Institutionalization of Justice in the Provisions of Russskaya Pravda (Russian Justice)

The phenomenon of Russskaya Pravda (Russian Justice) has been the subject of numerous studies. However, until now there has not been any exhaustively complete description of the judicial system of Ancient Russia due to scarcity of authentic sources.

An analysis of the provisions of the most well-known copies of Russkaya Pravda (Russian Justice) and available research have resulted in making a number of statements.

The system of justice in Ancient Russia was multisystematic in character and consisted of 4 relatively independent systems: communal, patrimonial, ecclesiastical and princely. The system under consideration had developed as a result of preservation of tribal elements and social stratification, active political genesis and Christianization. The organization of government, including the judicial system, was based on the principle of suzerainty-vassalage, i.e. the persons involved in the administration of justice were servants of the Prince who delegated judicial power to them. The competence of judicial officials was diversified according to the subject matter, territorial and personal criteria. In the system of powers of judicial officials, the powers to charge fees and fines and to impose penalties were the most important. Under Russkaya Pravda (Russian Justice) the system of judicial officials represents a kind of matrix underlying the subsequent institutionalization of judicial bodies.

The complex of powers of officials dealing with pre-trial preparation of cases and enforcement of judgments proves that, despite the unity of the procedure for resolving all types of “grievances,” the law-maker distinguished civil and criminal disputes.

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