Governing Senate

Governing Senate
Правительствующiй Сенатъ; Правительствующий Сенат
	; Senate and Synod Building on; Senate Square, Saint Petersburg
Agency overview
Formed	1711
Dissolved	1917
Headquarters	Saint Petersburg

From 1711 to 1917, the Governing Senate^[a] was the highest legislative, judicial, and executive body subordinate to the Russian emperors. The senate was instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the Russian Empire. It was chaired by the Procurator General, who served as the link between the sovereign and the Senate; he acted, in the emperor's own words, as "the sovereign's eye".

Description

Originally established only for the time of Peter's absence, it became a permanent body after his return. The number of senators was first set at nine and, in 1712, increased to ten. Any disagreements between the Chief Procurator and the Senate were to be settled by the monarch. Certain other officials and a chancellery were also attached to the Senate. While it underwent many subsequent changes, it became one of the most important institutions of imperial Russia, especially for administration and law.

The State Council, created by Alexander I, was supposed to inherit the executive power of the Senate. An envisioned parliament was to inherit legislative power, but that never happened.

In the 19th century, the Senate evolved into the highest judicial body in Russia. As such, it exercised control over all legal institutions and officials throughout the country.

The Senate was composed of several departments, two of which were Courts of Cassation (one for criminal cases, one for civil cases). It also included a Department of Heraldry, which managed matters relating to the rights of the nobles and honorary citizens.

First nine senators

Count Ivan Musin-Pushkin, Boyar Tikhon Streshnev, Prince Petr Golitsyn, Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov, Grigoriy Plemiannikov, Prince Grigory Volkonsky [ru], General Mikhail Samarin, Quartermaster general Vasiliy Apukhtin and Nazariy Melnitskiy. As an ober-secretary was appointed Anisim Schukin.^[1]^[2]

Procurator Generals

1722 - 1735 Pavel Yaguzhinsky
1740 - 1760 Nikita Trubetskoy
1760 - 1761 Yakov Shakhovskoy
1761 - 1764 Aleksandr Glebov
1764 - 1792 Aleksandr Vyazemsky
1792 - 1796 Alexander Samoylov
1796 - 1798 Aleksei Kurakin
1798 - 1799 Pyotr Lopukhin
1799 - 1800 Aleksandr Bekleshov
1800 - 1801 Pyotr Obolianinov

Procurator Generals and Ministers of Justice

1802 - 1803 Gavrila Derzhavin
1803 - 1810 Pyotr Lopukhin
1810 - 1814 Ivan Dmitriev
1814 - 1817 Dmitriy Troshchinsky
1817 - 1827 Dmitry Lobanov-Rostovsky
1827 - 1829 Aleksei Dolgorukov
1829 - 1839 Dmitriy Dashkov
1839 Dmitry Bludov
1839 - 1862 Viktor Panin
1862 - 1867 Dmitriy Zamyatnin
1867 Sergei Urusov
1867 - 1878 Konstantin von Pahlen
1878 - 1885 Dmitry Nabokov
1885 - 1894 Nikolay Manasein
1894 - 1905 Nikolay Muravyov
1905 Sergey Manukhin
1905 - 1906 Mikhail Akimov
1906 - 1915 Ivan Shcheglovitov
1915 - 1916 Alexander Khvostov
1916 Alexander Makarov
1916 - 1917 Nikolay Dobrovolsky

Sources and references

Steinberg, Mark D.; Riasanovsky, Nicholas Valentine (2005). A History of Russia. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515394-4.

References

^ Russian: Правительствующiй Сенатъ, romanized: Pravitelstvuyushchiy Senat; Правительствующий сенат in modern Russian spelling.

^ По указу Петра I в России учреждён Правительствующий Сенат [By decree of Peter I, the Governing Senate was established in Russia]. День в истории [This day in history]. Presidential Library. Archived from the original on 2018-08-15. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
^ Указ об учереждении Правительствующего Сената о и персональном его составе [Decree on the establishment of the Governing Senate and its members]. Конституция РФ [Constitution of the Russian Federation]. Garant. Archived from the original on 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-01-16.