Search and punishment of “thieves” and “robbers” in the legal culture of the period of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the legislative sources of the Russian Empire in the middle of the 18th century, the article examines important aspects of the formation of legal culture during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. This was expressed in the introduction of special state measures aimed at detecting and punishing robbery, plundering the treasury, causing damage to trade and means of communication. During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, a system of state measures to combat “thieves” and “robbers” took shape, and the responsibility of local authorities for the search and capture of “villains” significantly increased. Since the empress abolished the death penalty, the concept of “political death”, which had been used earlier, acquired special significance in the system of state legislation. New legislative measures were aimed at raising the status of government representatives – detectives, the legitimacy of the investigation procedure, toughening penalties for violation of public order, and saving public funds. However, as the documents show, during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the state power was never able to achieve significant results in this area, as evidenced by the recurrence of imperial decrees and the ascertaining of new violations in them.