Charter to the Nobility

The reign of Catherine the Great saw the highpoint of the Russian nobility. Catherine had noble estates surveyed and give the possessors title to the land. And so the old service estates became private property. The distinction between votchina and pomestie estates now completely disappeared in law as well as in practice. In 1785 Catherine conferred on the nobility the Charter to the Nobility. For the first time in Russian history a social group had legal rights instead of only duties. The Charter also gave corporate rights to the nobility in each district and province. Each group elected a Marshall of the Nobility who spoke on their behalf to the monarch on issues of concern to them

https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/RussianHeritage/5.NOB/NOB.18.html