Students of Imperial Moscow University in the Legal Framework of the Russian Empire: Surveillance from Three Angles

Abstract

An inquiry into the history of creation of the Moscow University Professors’ Disciplinary Court in 1902 and into its activities allows for rethinking the status of the student community in Russian society of that time. Students had to obey the body of laws common for all Russian subjects as well as university charters and regulations, and they were also under intensive police surveillance. Analyzing the legal framework of students, reconstructing the adjudication mechanism of the Professors’ Disciplinary Court as well as specific cases based on archival materials, we can see how students were affected when the government adopted a discipline monitoring policy. University students brought before the Professors’ Disciplinary Court were charged with breaking administrative rules (most often rioting and being drunk in the street) and the university code (from passing on an I D badge to a third party to forging a professor’s signature).