Evolution of the Judicial System in the Territory of Kyrgyzstan During Its Incorporation into the Russian Empire

Abstract

During the period when the territory of modern Kyrgyzstan was part of the Russian Empire a transformation of traditional legal proceedings took place – from the norms of adat and sharia to elements of the imperial legal order. An analysis of the Russian Empire judicial policy reveals patterns of legal incorporation of the national peripheries and allows for an assessment of the historical legacy of these changes in the context of the modern judicial system of the Kyrgyz Republic, which determines the relevance of the study. The methodological basis includes historical-legal, comparative-legal, formal-dogmatic, and institutional methods. The work for the first time systematizes and compares the provisions of the judicial reforms of 1867, 1886, and 1898 in terms of their impact on the structure and functions of people’s courts. As a result of the study, it has been established that the judicial system in the territory of Kyrgyzstan during this period underwent a gradual transformation – from predominantly traditional justice (based on adat and sharia) to an institutional system governed by imperial legislation. The flexible interaction between these elements made it possible to preserve aspects of legal identity while simultaneously introducing centralized models of legal proceedings. The publication focuses on examining the interaction between imperial legislation and local legal traditions – adat and sharia – and identifying the mechanisms for their institutional coexistence.