Oxford LibGuides: Russia, the CIS, &amp; Georgia: legal resources: Legal History

Legal History pre 1991

Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History
Remote access requires Oxford SSO. Entry Russia includes subsections
Kievan Rus.
Mongol Subjugation, 1240–1480.
Muscovite Law, 1480–1648.
The Russian Empire, 1649–1917.
The Soviet Era, 1917–1991.
Russian Legal Doctrine.
Alternative name: OIELH

The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History is the online version of the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (edited by S.N. Katz et al) published by OUP in 2009.

Russian Presidential Library Collection Legal System In Russia
Open Access digitised collection of texts relating to the history of law in Russia

Law and the Russian State by William E. Pomeranz; Jonathan Smele (Series edited by); Michael Melancon (Series edited by)
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this via title link
ISBN: 9781474224215
Publication Date: 2018

Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History
Remote access requires Oxford SS Remote access requires Oxford SSO The entry called Russia: has the following sections. Kievan Rus, Mongol Subjugation, 1240–1480, Muscovite Law, 1480–1648.
Alternative name: OIELH

The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History is the online version of the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (edited by S.N. Katz et al) published by OUP in 2009.

Russian Presidential Library Collection Legal System In Russia
Open Access digitised collection of texts relating to the history of law in Russia

Any books in the Law Library on this period share the same shelfmark as post-revolutionary Russia: namely USSR. This collection is on Level 1, one floor below the entrance level to the Law Library.

SOLO searches may also reveal useful items in the Taylor Slavonic Collection and the History Faculty Libraries.

The Laws of Rus’—Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries by translated and edited by Daniel H. Kaiser ; foreword by Richard Hellie
Call Number: Request from Closed Stacks to read in Bodleian Reading Room of your choice
Publication Date: 1992
The Growth of the Law in Medieval Russia by Daniel H. Kaiser
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this via title link
ISBN: 9780691615370
Publication Date: 1980 reprint 2014
Print copy in Law Library USSR 510 K13a
The Muscovite Law Code (Ulozhenie) of 1649. Part 1 Text and translation Variant Title Ulozhenie of 1649 by translated and edited by Richard Hellie.
Call Number: Request from Closed Stacks to read in Bodleian Reading Room of your choice
Publication Date: 1988

Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History
Remote access requires Oxford SS Remote access requires Oxford SSO The entry called Russia: has the following section The Russian Empire, 1649–1917.
Alternative name: OIELH

The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History is the online version of the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (edited by S.N. Katz et al) published by OUP in 2009.
LLMC-digital
Remote access requires Oxford SSO. Browse via Other Countries to Russia (Empire to 1917). Digitized copies of materials under
Russia, Constitutional (by date)
Russia, Legislative (by date)
Russia, Codes (by date)
Russia, Agencies (alpha order)
Russia, Judicial (by date)
Russia, Trials (by date)
Russia, Treaties (by date)
Russia, Treatises (alpha order)
Russia, Reference (alpha order)
Russia, Regions and other sub-jurisdictions (by name, then date)

Alternative names: LLMC ; Law Library Microfilm Consortium’s Online Service ; LLMC Digital

LLMC-digital is a collection of English language legal titles and government documents divided into ten major jurisdictional or subject areas:
US Federal Government; US States and Territories; Canada; United Kingdom; Germany federal; Germany state, kingdoms and free cities; Other Countries (Afghanistan to Zimbabwe); International Law and Organizations; Indigenous Law covering materials from various regions of the United States, Canada and Indonesia; and Special Focus Collections which includes British Empire Studies, Canon Law, Islamic Law, Military Law, Native American Collection, Roman law, etc.

Russian Presidential Library Collection Legal System In Russia
Open Access digitised collection of texts relating to the history of law in Russia

Any books in the Law Library on this period share the same shelfmark as post-revolutionary Russia: namely USSR. This collection is on Level 1, one floor below the entrance level to the Law Library.

The achievement of codification was largely thanks to the work of Mikhail A. Balugianskii (1769–1847) and Mikhail M. Speranskii (1772–1839): a 45-volume chronological compilation of all the laws of the Russian Empire in Polnoe Sobranie zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii and a 15-volume digest Svod Zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii.

SOLO searches may also reveal useful items in the Taylor Slavonic Collection and the History Faculty Libraries.

