CODIFYING RUSSIAN LAW 841By asking that the non-Russian customs and laws be collected,
Speransky was acknowledging the peculiarity and special role of local
tradition and conditions. Also by accepting the idea (even though with
qualifications) that the local codes be checked by someone familiar
with the history and tradition of the region, he was also acknowledging
the difference and bowing to empirical method. It was obvious that
Speransky was recognizing and respecting the multinational character
of the Russian Empire and the diversity of its peoples' historical
experience. In another sense, though, he was only making the best of
a situation that he had not helped to bring about and which he had
to accept. He was not at all desirous to ratify without qualifications
the existing local diversities and traditions. The government, it is true,
had to know the local laws so as to be better aware of local conditions
and differences. The administration ought to be familiar with the ways
of its non-Russian subjects, but not necessarily bow to them. After all,
by virtue of their conquest or annexation, these provinces and peoples
had become part of the Empire, and Russian imperial law should
apply to them too, except in a few limited and well-defined instances
(for example, with respect to a nomadic way of life or a non-Christian
religion). Wherever the situation could be dealt with according to
Russian law, the latter had to prevail regardless of the traditions and
peculiarities of the region. Such an attitude gave the local codes a very
weak basis and restricted their practical value from the very outset.
But the process of codification itself had effects on local law which
tended to undermine its position, authority, and vitality. Indeed, the
codification was carried out with the same hastiness and technical
superficiality as the collection and digesting of the Russian laws. By
using an uniform vocabulary in translating the local norms into Rus-
sian and by disregarding the finer distinctions arising out of the inter-
pretation and application of customary concepts, new legal principles
and values were introduced into the old laws. More frequently than
not, these innovations were derived from Russian law, for the work of
compilation and editing was done by Russian (or Russian trained)
officials. Furthermore, especially in the case of the more backward
alien minorities (e.g., the nomads of Siberia) the natives wanted to
please the authorities and used words and approaches which they
thought were familiar and acceptable to the Russians. Lastly, as in the
case of any codification of customary law, the setting down in writing
of laws and norms heretofore known only orally, tended to fixate,
stabilize living and evolving customs and interpretations. It withdrew
from circulation the entire realm of court-made laws and the effects