction of new cities, the development of industry, agriculture and trade.

The convocation of the Commission was held in the summer of 1767. His opening was marked by a service in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin with the personal presence of Catherine II. All deputies took the oath before the meeting. In the autumn of 1768 Russia's war with the Ottoman Empire began, demanding the presence of many deputies in military institutions and on the battlefields. Marshal A. Bibikov announced the termination of the work of their meeting. The convocation of the Commission of the Catherine II was the last such meeting of representatives of different estates of Russia. Despite this, the attempt to create such a caste-representative body exalted the empress in the eyes of the population of the country, raised its prestige to unprecedented heights both in Russia itself and far beyond its borders.