Organisational features of guardianship in the Steppe region in the late XIX — early XX centuries

Abstract

This article analyses the development of institute of guardianship in the Steppe region in the late XIX — early XX centuries. The performance of the guardianship institute was regulated by the common imperial legislation, the incomplete nature of which resulted into the formation of various practices of guardianship organisation in the region. Guardianship in Turkestan and the Steppe regions were in the judicial department's competence, while the guardianship governance was entrusted to the international judges. In the late XIX c. the issues of guardianship institute among the Kazakh population extension became topical. A number of mechanisms regarding the guardianship conduct in the Kazakh community were developed. In 1904, the Steppe Governor-General proposed the guardianship development project in the peasant environment and the reinforcement of peasant chiefs' role and functions. However, the lack of a legal definition of guardianship in Kazakh traditional law, the perseverance of emigration institute caused significant difficulties in spreading of common imperial legal institutes. As a result, up until 1917 the common principle of guardianship performance was not developed in the region.