The development of the penitentiary system of the Russian Empire
1801-1845 (based on the materials of the Vladimir province)

Lyapanov Artem Vladimirovich PhD in History Head of the Department of Private Law Disciplines of the Faculty of Law and Management; Vladimir Law Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia Associate Professor; Vladimir State University named after Alexander Grigoryevich and Nikolai Grigoryevich Stoletov 36 Verkhnyaya Dubrova str., Vladimir, Vladimir region, 600022, Russia Lyapanov@mail.ru

Ibragimova El'vira Fedikovna Postgraduate student of the Department of History, Archeology and Local Lore of Vladimir State University named after A.G. and N.G. Stoletov 600020, Russia, Vladimir region, Vladimir, Bolshaya Nizhegorodskaya str., 67e vikamariya18@mail.ru

Many problems of the penitentiary system have deep roots, therefore, it is of great interest to modern researchers to study the previous stages of its development, in particular the pre-revolutionary period. The chronological framework of this work covers the period from 1801 to 1845, from the accession of Alexander I to the throne and the first attempts at reform in the penitentiary system, to the creation of the Code of Criminal and Correctional Punishments in 1845, the so-called first criminal code in the history of Russia. The study was conducted based on the historical material of the Vladimir province, as a typical territorial entity of central Russia, which represented almost all the places of imprisonment in the country at that time.

The penitentiary system has long attracted the attention of researchers. The pre-revolutionary period is represented by the scientific works of C. Beccaria ^[2], M. N. Galkin ^[5], S. V. Pozdnyshev ^[17], A. S. Prugavin ^[18], N. M. Yadrintsev ^[21] and others.

V. N. Nikitin was one of the first to address the issue of the prison system in his work Prison and Exile. The author examines the activities of the Prison Trust Society, the situation of prisoners, the detention of convicts, the situation of juvenile offenders and other issues ^[15].

Professor I. J. Foynitsky also made a great contribution to the study of the penitentiary system. His writings on penal law were devoted to places of detention, the analysis of normative legal acts and other problems of prison studies. In his work "The Doctrine of Punishment in connection with Prison Studies," I. Ya. Foynitsky examines such issues of the prison system as: types of punishments, types of places of detention, prison authorities, prison education of prisoners, and others ^[20].

In the Soviet era, this issue was in the focus of attention of such researchers as A. I. Zubkov ^[12], A. E. Natashev ^[14], E. A. Skripilev ^[19] and others.

A special place in the study of the problems of the penitentiary system of the Soviet period is occupied by the five-volume work of M. N. Gernet "The History of the Tsarist prison". In his work, the scientist characterizes prison legislation, the state of prisons, monastic prisons and other issues of the prison system ^[9].

The post-Soviet period is characterized by the scientific works of the following researchers: M. G. Detkov ^[10], R. S. Mulukaev ^[13], A. P. Pechnikov ^[16] and others.

With all the variety of scientific works in the history of the penitentiary system, there are still problematic and little-explored moments that can be identified by using local materials.

The study of the stated period required a detailed review of the legislation (the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire (hereinafter referred to as the PSRI)), archival materials collected in the State Archive of the Vladimir region (hereinafter GAVO).

The legislation concerning the penitentiary system of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century was a poorly regulated set of laws.

A.V. Zvonov notes that until the middle of the 19th century, the Cathedral Code of 1649 and the Military Code of 1715, with amendments and additions made to them, remained valid normative legal acts ^{[11, p. 163]}.

However, when Alexander I came to power in the early 19th century, reforms began, including those affecting the penitentiary system.

So already on April 2, 1801, Alexander I signed a Manifesto "On alleviating the fate of criminals and on the addition of government penalties." According to the Manifesto, criminals sentenced to death had their sentences commuted and sent to work.

