Judicial system of the Russian Empire
The
Judicial system after 1864
The judicial system of the Russian Empire, existed from the mid-19th century, was established by the "tsar emancipator" Alexander II, by the statute of 20 November 1864.
The new system established — based partly on English, partly on French models — was built up on certain broad principles: the separation of the judicial and administrative functions, the independence of the judges and courts, the publicity of trials and oral procedure, the equality of all classes before the law. Moreover, a democratic element was introduced by the adoption of the jury system and—so far as one order of tribunal was concerned—the election of judges. The establishment of a judicial system on these principles constituted a fundamental change in the conception of the Russian state, which, by placing the administration of justice outside the sphere of the executive power, ceased to be a despotism. This fact made the system especially obnoxious to the bureaucracy, and during the latter years of Alexander II and the reign of Alexander III there was a piecemeal taking back of what had been given. It was reserved for the third Duma, after the revolution, to begin the reversal of this process.[1][2]
The system established by the law of 1864 was remarkable in that it set up two wholly separate orders of
Justices of the community
The justices of the community (Russian: mirovoy sudya, "
Candidates for this office had to meet certain conditions: only the persons with complete secondary school education were eligible, and only the persons with real estate of 15000 rubles in rural districts, 6000 rubles in the capitals and 3000 rubles in other towns. Most of justices were minor landowners.[3] Zemstvos could in some cases elect Justices of the Community irrespective of the property qualification, but in such case election had to be unanimous. Justices of the Community were elected for period of 3 years, and were confirmed in office by Senate. They could not be dismissed during their term in office, except by indictment under process of law.
There were two classes: acting justices and honorary justices. The acting justice sits normally alone to hear, causes in his canton of the community, but, at the request of both parties to a suit, he may call in an honorary justice as assessor or substitute. In all civil cases involving less than 30
The ordinary tribunals
The ordinary tribunals, in their organization, personnel and procedure, were modelled very closely on those of
Ecclesiastical and volost courts
Two important classes in Russia stood more or less outside the competence of the above systems: the
The case of the peasants is more interesting, and deserves a somewhat more detailed notice. The peasants formed a class apart, untouched by the influence of Western civilization. This fact was recognized by the legislators of 1864, and beneath the statutory tribunals created in that year the special courts of the peasants were suffered to survive. These were indeed but a few years older.[1]
Up to 1861, the date of the
The peasants are not compelled to go to the volost court. They can apply to the police commissaries (
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Russia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 877–878. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Third Dumarestored the election of justices of the community.
- mujikrather than of the wealthy landlord.
- government.
- ukaz(18 October 1906) which promised the relief of the peasants from the arbitrary control of the communes, and permission for them to migrate elsewhere without losing their communal rights. This was made part of the general reform of Russian local government, which in the autumn of 1910 was still under the consideration of the Duma.