JUDICIAL SYSTEM AND FOUNDATIONS OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE (LATE 18TH - EARLY 19TH CENTURIES): ORGANIZATIONAL AND LEGAL ASPECT

Uporov I. V.

This article examines the main trends in the development of criminal procedure in the Russian Empire in the late 18th - early 19th centuries (the reigns of Catherine II, Paul I, and Alexander I). The article analyzes the relevant legal acts governing this area of public relations (imperial decrees, etc.), as well as scholarly works on the topic. It is noted that criminal proceedings were determined, firstly, by the structure of the courts that heard criminal cases, and secondly, by the pre-trial (inquiry-investigation) criminal procedural activities of police agencies. In this regard, the most significant decisions in improving criminal proceedings were the adoption of the Institution for Governance of the Provinces (1775) and the Charter of Decency and Police (1782), which took the first steps toward overcoming the previous archaism in the procedure for considering criminal cases. Subsequently, a slow but progressive development of the criminal justice sphere took place on the advanced principles of that time. A certain completion of the process of formation of the corresponding state apparatus and criminal procedural norms occurred with the creation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the early 19th century and the subsequent systematization of criminal procedural law in Book Two, Volume 15. Code of Laws of the Russian Empire.

Keywords:judicial system, criminal procedure law, provinces, institutions, code of laws, charter of the décor, court