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The Governing Senate was reorganized
15 (26) December 1763, by the decree of Empress Catherine II the Governing Senate was reorganized.
The reform of the Senate streamlined the records management of the supreme body of the state power distributing the records between the six departments four of which were in St. Petersburg and two in Moscow replacing the former Senate office.
The first department was created for supervising the local governing and was the body of administrative justice. In 1805 the department was divided into five dispatch offices (by 1917 there were 12 of them already).
The second department was established for considering the issues of Requetenmeister office, Court office, search expeditions. Initially, the affairs in the department were distributed arbitrarily between the four dispatch offices; from 1805 – between three dispatch offices on the basis of the territory.
The third department included three dispatch offices. It was charged with affairs related to provinces with a special status (Little Russia, Livonia, Estland, Vyborg Province, Narva) and to some special administrations.
The fourth department was in charge of the affairs related to the Military and Admiralty Boards. Initially it included three dispatch offices.
Among the Moscow departments, the 1st one was occupied with the current affairs taken care of by the Senate Office; the 2nd one dealt with appeals and the affairs regarding heraldry office. All the departments were recognized as independent boards equally effective.
The departments were headed by the attorney-general, at the head of the First department was the general prosecutor (from 1771 – attorney-general).
The reform of 1763 changed the order of the cases consideration: they were to be solved unanimously by the departments and submitted to the general meeting of the Senate only in the case of disagreements. Thus, each department operated as an independent body of the Senate with their own scope of affairs and office which destroyed the unity of this supreme public institution. During the reform the legislative duties of the Senate were reduced to elimination of minor flaws in the laws which had no political significance. However, it has reserved its duties of control and the supreme judicial body.
By the decree of the Soviet rule of November 22 (December 5), 1917 the Senate in Russia was abolished.
Lit.: Высшие и центральные государственные учреждения России. 1801-1917 гг. СПб., 1998. Т. 1; Градовский А. Д. Начала русского государственного права. СПб., 1876. Т. 2. Кн. 2. Отд. 2. Гл. 1: Правительствующий Сенат (п.п. 55-109).
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Правительствующий сенат: краткий исторический очерк и биографии сенаторов. СПб., 1912;
Троцина К. Е. История судебных учреждений в России. СПб., 1851;
Цейль М. А. Правительствующий сенат: Справочная книга. СПб., 1898.