Legal Aspects of Demographic Policy in the Russian Empire

The paper provides a legal analysis of demographic processes in Russia in a retrospective aspect during the pre-revolutionary period. The solution of demographic problems in the Russian Federation at the present stage is possible only taking into account the historical and legal experience of state legal regulation of public relations in the demographic sphere, including in the Russian Empire, taking into account positive historical and legal traditions. It should be borne in mind that demographic processes influence the possibility of making and implementing management decisions at the national and regional levels. State legal demographic policy is an integral part of the legal policy of the state as a whole. The paper examines the stages of the formation of demographic policy in the Russian Empire, its place, role, and goals. The author defines demographic processes, demographic policy, and its modern representation in the norms of law. The paper describes correlation between social policy and demographic policy of the State. The importance of the development and State support of demographic policy in particular and social policy in general is determined. The author analyzed several laws of the Russian Empire adopted from the 18th to the 20th centuries, determined features of demographic and social policy. The author takes into account statistical data of the 1897 census that became the first general census of the population, which determines the quantitative and qualitative composition of the population of the Russian Empire. The paper investigates major reforms in labor relations, health care, pension reforms.