Genesis of constitutional-legal regimes in Russia: On the issue of defining the moment of establishment of the first constitutional regime

The subject of the research is the genesis of constitutional and legal regimes in Russia as a multi-stage, complex process of forming legal foundations for limiting state power, democratizing approaches to regulating social relations, and transitioning from absolute monarchy to constitutionalism. The aim of the study is to determine the historical and legal moment of the establishment of the first constitutional and legal regime in Russia through conducting a systematic analysis of the evolution of domestic legislation, political institutions, and their practical implementation in various historical periods. The task consists of establishing the point at which legal norms first allowed for a significant limitation of the monarch's power, enshrined elements of representation, indicating the formation of domestic constitutionalism. The objective includes comparing different approaches to defining the essence of constitutionalism and identifying the key stage that laid the foundation for the further development of constitutional law in Russia. The methodology is based on the method of historical-legal analysis of regulatory acts (projects of constitutional reforms of the 19th century, the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, the Fundamental State Laws of 1906, and the constitutions of the RSFSR and the USSR) and the comparative study of approaches to the formation of constitutionalism. The results of the study establish that the first constitutional and legal regime in Russia was formed in 1906 with the adoption of the Fundamental State Laws, which defined elements of representative power in the State Duma and limited the monarchy, thus refuting the widely held opinion that it emerged only with the entry into force of the Constitution of the RSFSR in 1918. The obtained data have practical significance for conducting further analysis of transitional regimes. The field of application of the results covers constitutional law in Russia and the history of the state and law. The novelty lies in defining 1906 as the moment of the establishment of the first constitutional and legal regime in Russia, taking into account the actual implementation of legal norms. The conclusions confirm the gradualness of the process of forming constitutional and legal regimes, recommending the use of developed criteria to evaluate early constitutionalism in other autocratic systems.