The victim as a part of the crime concept in the medieval criminal legislation of Russia

Abstract

The author examined the place of the victim in the crime notion according to medieval Russian legislation. The author notes that the medieval period is an important stage in the development of criminal law. The analysis of the Russian medieval criminal law allowed to establish the origins of of modern criminal law, to identify the causes and regulation of the modern understanding of the victim within the framework of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In the study, the author limits himself to the analysis of the Russian Pravda in three editions (Short, Long and Abridged), the Pskov Judgment Charter and the Code of Laws, since they are the main written monuments of law in legal history of Russia. The article reveals significant number of scientific works related to the doctrine of the victim. This allows to talk about the sustainable development of a conceptual apparatus, as well as the development of a system of scientific views that can be incorporated into a scientific school. Based on the results of the study, the author draws a number of conclusions. In particular, it is indicated that the understanding of the legal status of the victim in medieval legislation largely comes down to criminal procedure. At the same time, there are provisions indicating that the victim is secured in the substantive and legal aspect. Victims within the framework of medieval legislation can be differentiated according to two characteristics - social and physical. The latter, includes in particular social characteristics such as marital status, profession, nationality, social status, and physical characteristics – helplessness, gender. A comparative analysis of the modern legal regulation of the traits of a victim within the framework of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation compared to the provisions of medieval legislation demonstrates their undoubted continuity. This is observed, in particular, when regulating specially qualified and privileged crimes.