Introduction

Criminal justice and police systems are the result of the common social, economical, cultural, and political state. The contemporary Russian criminal justice system and police have complicated history. There are two main sources of the system: first, the old Tsar's system as part of the so-called continental legal system and second, the Soviet „socialistic“ system.

It is clear that the communist regime was absolutely terrible. As a result of the unique experiment to establish a social utopia, the country was thrown onto the path of civilization.

Gorbachev's «Perestroika» (reconstruction) was a necessary attempt to save the power structures by way of reform. A similar attempt was by Khrushchev (the «Thaw»). However, every attempt finished with the political death of its propagators and was followed by stagnation or reaction. With all due credit to Gorbachev, his reforms turned out to be the most radical (freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the multi-party system, the right to hold private property, the lifting of the Iron Curtain, the release of those states occupied by Stalin – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, etc.). However these reform did not bring an end to the Soviet nightmare.

The disintegration of production and economy continuing. Power still returned to the ruling nomenclature (with new «oligarchs» and criminals); corruption, common in Russia, has taken on a monumental role in all organs of power, establishment and law-enforcement bodies; crisis in the health, education, transport and other social services; crises of spirituality and morality continues; and the militarization of economics and politics also continue.

There is now a growth in the role (importance) of the power structures – FSB (the former KGB), MIA (Ministry of Internal Affairs), and other. The war in Chechnya is a terrifying evidence of neo-totalitarianism. The country also permits human rights abuses on a large scale, particularly in the army and those penal institutions where tyranny and torture dominate (Abramkin, 1998; Christie, 2000: 79-90; Index on Censorship, 1999; Walmsley, 1996: 358-386). Nationalist, anti-Semitic and neofascist groups operate with impunity and meet with no resistance. Attacks against mass media in opposition began in 1999-2000 and continues to date.

The ever-growing economic polarization of the population – visible in the stark contrast between the poor majority and the nouveau riche minority (the «New Russian») – is a guaranteed source of continuing social conflict. The official unemployment rates in Russia were as follows: 1992 – 4.8 % of the able-bodied population; 1993 – 5.5 %; 1994 – 7.4 %; 1995 – 8.9 %; 1996 – 9.6 %; 1997 – 11.9 %; 1998 – 13.3 %; 2003 – 8.9 % (Human Development Report, 1999: 57; Questions of Statistic, 2004: 31). Today, unemployment in Russia stands at 5.2 %. From 2002 to 20 12 the average unemployment rare was 8.3 % (Trading Economics 2013).

Technological backwardness and the absence of competition in domestic production and the service sectors have manifested themselves in the course of the reforms. A consequence of this is the inferiority complex of employees, their de-qualification, marginalization and lumpenization. The excluded population in the face of corruption engages in deviances, including crime (Lenoir, 1974; Paugam, 1996; Finer and Nellis, 1998; Young, 1999).

 

Legal system

According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Russia) there are levels of legal institutions (Art. 118, Part 2):

– The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation

– The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

– Courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation (Supreme Courts of the smaller republics in remote parts of the Russian Federation); regional – «krai», «oblast», «autonomous regions» courts; Moscow and St. Petersburg city court

– Area (district) and city courts

– Martial courts

– Arbitral courts (the Supreme Arbitral Court of the Russian Federation; arbitral courts of the subjects of the Russian Federation).

The goals of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation are protection of Russian sovereignty; defence of the constitutional structure; defence of the general rights and freedoms of population; and guarantee of the application of the Russian Constitution in all territories of the Russian Federation. Martial courts are included in the common legal system. The arbitral courts resolve disputes between juridical persons.

It is a pity, but contemporary Russian judicial system is not independent. First, many judges are very corrupted. Secondly, many courts depend upon politicians and power. For example, often the Basmany court would decide a case in favor of a power base. «Basmany court» is now common jargon for lack of independence and injustice in the Russian justice system.

Finally, there are the «mirovye sud'i» (magistracy). They try cases that are not very important (administrative and civil delicts, minor criminal delinquency).