THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN JUSTICE OF THE XVIII-XIX CENTURIES
The article is devoted to the study of the legal status of justice in Russia of the 18th-19th centuries. The emphasis is on analyzing the effectiveness of the Ministry of Justice, created in 1802, and conflicts between the Minister of Justice and senior government officials. It also raises the question of attitudes to Russian legislation of different sectors of the population, including senior officials. The work of the judicial authorities of this period is analyzed: the procedure for the formation of the composition of the courts, procedural law, and conclusions are drawn about the shortcomings of the judicial system. The article determines that the main drawback of the judicial system of pre-reformed Russia is that only one stage of the trial was allowed in the procedural law - a written stage and there was no stage of an open trial, that is, a stage where debates between the prosecution and the defense could take place in open form . Oral hearings in court provide an opportunity to question the truth of both the testimonies of the witnesses and the accused himself and, therefore, the accused is given the opportunity to defend his rights more effectively, that is, evidence of his innocence.