Judicial system and procedural law in Ancient Russia

The purpose of the research. The article discusses the characteristics of the judicial system and procedural law in Ancient Russia. The author reviews such problems as the types of courts that were functioning during that era, the order of their activities, as well as the institutions of procedural law of Ancient Russia. The purpose of the research is to reveal the key aspects of the organization of the court and judicial proceedings at the initial stage of the development of the Russian state on the basis of the legislative norms of Russkaya Pravda and other sources of that time. It is necessary for further expansion and deepening of scientific knowledge about the history of the state and the law of Russia in the ancient period.

Results. As a result of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that the structure and functioning of courts in Ancient Russia was based on the principle of the inseparability of the court and the administration, that’s why there did not exist specialized judicial bodies and judges which were separate and independent from other bodies. As for the judicial process in Ancient Russia it was adversarial (accusatory) that meant that the trial was a lawsuit, a contest between the parties in the presence of a judge and other persons. The adversarial nature of the process was equally inherent in the judicial proceedings of both property disputes and cases of various crimes.