Prosecutor’s Supervision and Management of the Inquiry on Political Crimes in the Russian Empire (Regulatory Framework)

Abstract

The article, based on the normative and archival materials, considers the issues of prosecutor’s supervision and management by the gendarme and the police inquiry about political crimes in the Russian Empire after the judicial reform of 1864. The inquiry of such crimes was of two types: formal (criminal procedural) and administrative (protective). The Prosecutor’s office managed directed by inquiry by giving instructions on cases. The supervision was manifested itself in the coordination with the Prosecutor’s office of certain actions of the gendarmerie and the police officers, in the presence of prosecutors during investigative actions, in studying the materials of the inquiry, cancellation of illegal decisions, reviewing complaints about the actions of the gendarmerie and the police, addressing issues of responsibility for violations, etc. Forms and features of Prosecutor’s supervision for each of the specified types of inquiry are considered. It is concluded that the Prosecutor’s supervision and management of the inquiry in political cases had limited legal capacity. At the same time, compared with the management and supervision of the police inquiry on common crimes, the formal inquiry on political crimes was under more careful supervision of the Prosecutor’s office, which responded (though not always) to the revealed violations. At the same time, protective proceedings, which most affected the personal inviolability of citizens, the law almost completely withdrew from the Prosecutor’s supervision. Despite this, gradually, departmental regulations and practice have developed some forms of the implementation of prosecutorial supervision and over protective proceedings. Considered some of the inaccuracies that occur in the literature when reporting on issues of prosecutorial supervision over the investigation of political crimes.