Acts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the period of formation of the ministerial system of administration in the Russian empire (1802-1811)

Introduction. The article considers the forms and main features of normative acts that directly relate to the sphere of authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. The chronological framework of the study covers the period from 1802 to 1811. The lower boundary is defined in accordance with the date of creation of ministries by the Manifesto of 1802. The upper temporal boundary is the date of the "General Establishment of Ministries" on June 25, 1811, as this document introduced changes in the competence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The main task of the study is to determine with the help of general scientific and formal-legal methods in what forms the decisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were embodied at the time when the ministry did not have the right to issue generally binding normative acts and what place the acts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs occupied in the general array of normative acts of the empire. Normative material and calculations. The normative base of the study consisted of the acts of 1802-1811, systematized in the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. It was established that the issues of organization and activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were regulated by three forms of normative acts. These are reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs approved by the highest authority, decrees announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs and decrees given to the Minister. Other forms of acts (notes, resolutions, etc.) were rarely used. Despite the difference in forms, all acts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs required a resolution of the emperor. The number of acts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs varied from year to year. The largest number of acts related to the Ministry of Internal Affairs was issued in 1808. Generalizations and conclusions. Despite the official absence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the right to participate in law-making, the acts relating to the organization and activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs played a significant role in the legal life of the empire. Their number for the period under study amounted to 7% of the total number of normative acts included in the Complete Collection of Laws.