The legislative framework of the investigative process in Russia in the 1750–1760s

About the author:

Mariia S. Petrova, Postgraduate Student, Doctoral School of History, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Humanities, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, mspetrova@hse.ru

Abstract:

This is an interdisciplinary study of the history of the Russian law in the 18th c. The legislative framework of the investigative process in his period has been studied from the historical perspective of legislative works, but the reform’s implementation in practice remains a lacuna. First, this concerns the effectiveness of the reforms of the court and investigation during the reign of Catherine the Great — researchers pay great attention to the second half of the reign of the Empress, rightly noting the importance of the Provincial reform. Nevertheless, the early period of her reign remains little explored namely, the first decrees that initiated the reforms. Additionally, the least developed is the study of law enforcement materials in their direct connection with legislation. This article presents previously unpublished archival materials of criminal cases from the judicial and investigative bodies of Moscow in the 1750–1760s. This article aims to reconstruct the main stages of the investigation in accordance with the normative legal acts included in the judicial process and their implementation in practice in property crimes without the use of violence. This has required using the theory of practices for providing efficient way for interpretations and allowing for diachronic analysis. The analysis of the materials helped to identify which normative legal acts were used in practice, how the process gradually changed, and how it was transformed according to the innovations of Catherine the Great’s time.

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