This paper describes a particular court case dealt with by Peter the Great personally and that served as the cause of the Decree dated February 21,1697; the paper also analyzes changes caused by subsequent decrees, sentences by boyarins and judicial practice. It was revealed that amendments and changes made following the Decree of 21 February brought new laws in compliance with the jurisprudence and the Decree of 1649. The Decree of February 21, 1697 failed to replace the Court and confrontations by the Moscow Investigation Department completely. The court and confrontations were repealed in the narrow sense (as the stages of court proceedings). By March 16, 1697 they had been replaced by interrogation that was later supplemented by provision of evidence (the participants plead one more time after a cause of action is pronounced and the respondent objects). Court pleadings (sudogovoreniye) (a procedural stage) returned to the normal order (when the participants exchange their speeches) but with defining influence of a judge and a limited number of speeches. This assessment is confirmed by the analysis of legislative texts, legal terminology of the 17th century, texts of the 1700-1703 Decree Chamber, and judicial practice of the end of the XVII - early XVIII centuries.