Sirotskii Sud

(orphans’ court), in prerevolutionary Russia (1775-1917), an institution that supervised matters concerning wards and orphans who were members of the urban classes. The sirotskii sud was instituted under the jurisdiction of the municipal magistracies; after the introduction of the sudebnye ustavy (court statutes) of 1864, it was placed under the jurisdiction of the okrug (district) courts. The sirotskii sud was composed of a chairman—the head of the municipal administration or some other person—and a specific number of members chosen at meetings of the merchant, meshchanstvo (urban middle class), and artisan classes for a term of three years. In cities where a gorodovoe polozhenie (municipal statute) had not been introduced, the sirotskii sud consisted of the city starosta (elder) and two members selected by the municipal societies. [23–1371–]