The peculiarities of Kievan Rus border guarding - historical and legal aspects

Purpose: Research of normative regulation of Kievan Rus border guarding through the studying of ancient sources of law. Methodology: Historical-legal and formal legal method was used. Results: In the scientific publication the legal peculiarities of Kiev Rus border guarding are investigated. Texts of ancient sources of law are analyzed. The lack of special legal acts that regulated social relations connected with the guarding and protection of the Kiev Rus border is determined. The main reasons of this fact were customs that governed a wide range of relations in those days. Thus as a result of the study of «Russian Truth», princely statutes, charters, treaties concluded between Kiev Rus and Byzantium and other ancient sources of law we distinguished norms that regulated social relations connected with the guarding and protection of the Kiev Rus border. Those norms particularly regulated territorial borders of the country (in the feudal period limited fiefdoms), the legal status of foreigners in the Kiev Rus and the position of Russian diplomats and merchants in foreign countries, process of construction of border fortifications, etc. Novelty/originality/value: Article possesses the scientific value as one of the first attempts to consider the evolution of Kiev Rus Border guarding through the prism of the oldest sources of law.