The order of the legal procedure of the Supreme penal court established

20 November (2 December), 1864 by the Statute of the criminal legal procedure was established the order of the legal procedure of the Supreme penal court.

For the first time the court of this name was established by the Manifesto of 1 (13) June, 1826 to investigate the Decembrists’ case. Similar extraordinary legal bodies established by special imperial decrees for investigation of the most important cases came to existence in the second half of the 18^th century (the trial over the case of V. Ya. Mirovich in 1764; the trial over the participants of the Moscow revolt in 1771; then, in 1774 the trial over E. I. Pugachev). However, there was no exact order of the legal proceedings in these courts; the members of the court were defined every time by a decree, the legal proceedings were carried out by specially appointed persons or a commission, the sentence was passed by the majority of votes and was submitted for the imperial judgment.

Judicial statutes of November 20 (December 2), 1864 regulated judicially the work of the Supreme penal court. It remained an extraordinary judicial body. Its area of responsibility included: cases of the most important treasons such as a plot against the supreme authorities and the established order of succession to the throne; cases of malfeasance committed by the members of the State Council, ministers and presidents of particular units.

The president of the Supreme penal court was the president of the State Council, its members were the presidents of departments of the State Council and the presidents of cassation departments of the Senate. The preliminary investigation was to be done by one of the senators of the cassation departments; the minister of justice fulfilled the duties of a prosecutor: he was in charge of the preliminary investigation, introduced it to the Supreme penal court and acted as a prosecutor at the trial. The counselor for the defense could only be a barrister. The verdicts of the Supreme penal court were final and could not be appealed against, but the convicts were allowed to appeal for pardon.

The Supreme penal court included: one member of the State Council who was annually appointed by the emperor; members - presidents of cassation departments of the Senate and the United Office of the Cassation and the First Departments; three senators of the Penal cassation department and two senators of the First Department who were also appointed by the emperor. The duties of the prosecutor in the Supreme penal court were fulfilled by the attorney-general of the Penal cassation department of the Senate.

By the law of 22 April (5 May), 1906 the Supreme penal court was reorganized into the permanent judicial institution for investigation of cases about crimes related to the service of high officials.

During the period of existence of the supreme judicial body (1864-1917) only three cases were investigated: about criminal plots against the supreme authorities and the governing established by laws; about the attempt on the emperor’s life of 2 (14) April 1879; about former members of the State Duma of the third convocation – representatives of the Social Democratic group: G. S. Kuznetsov, I. P. Pokrovsky and E. P. Gegechkori.

4 (27) March, 1917 by a decree of the Provisional government, the Supreme penal court was abolished.

Lit.: Высшие и центральные государственные учреждения России. 1801-1917

 гг. Т. 1. СПб., 1998; Коротких М. Г. Самодержавие и судебная реформа 1864 года в России. Воронеж, 1989; Судебная реформа. Т. 1—2. М., 1915.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Полное собрание законов Российской империи. Собрание 2. СПб., 1867. Т. 39. № 41476.