JEREMY BENTHAM AND THE JUDICIAL REFORM OF 1864 IN RUSSIA

Abstract

The article deals with the influence of the ideas of J. Bentham, set out in his treatise "On the judicial establishment" on the creators of the judicial reform of 1864 in Russia. The author divides the ideas and suggestions of Jeremy Bentham, concerning the court into three groups: reformers rejected, partially accepted, and those, which were enshrined in the Judicial Statutes of 1864. The first group included the ideas of a single court, the replacement of judges and the election of all judges by the people, the introduction of a jury in civil cases. The ideas of the great English thinker, partially adopted by the "fathers of judicial reform of 1864", include, in particular, the idea of creating a mechanism for the removal of negligent judges. The ideas of I. Bentham, which found their place in the text of the Judicial Statutes of 1864, - the creation of institutions of jury, lawyers, ensuring high salaries of judges, transparency of the proceedings, the establishment of the optimal contingent of judges, etc. The author notes that the debate over the ideas of Bentham continued after the Judicial Statutes were created and became law. This historiographical phenomenon once again reveals the relevance of the ideas of the great English thinker about court and legal proceedings for the Russian post-reform reality. And for the modern Russian court, which is in a state of sluggish judicial reform since the early 90-ies of the last century, a number of ideas of Bentham has not lost its importance. The author emphasizes that despite the paradox of some of the Bentham’s ideas about court, the great English thinker was concerned about the high idea: to create a project do a fair trial, credible people.