Also, on September 27, 1801, Alexander I issued a decree "On the abolition of torture." The reason for the appearance of such a document was a report to the emperor that a citizen was detained on suspicion of frequent arson in Kazan, who confessed to what he had done under torture and was put on trial. And during the court sessions, he denied and maintained his innocence. However, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Then, on behalf of the emperor, Lieutenant Colonel Albedil was sent to Kazan to investigate the case, who not only confirmed the information reported, but also confirmed that such illegal measures had not been used for the first time. In the decree, the emperor strictly ordered "where, under no circumstances, ... no one dared, did, or allowed any torture, under pain of strictly imminent and severe punishment... and that, finally, the very name of torture, which causes shame and reproach to mankind, was erased forever from the memory of the people."".

Further, in September 1802, the manifesto "On the establishment of Ministries" was approved. According to this document, state affairs were divided into 8 ministries: the Army, the Navy, foreign Affairs, justice, internal affairs, finance, commerce, and public education. It was the Ministry of the Interior that was in charge of managing prisons and places of public contempt. At the head of this department was a minister who was appointed and dismissed by the emperor. Every year, the Minister had to submit a written report to the Governing Senate on the direction of his activities. The report provided information about where the funds were spent, allocated, in what position they are and what is planned to be done in the future.

From 1801 to 1810, a number of decrees and manifestos were issued containing information on the financing of the penitentiary system, on prisoners, on improving the lot of criminals, and on the transfer of convicts to settlements.

On July 25, 1810, the Manifesto "On the division of State affairs into special departments" was signed. This was the final stage of the ministerial reforms initiated back in 1802. According to the manifesto, the Ministry of Police was created, which became the central body entrusted with the management of prisons in the Russian Empire. The Ministry of Police consisted of three departments: the Economic Police Department; the Executive Police Department, and the Medical Department. The first two of them dealt with issues, including the penitentiary system. The Economic Police Department consisted of two departments. Each compartment was divided into two tables. Of the two departments, the prison problems were handled by the 1st desk of the second department. The Manifesto notes that the 1st desk of this department monitored the state of public charity orders, their capitals, charitable, public and private institutions, hospitals, insane asylums, straitjackets and workhouses. Rules were drawn up for all these establishments and their reports were checked.

The Executive Police Department was divided into three departments, each with two desks. Issues related to the prison system were the responsibility of the 2nd table of the second department. Issues such as the establishment of prisons and their guards, the transfer of prisoners, the distribution of criminals to work, supervision of successful and vigilant police investigations in criminal cases, supervision of police action in the capture of various kinds of criminals, the capture of fugitives and undocumented, etc. were considered here.

Thus, in 1810, the formation of a legal framework and the creation of a sectoral system of government began. This document more clearly defined the structure and limits of power of central government bodies, including law enforcement agencies.

Russian Russian-Turkish wars, the Russian-Swedish War, the Napoleonic Wars, etc. caused the difficulty of reforming the penitentiary system during this period. As you know, war is an expensive event. V. N. Nikitin writes that "... according to information that has been published many times, prison reform requires huge annual expenses, and at a time, for the construction and adaptation of buildings of more than forty million rubles. Our far from rich state treasury will not let go of such solid capital, and, consequently, we will hardly wait for a true reform" ^{[15, p. 24]}.

More active transformations begin to occur after the victory in the war over Napoleonic France. At this time, there is an increase in public awareness. Russian society was tensely waiting for reforms.

Thus, the closest reforms in the penitentiary system were the establishment on July 19, 1819 of the "Prison Trust Society" (hereinafter referred to as the Society), whose main goal was the moral correction of convicts. The society began its activities in St. Petersburg, and then in other cities. The Charter of the Company consisted of 25 articles. To achieve this goal, the following 5 methods of prisoner correction were used: 1) constant supervision of prisoners; 2) their placement according to the nature of crimes or charges; 3) their instruction in the rules of Christian piety and good morals; 4) to engage them in useful activities; 5) isolation of the guilty, or violent.

The right to elect and appoint the president of the Society belonged to the Emperor.

To apply the Rules in practice, a Committee was created that consisted of the 1st President, several Vice Presidents, 12 or more Directors, the 1st Treasurer, and 2 secretaries. Meetings of the committee were held once a month, if necessary more often. The Committee had the right, if necessary, to form orders and resolutions, freely visit prisons, houses with prisoners at any time, and inspect them.

