Autocracy in Russia: theoretical justification in the work of P.E. Kazan (1913)

A brief annotated summary of a part of P.E. Kazansky's extensive scientific work ("The Power of the All-Russian Emperor: Essays on the current Russian law, 1913") is presented. He was a supporter and creator of the legal theory of the Russian autocracy, which was distinguished by its harmony, but far from taking into account the events of the revolutionary-democratic orientation taking place in the world and Russia. This author's analysis of monarchism comes from the Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible. Summing up his time, P.E. Kazansky points out that there has not been and there is not a single act that would establish imperial autocratic power in Russia, and such an act cannot exist in principle, since autocratic power is not the creation of any power that would stand above it, it is also not based on an agreement between it and by any other figure, it is not delegated, handed over or entrusted to the Sovereign Emperor, again, if only because there is no supreme Imperial power in Russian law at all. Based on this and other historical features of public power in Russia, the thesis is put forward that autocracy is historically and organically inherent in the Russian Empire. At the same time, P.E. Kazansky does not avoid such a complex issue as the origins of imperial autocratic power, in particular, he believes that since there are no acts establishing autocratic power, then such "is based on the Monarch's own strength or power", another source is indicated - the "will of God" and it is concluded that the power of the Russian Emperor is non-derivative. The works of this Russian scientist, in many ways undeservedly forgotten, represent a remarkable monument to the national state and legal thought, including this work. The work partially uses earlier author's works.