(^330) CODIFYING RUSSIAN LAW
science and archival investigation were still in their infancy in Russia.
Little was known of the documentary wealth contained in even the
most important and accessible archival depositories. Some of these
holdings were not touched by scholars until the 1870's; and only then
did a host of new laws, edicts, and decrees come to light. These dis-
coveries, of course, shed much light on the development and character
of Russian legal norms and administrative practice. Though through
no fault of Speransky's, and of the Second Section, the omission of so
much source material was a significant drawback in a compilation that
pretended to be complete. 1
Of equal importance in limiting the fullness of the PSZ was the
fact that many acts had not been made public. Some of them were
still considered secret and kept behind lock and key. Oddly enough,
this secret legislation included not only some international treaties
and decrees concerning the Imperial Family, but also several imperial
decisions in private civil law suits. In some cases, the latter decisions
were not made public only because they had been decided by a secret
government body, the Supreme Secret Councilor the Secret Expedition,
for instance. The archives where this "secret" legislation was kept could
not turn over their material to the Second Section without a direct
order from the Emperor in every case. Nicholas I gave his permission
only after being told the exact contents and nature of the documents,
and he made his decision not on the basis of any juridical consideration,
but of what he felt was desirable politically. In this respect, the acts
issued by the Supreme Secret Council and the Secret Expedition
presented the greatest problem, because of their large number and
importance. The Emperor was reluctant to have them published, and
only a few were included in the Complete Collection. Nicholas I also
vetoed the publication of any legislation dating from the interregnum
regency of the Duke of Courland and Princess Anne of Brunswick-
Lueneburg (1740-1741). As a result of these restrictions and omissions
- conscious or accidental - an appreciable amount of important -leg-
1 Filippov, UK voprosu 0 sostave pervogo PSZ," lac. cit., pp. 44, 48, 64, 72-73,
87-88; A. Fateev, "K istorii i toorii kodifikatsii - stoletie Polnogo Sobraniia
Zakonov," Russkii Narodnyi universitet v Prage - Nauchnye Trudy IV (1931), pp.
11-12. Filippov cites the following examples (pp. 105-108, 112-113): Only 38
decrees of the known 2,089 from th6 Supreme Secret Council (1726-1730) are to be
found in PSZ, only 313 items from the 3,895 of the Cabinet of Empress Anne;
almost no trace in PSZ of registers 7-12 of the archives of the Senate in St. Peters-
burg and consequently of the 30,000 items for the years 1711-1762, only 17,500
found their way into the PSZ. Of the known imperial decrees for the 18th century,
the PSZ has only 1/3 for the years 1707-1725, 1/5 for the period 1725-1740, and
1/8 only for the years 1740-1762. The reign of Catherine II is covered fairly well
and that of Alexander I is almost complete.