Adatinistration.—The principal authority is the council of the empire, presided over either by the emperor or by a member spe cially appointed. It is divided into four departments: legislative, military (which comprises also the navy), civil and ecclesiastical, and financial. Each of these departments has a secretary of state, and they deliberate either separately, or together, which is called the general assembly of the council. The affairs which are decided by a majority of votes, are submitted to tho approbation of the emperor.
The Directing Senate, established by Peter the Great, is the supremo tribunal for all judicial cases. Its authority is limited only by that of the monarch. It is presided ,over by the emperor in person. The ukases of the senate are binding like those of the emperor, who alone can prevent their execution. The senate in divided into eight depart ments, of which the first superintends the general affairs of the country ; the second, third, and fourth try civil cases ; and the fifth, criminal cases: these are all at St-Petersburg. The sixth, which also tries criminal cases, and the seveuth and eighth, which try civil cases, are at Moscow. Each of these departmenta has a number of govern ments or provinces, from the courts of which it hears appeals. Judg ment is given by a majority of votes, which must consist of two-thirds of tho whole number, or of the number present. In case the required majority cannot be obtained, the cause is decided in the general assembly of the senate, where all the departments vote together. Cause, are not publicly argued before the senate or before any other Russian tribunal. A statement of the case of each party is made by the secretary, and communicated to the party, who signs it as correct These statements are then read to the court, which pronounces judg ment In the Polish provinces causes were publicly argued by advocates, but theme laws have been abolished and those of Russia introduced.
The synod, or, as it is ofticially called, the most holy directiog the supreme administrative and judicial court for all ecele affairs of the Greek religion. Its decisions are subject to the control of the emperor as head of the Church. The administration of the country is conducted by the following ministrie+:—liaistry of the imperial household; foreign affairs ; interior affairs; war • merino • natioual edneation, to which is attached the administration of the eocieslastles1 affairs of those sects which do Dot belong to the Russian Church ; finance; justice; board of control, which audit. the aocounts of all moneys expended for the public service ; poet office ; and direction of land and water oommnnloations. The governmenta or provinces are organised in the following manner:—The head of the administration of a province is the civil governor, to whose department belong all the affairs of the province except judicial cases. There is also a military governor, who fre
quently has more than one province under his jurisdiction, to whom all civil and administrative afteire are referred.
The tribunals or worts of appeal try civil and criminal cases, and the members of them are elected by the nobles. Tho conscientious tribunal Is oompoeed of a chairman and two assessors elected from the noblea, two assessors from the merchants, and two from the peasants. This mart hears them criminal cases where the crime was committed more from a concurrence of unfortunate circumstances than from malice. The jurisdiction of the court does not however apply to cases of offence against the imperial person, high treason, murder, theft, and robbery. There arc a medical board, a board of public charities, and a council called the tutelage of the nobles (which is trustee of all minors of that elms) in each government The towns have their separate jurisdiction, composed of the burgo master and ratmane, councilmen, who are elected from the merchants and burghers of the town. One of the moat mischievous defects in the Russian administration of justice and police is the insufficient pay of magistrates, of whom the highest, namely, a senator, receives 1601. a-year. Bribery is the universal plague of the Russian administration. Lave—In 1497, Ivan III. made an order for collecting into one body the existing customs and ordinances, and rendering the collec tion complete by the necessary additions. By order of Ivan the Terrible. this code was (1550) revised and completed under the name of Sudebnik, or judgment-book. The Czar Alexey Isliehaelovich gave orders (1640) for compoeing a general code of laws under the name of Ulogenie (Regulation). It consists of 25 chapters, and still forme the basis of the Russian law. Since that time the Russian legislation has been continued by Ukases, that is, ordinances issued either in the name of the monarch himself, or of the senate • and their number from the 25th January, 1649, to the demise of emperor Alexander I. was 30,920.
Immediately after his accession, the late emperor Nicholas declared that a systematically arranged collection of the existing laws and ordivanoea should become the basis of legislation. A collection of all the laws and ordinance. from 1649 till the death of the emperor Alexander I. (December 1,1825), was published in 48 volumes, 4to, 1827-30. It was followed in 1832-33 by a collection of the ordinances of the emperor Nicholas, from his accession to 1832, in 8 vols. 4to, and is still continued. From the collections just named was extracted the Svod Zakonow (corpusjuris), which was published 1826-33, 15 vole., and is the general law of the empire.