History of Prohibition and Regulation of Fistfights in the Russian Legislation of the 17th – early 20th centuries

Introduction. The methods of legal regulation of fistfights in connection with the historical and legal characteristics of this phenomenon throughout the entire period of the existence of tsarist Russia are studied for the purpose of their subsequent use in the regulation of physical culture and sports activities of the modern Russian Federation. Materials and Methods. General scientific methods of cognition were applied: system analysis, synthesis, interpretation. Special juridical methods employed include interpretation of law, state and law modeling and formal legal analysis. Results and Discussion. The article describes fistfights in the cultural and legal aspect, which are considered as an integral part of the custom of the peoples of the world, an element of the funeral rite, a military and funny duel, national fun at festivals and fairs. In tsarist Russia, fights were viewed both from the positive side: the system of military physical training, a tool for building fighting spirit, a type of funny competition, and the negative side – as a form of violation of law and order, the cause of injuries and deaths. The dominant method of legal regulation was banning fistfights. In the reign of Catherine I, an expedient strategy was introduced to regulate fistfights and equate them with sports and entertainment events. Further, the bans were resumed against the background of a neutral tolerant attitude of the authorities to fistfights. Conclusions. For the first time, the Russian legislation of the 17th – early 20th centuries on the prohibition and regulation of fistfights was studied in sufficient detail.