Ukase 26.626. of 1817 concerning the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.
Source: Polnoe Sobranie Zakonov Volume 34 page 29 - The British Library Ref: SN142 (1817)
Free Translation

Reading was made of the report presented by General of Artillery Count Araktcheeff to the Chief of Staff of His Imperial Majesty, and coming from the Commandant of the special Corps of Internal Defence, General Aide-de-Camp Count Komarovsky, relating to permission for his own aide-de-camp', Cornet Lazareff, to wear the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.
The aide-de-camp to Count Komarovsky, Cornet Lazareff, of the Regiment of Hussars of the Imperial Guard, having been awarded the diploma on his nomination as Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem through the mediation of the Minister, the Duke of Serracapriola, requests Imperial license to wear this Order, license which has already been granted to his two brothers, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who were invested with the same Order.
Aide-de Camp, General Count Komarovsky, referring the matter to the Chief of Staff, requests that Imperial license be obtained for Lazareff to wear the said Order.
When Lazareff was asked through what deed of gift he had been awarded the diploma of this Order, he replied that such award had been made on proof being produced of the ancient nobility of his family, and in accordance with the Regulations of the Russian Priory.
The Committee has decided that, although Cornet Lazareff explained that he had received the said Order according to the Regulations of the Russian Priory, nevertheless, since the latter does not exist in Russia, Lazareff, as all those who may now receive the Order, shall be forbidden to wear it.

The weight of historical evidence cannot support the former interpretation. The decorations under discussion that could not be worn, were being awarded by the Roman Catholic Order, not by the (non-Catholic) Russian Grand Priory. The Russian Priory mentioned in the text is probably the Catholic Priory. The text does not refer to the fact that there were two Grand Priories instituted in Russia, and is only concerned with a single Priory.
Despite the Government pronouncement in 1817, no decree for the Order's extinction had ever been issued. In 1810/11, Ukases were passed only to the effect that the Order's temporalities be seized. There was never any edict issued that abolished the Order, or to curtail Hereditary Commanderies to the incumbents of the time. Specifically the Ukase of 1810 24.134 stated "We will do our best to let the Order continue its activities" .
In terms of the Russian Priory, the Convention of 4th-5th January 1797 between Emperor Paul I and the Grand Master of the Order Ferdinand von Hompesch which founded the Grand Priory of Russia, was an international contractual Act, and its terms were 'for ever'. Also, no Imperial Ukase was ever issued abrogating Paul I's Proclamation which created a Russian Order of St. John, which was not only promugated in his name, but "in that of our successors for ever" (See last paragraph ).

Because the Ukases of 1810 and 1811 provide no comfort for those who claim the Russian tradition of the Order was brought to an end under Alexander I, the only item to clutch at, is the ambiguous Deliberation of 1817.
Whilst Emperor Alexander I through his disinterest had neglected his duties as Protector, the Order in Russia was maintained by its Commanders and Knights. For example, the prohibition to Lazareff was that he could not wear his decoration because of Government policy, never-the-less, he was still a Knight of the Roman Catholic Order. Whilst the Russian Priories certainly existed in some form throughout Alexander's reign they were deprived of support by the establishment, and were secularised institutions. This state of affairs seems to have shifted, either in Alexander's reign with a softening of attitude, or more certainly in the reign of succeeding Emperors.

Certainly the Deliberation of 1817, is not an Act of Suppression, it is a deliberation not to allow a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to wear his decoration. The reason given is that his Priory no longer existed in Russia.

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