Study Of The 1864 Judicial Reform In Russia

The Russian Great Reforms is one of the most significant political events in Russian history. Many historians both outside and at home have discussed it. After the defeat of the Cremean War, Tsar Alexander II proposes reforms in order to change Russian disadvantaged positon in Europe. After the Emancipation of serfdom, Alexander II has implemented Education Reform, Local Self-government Reform, Judicial Reform, Financial Reform and Military Reform. A series of significant reforms marked a "Great Reforms" period in Russian history. Great Reforms was the outset of Russian modernization. It was also the basis of modern Russian transformation.One of the most important reforms of Alexander II was the Judicial Reform of 1864. The new court system is based on modern principles of European jurisprudence. Judicial independence, open trial, adversary principle, jury trial and independent bar were introduced into Russia. Russian judiciary has become more and more mature. There lacked monographic study on Russian Judicial Reform at home. I will try my best to systematically study Russian Judicial Reform based on existing documents.I believe Judicial Reform was the basis of Russian Rechtsstaat to promote modem Russian transformation. Concretely speaking, corruption and inefficient judicial management were the main evil of Russian judiciary prior to 1864. In order to improve Russian judicial management, Russian Tsars reformed Russian judiciary. Peterâ… 's Judicial Reform, Catherineâ…¡'s Local Management Reform and Nicholas I' Law Codification were attempts to reform Russian judiciary. Despite the various attempts, the old court system remained inept and unjust. After Tsar Alexander II succeeded, the Emancipation Proclamation in 1861 necessitated the creation of new court system. In 1864, under the promotion of enlightened bureaucrats, Alexander II promulgated a decree and implemented the Judicial Reform.The innovations of Russian Judicial Reform were:relative separation of administrative power and judicial power, oral court proceedings, trial by jury, adversary principle, open trial and introduction of self-government bar. In place of the old complex system of courts, five sets of tribunals were created. New courts included the volost's court, the justice of the peace, the okrug court, the judicial chamber and the Senate. Well-managed procuracy, appeal system, judicial management charged by the Senate and the ministry of justice were also created.The most important innovations of Judicial Reform were jury system and lawyer system. Russian jury system is borrowed from England and France. Jury decided the case during the jury trial by a single majority principle. The judicial oath, the final questions for jury and the moralization of guilt played important role in jury trial. Reform signaled the participation of more Russians in the judicial system than ever before. The jury achieved a high degree of success and expanded throughout Russia. It was perhaps the most radical part of Judicial Reform.Modern Russian lawyers included sworn attorneys, lawyers-in-training and private attorneys. How to protect individual rights was the main task of lawyers. They enjoyed the relative freedom of speech. Modern lawyers were self-government.According to reformers, Judicial Reform aimed to transform Russian into a country under the rule of law. However, when Judicial Reform started to be implemented, Tsar and many high rank officials found that most principles and institutions introduced by Judicial Reform threatened their traditional autocratic power. Some one began to attack reform. In the 70th and 80th of 19century, with the change of Russian political environment, Russian government tried to lower the effects of Judicial Reform by direct and indirect counter-reforms. "Regulations on Measures for the Defense of the Governmental Order and of Public Safety" in 1881 and Land Captain system in 1889 were especially important. As many of the other Great Reforms fell short of their intended goals, so too did the Judicial Reform. However, counter-reforms were unable to change the fundamental structure of reforms. The Judicial Reform played an important role in perfecting of Russian law, promoting political transformation and training people's legal consciousness in late Imperial Russia. Reform helped Russian economic and social transformation.I believe that the counter-reforms took place primarily because the new court system was incompatible with the patterns of Russian autocracy. The Judicial Refom unleashed forces on Russian society that the autocracy was unwilling to accept.Using archival sources, this study examines the origin, contents, implementation and effects of Russian Judicial Refonn in 1864. Concretely speaking:Chapterâ… :Historical Legacy. This chapter briefly sketched the court system prior to 1864. When one looks at the old court system, one readily sees that Russia's legal institutions were in desperate need of reform. Tsars from Kievan Rus to Nicholas I tried their best to improve Russian judicial management. Their efforts were the basis of the Judicial Reform in 1864.Chapterâ…¡:The Judicial Reform of 1864. This chapter discussed the background, preparation, promulgation and innovations of the Judicial Refonn. Corrupt judges, a confusing array of courts, court instances and a cumbersome bureaucracy, all of them lent an air of arbitrariness to the administration of justice in Russia. Yet in a society where the majority of people lived under serfdom and then had few legal rights, those in power saw little need for a new judicial system. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1861 changed all that. The abolition of serfdom necessitated the creation of new court system. Under the promotion of some enlightened bureaucrats, Tsar Alexanderâ…¡decided to implement judicial reform. The innovations of Judicial Reform were relative judicial independence, oral court proceedings etc.Chapterâ…¢:Judicial Reform and the Judicial Transformation in Late Imperial Russia. This chapter analyzed Russian new judiciary in Russia. With the implementation of Judicial Reform, new court instances were created, procuracy was more mature, better appeal system was introduced and judicial management was innovated.Chapterâ…£:On the creation of Russian jury system and its practice. This chapter started from the origin of jury system, it discussed the introduction of Russian jury system, social composition of Russian jury, jury trial and how jury decided the case. Lastly, this chapter analyzed the effects of Russian jury system.Chapterâ…¤:On Modern Russian lawyer system. This chapter firstly sketched the origin and development of Russian lawyer. With the introduction of publicity of court proceedings and open testimony in court, the new system created a role for legal experts to act as representatives in court. Yong dedicated lawyers-in-training and sworn attorneys flocked to the legal profession. There were also many private attorneys in late Imperial Russia. Many used the new court system to champion the rights of the individual and advance the concepts of fair and equitable justice. This chapter will also discuss Russian lawyer's ethics.Chapter VI:Counter-reforms in late Imperial Russia. This chapter discussed why reformer's goals were not realized. The new court structure and the principles upon which it was based were a radical departure from the past, as were others of Alexanderâ…¡'s Great Reforms. At best, the new legal institutions enjoyed only a few years of peace. Beginning in the early 1870's, the government embarked upon a policy that attacked the new court system and its officials. They used indirect measures of pressure on court officials as well as direct legislation to rescind many of the original reforms. However, the fundamental structure of Russian Judicial Reform was not changed.Chapterâ…¦:The Effects of Judicial Reform. This chapter sheds further light on the nature of Russia's legal institutions and the role they played in the social transformation and political development that were occurring in Russian society in late Russian Empire.In conclusion part, it assesses the Judicial Reform in 1864 from the historical development. I believe, we should study Judicial Reform on the basis of its institution, as well as its implementation and its role in society.The innovations of this paper are:firstly, this paper systematically studied the origin, process and effects of Russian Judicial Reform in 1864. Secondly, the conclusion is based on the analysis of original documents. Lastly, my study is based on the context of social and historicial development.