The changes in the public legal status of magistrates and state policy towards citizens in 1725-1762

Relevance . The article examines the process of changing the public legal status of city magistrates through the prism of transformations in the fields of trade and urban self-government. Since 1995, a program of state support for local self-government has been implemented in Russia. Government assistance measures for small and mediu-sized businesses are developed annually. In this regard, a retrospective analysis of the experience of the functioning of magistrates, who carried out both urban management and economic and legal protection of the trade and craft population, will improve the quality of reforms at the present stage. The purpose . To consider how the public legal status of magistrates has changed depending on state policy towards the urban population Objectives : to analyze the main directions of the socio-economic policy of the state; to study how the competencies of magistrates and their subordination have changed depending on the existence of the Chief Magistrate Methodology . The research is based on the principles of objectivity and historicism. The scientific tools of the work consisted of the following methods of historical cognition: problem-chronological, historical-comparative, historical-genetic, historical-systemic. Results . Magistrates, established in 1720, had a wide range of competencies and were of a state nature. Along with judicial and fiscal powers, they were endowed with many administrative functions. From February 1720 to August 18, 1727, the magistrate system represented an independent structure controlled by the Chief Magistrate. From August 1727 to May 5, 1743, due to the deprivation of the Chief Magistrate of the collegium status, magistrates began to obey the voivodes and governors, which did not affect their versatility. From May 1743 to June 1762, they were again subordinate to the Chief Magistrate. Conclusion . Despite the temporary abolition of the Chief Magistrate and the subordination of magistrates to voivodes and governors, these institutions continued to combine judicial, administrative and fiscal powers.