The significance of the Manifest of 1905 for the constitutional and legal development of Russia

The article provides a historical and legal analysis of the conditions and reasons for the appearance of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, examines not only the constitutional and legal norms of the act, but also the Most Submissive Report of the Secretary of State Count Witte, which, in fact, became not just an accompanying document to the Manifesto , but a conceptual document that defines the ideas of constitutional development and the direction "in which the Government should follow in connection with considerations about the current state of Russia." The main task is to identify the ideological theoretical basis of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905 and the political activities of its author S.Yu. Witte, which will make it possible to determine the significance of this act of the constitutional development of the Russian state through the formulation of the constitutional and legal principles laid down in it, which determine the directions of the state policy of Russia.

As a result of the study, the following results were achieved and the following conclusions were drawn.

The result of the study was the definition of the theoretical basis of the constitutional and legal development of the Russian state in the early twentieth century and the formulation of those constitutional and legal principles that were to determine the main directions of state policy.

The ideological basis of the reform activities of S.Yu. Witte, who became the author of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, containing constitutional and legal norms, was pragmatism, the essence of which was the emphasis on the practical usefulness of the formulated norms, which were focused on the social, economic and political needs of the individual , society and the state in order to ensure stable state-legal development in the context of maintaining the monarchical regime while spreading capitalist relations, forming a market economy.

The main constitutional and legal principles, which were reflected in the report of S.Yu. Witte and in the Manifesto prepared by him, include the following:

1. The unity of the system of public authority.
2. Priority of the rights and freedoms of a citizen.
3. Formal equality.
4. The people as a support of power, including the power of the Sovereign.
5. Personal inviolability and political rights and freedoms, including electoral ones.
6. People's control over the legality of the activities of power through a representative body – the State Duma.

The real implementation of these constitutional principles, the expansion of the boundaries of representative democracy while maintaining the monarchical form of government created the conditions and the opportunity to ensure a smooth transition of the Russian state to the rails of the new capitalist economy and the balance of interests of various social groups, but only in the context of joint, consistent, purposeful and decisive actions of all bodies. authorities. The key to the cohesion of society, according to S.Yu. Witte, was the unity and cohesion of public authorities based on the interests of the people and taking into account the needs of society, ensuring the security of the state. At the same time, such an important factor as time was noted, which would allow the formation of new habits - civic skills and build a new legal order.

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