A History of Russian Law: from the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649 to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 by Ferdinand J. M. Feldbrugge
Call Number: General 510 L683/70
ISBN: 9789004523043
Publication Date: 2022
This book is on Level 2, the level at which you enter the Library
Ocherki po istorīi kodifikat͡sīi mi͡estnykh grazhdanskikh zakonov pri grafi͡e Speranskom by Baron A.Ė. Nolʹde
Call Number: USSR 510 N791c
Publication Date: 1906-1914

Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History
Remote access requires Oxford SSO. The entry called Russia concludes with sections:
The Soviet Era, 1917–1991, Russian Legal Doctrine.
Bibliography
Alternative name: OIELH

The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History is the online version of the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (edited by S.N. Katz et al) published by OUP in 2009.
LLMC-digital
Remote access requires Oxford SSO. Browse via Other Countries to Russia (Soviet Republic, 1917-1991) Digitized copies of materials under

Laws (by date)
Codes (by date)
Judicial (by date)
Treaties (by date)
Treatises (alpha order)
Autonomous Republics, etc. (by Republic, then alpha order)
Cities, etc. (by name, then date)
Alternative names: LLMC ; Law Library Microfilm Consortium’s Online Service ; LLMC Digital

LLMC-digital is a collection of English language legal titles and government documents divided into ten major jurisdictional or subject areas:
US Federal Government; US States and Territories; Canada; United Kingdom; Germany federal; Germany state, kingdoms and free cities; Other Countries (Afghanistan to Zimbabwe); International Law and Organizations; Indigenous Law covering materials from various regions of the United States, Canada and Indonesia; and Special Focus Collections which includes British Empire Studies, Canon Law, Islamic Law, Military Law, Native American Collection, Roman law, etc.

Russian Presidential Library Collection Legal System In Russia
Open Access digitised collection of texts relating to the history of law in Russia

he Law Bod has a separate collection with shelf marks beginning USSR for this period of Russian legal history. It is on Level 1.

Add the search term Soviet Union to SOLO subject searches to find other works: a considerable proportion will require a reading knowledge of Russian.

Justice in the U.S.S.R. : an interpretation of Soviet law by Harold J. Berman.
Call Number: USSR 510 B516c2
Publication Date: rev enlarged edn, 1963
Law and the Making of the Soviet World : the red demiurge by Scott Newton
Call Number: USSR 510 N566a
ISBN: 0415726107
Publication Date: 2014
Soviet Law in English : research guide and bibliography 1970-1987 by Igor I. Kavass
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this via title link
ISBN: 9780899416311
Publication Date: 1988
Print copy is at Ref Bibl USSR K21a
Stalin's Constitution : Soviet Participatory Politics and the Discussion of the 1936 Draft Constitution by Samantha Lomb
Call Number: Open access title available to all online via title link
ISBN: 9781315194004
Publication Date: 2017
Open access
The Gulag: A Very Short Introduction by Alan Barenberg
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this online via title link
ISBN: 9780197548226
Publication Date: 2024-02-27
Socialism and Legal History: The Histories and Historians of Law in Socialist East Central Europe by Ville Erkkilä (Editor); Hans-Peter Haferkamp (Editor)
Call Number: Open Access book available free to anyone with internet connection
ISBN: 9780367814670
Publication Date: 2020
This book focuses on the way in which legal historians and legal scientists used the past to legitimize, challenge, explain and familiarize the socialist legal orders, which were backed by dictatorial governments. The volume studies legal historians and legal histories written in Eastern European countries during the socialist era after the Second World War. The book investigates whether there was a unified form of socialist legal historiography, and if so, what can be said of its common features. The individual chapters of this volume concentrate on the regimes that situate between the Russian, and later Soviet, legal culture and the area covered by the German Civil Code. Hence, the geographical focus of the book is on East Germany, Russia, the Baltic states, Poland and Hungary. The approach is transnational, focusing on the interaction and intertwinement of the then hegemonic communist ideology and the ideas of law and justice, as they appeared in the writings of legal historians of the socialist legal orders. Such an angle enables concentration on the dynamics between politics and law as well as identities and legal history. Studying the socialist interpretations of legal history reveals the ways in which the 20th century legal scholars, situated between legal renewal and political guidance gave legitimacy to, struggled to come to terms with, and sketched the future of the socialist legal orders. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of Legal History, Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law and European Studies. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/socialism-legal-history-ville-erkkil%C3%A4-hans-peter-haferkamp/e/10.4324/9780367814670?context=ubx&refId=2db6d49f-af1c-4b51-9503-9673a131f541, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license."

Other Bodleian Libraries

Bodleian History Faculty Library (HFL) in Radcliffe Camera:
The iconic landmark the Radcliffe Camera (the Rad Cam) is home to the History Faculty Library (HFL). Please visit the official website - via this link - for opening hours, services etc
Bodleian Taylor Institute Library (the Taylorian)
The Taylorian is the University's centre for the study of Modern European languages and literatures, other than English. Please visit its official website - via this link - for opening hours, services etc.

Slavonic and East European Area Studies
by Eleanor Peers Last Updated Feb 7, 2025 416 views this year
History
by Isabel Holowaty Last Updated May 16, 2025 2220 views this year