The 1827 Charter as the Main Pension Provision Document for Judges of the Pre-Reform Russian Empire
Sergey N. Podlesnykh, Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor
Voronezh State Forest Engineering University named after G. F. Morozov, Voronezh, Russia, agera3@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2613-5777
Abstract
This article analyzes the 1827 Charter on Pensions and Lump-sum Benefits as the main regulatory document governing the pension provision of judges in the Russian Empire, using archival and legislative materials from the first half of the 19th century. The key provisions of the 1827 Charter are examined in relation to the specifics of the pre-reform judiciary. It is noted that several attempts to unify Russian pension legislation were made throughout the first quarter of the 19th century. However, it was only during the reign of Nicholas I that this plan was realized. It is concluded that the 1827 Charter on Pensions and Lump-sum Benefits marked a new stage in the development of judicial financial support, reflecting the pension practices of Russian officials in previous eras, despite the fact that this Charter did not identify judges as a separate category of officials. The 1827 Charter determined the main vector of development of pension provision for Russian judges until 1917.
Keywords
Pension, pension provision, financial support, 1827 Charter, judicial corps, bureaucracy, pre-reform court, Alexander I, Nicholas I, Russian Empire.
For citation:
Podlesnykh S. N. The 1827 Charter as the Main Pension Provision Document for Judges of the Pre-Reform Russian Empire. Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2026, no. 1 (57), pp. 176—189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32516/2303-9922.2026.57.12.
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