The Social Significance of the Criminal Departments’ Activities of the Supreme Courts in the Right-Bank Ukraine (1797-1831)

Abstract

The social importance of the criminal departments of the Supreme courts of Kiev, Volhynian and Podolian governorates is analyzed in the article. It was determined that the criminal proceedings were carried out by a special procedure: first, the cases came from the courts of the first instance (county courts and magistrates) for revision to the supreme court with a proposal for the judgement and a reference to the relevant laws (Lithuanian statute and Polish constitutions). After consideration in the main court, which did not take place immediately, the judgement was sent to the governor for approval. The function of executing the judgement was vested in the provincial board, which informed the Supreme Court after the fact that the original case of the decree and judgement was sent to the court of first instance.The governors advocated that absolutely all matters fall under their jurisdiction. In formal legal proceedings, the return of cases without approval was explained by the lack of the necessary documents. The authorities demanded that the  departments immediately resolve the cases of the detainees, but part of them waited for a judgement for years. An indicator of the effectiveness of criminal departments was the number of cases considered. Institutions were overworked, including being forced to correspond with other institutions. An analysis of the statistics of the criminal and temporary departments of the Volyn Supreme Court for the period from 1797 to 1826 indicates a low crime rate. The system of punishment was particularly cruel and included, in addition to the usual prison terms, corporal punishment, and exile to Siberia, financial penalties (fastening), conscription or something. The activities of the criminal departments allowed minimizing political tension: the Polish nobility, fully controlling land relations and county courts, resigned themselves to Russian domination, which allowed the Russian Empire to establish itself in the region. It is obvious that the activity of the judiciary allowed to keep the crime rate under control and not to allow a sharp increase in the number of crimes. The coming to power of Nicholas I in the conditions of centralization policy meant the termination of cooperation with the elites. The supreme power demanded obedience from all classes, so after the Polish uprising of 1830–1831 the course was taken to eliminate all regional differences, especially in the judicial sphere. On the other hand, prior to the transformation of the Supreme Courts in 1831, the previous work of the criminal departments of the Kyiv and Volyn Supreme Courts was highly appreciated.