Anyone who made charitable contributions not only with money, but also with food, clothing, and other necessities for prisoners became a member of the Society.

The Society's charter prohibited the use of alcoholic beverages. In order to morally correct the prisoners, according to the Society's charter, places of detention had to be supplied with religious and other moral literature, and churches were built if financially possible.

According to the statute, prisoners were kept in places of detention according to their guilt and crimes.

Every year, the Society compiled reports that contained information about the number of prisoners, the income and expenses of the Society, and other information.

In Vladimir, the provincial committee of the Society began its activities on September 6, 1833 ^{[6, l. 3]}. At the first meeting, responsibilities were distributed among the members of the Society. One of the first measures carried out by the committee was an inspection of the places of detention in Vladimir: a workhouse, a prison castle, and rooms for prisoners. In a report on October 7, 1833, on the inspection of the workhouse, F. F. Kalaidovich, the director of the Vladimir men's gymnasium, who was responsible for overseeing the prisoners, noted that the prisoners were forced to take care of their own food, for which everyone received 11 kopecks daily. In his opinion, these funds were insufficient given the existing high cost of products ^{[7, l. 18]}. However, the amounts allocated did not increase. So, on March 12, 1838, the Minister of Internal Affairs ordered, addressed to the Vladimir Civil Governor, a report card on money for feeding prisoners in places of detention for 1838, which stated that 10 kopecks were allocated for the daily maintenance of each prisoner in the Vladimir province ^[3]. Subsequently, the activity of the Society began to weaken, and in 1855 it was transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs ^{[10, p. 9]}.

Returning to the transformations, it is necessary to note the "Statute of Exiles", approved on July 22, 1822. According to this document, the court's verdict determined two types of exile: exile to Siberia for hard labor and exile to Siberia for settlement. The Charter consisted of 35 chapters, which defined the issues of escorting exiles, supplying them with food and clothing, dividing them into categories, accounting for exiles, etc. The accounting information reflected: where the exile came from, the type of crime, the term of punishment, to which category he was assigned, and the escort of the exile.

Thus, on the basis of the "Statute of Exiles", the provincial government of the Vladimir province was supposed to facilitate the resettlement of those who were exiled to Siberia, with their wives, if the latter agreed, allocating food money for these purposes. The Gradskaya and Zemskaya police of the Vladimir province were strictly obliged, when the cases of the defendants or those involved in the case were brought to them, to interrogate them without fail, so that they paid attention to whether he was single or married; otherwise, persons who made an omission would be strictly responsible ^[4].

In 1823, the Regulation on the position of prison lock guards was approved. The main purpose of this document was: to protect the order of detention of prisoners, to maintain cleanliness inside prison locks. The warden was supposed to monitor the behavior of the prisoners, observe silence and landscaping, and provide food for the prisoners. In order to prevent escapes and fire hazards, one of the guards had to constantly arrive at the castle. In addition, the warden placed the prisoners by rank and type of crimes, the female sex separately from the male. Every day, the warden of the prison castle submitted a report on the condition of the castle to the police chief or the governor, noting the number of nobles and male and female commoners. After a week, they submitted personal statements about all the detainees, indicating who was being held for how long and on what case.

The process of streamlining regulatory legal acts on the penitentiary system was continued under Nicholas I. In May 1831, the "Instructions to the Prison Lock Keeper" began to operate. This document describes in detail all aspects of the life of prisoners in a prison castle, the order of admission of prisoners to the prison castle, their placement depending on the severity of the crime, gender, age and category of the prisoner. It consists of 12 chapters and 260 articles.

The instruction was sent to all provinces, and its actions spread throughout the entire territory of the Russian Empire. Accordingly, the Vladimir province was no exception, and its norms were applied in the activities of prison castles in the Vladimir province.

On September 26, 1826, Emperor Nicholas I signed a Regulation for the formation of convict companies as an alternative to exile. The main reasons for the desire to replace the exile to prison work were a significant reduction in the cost of transferring prisoners to Siberia and building provincial towns with the help of "cheap labor" – forced labor.

This normative legal act occupies a special place in the history of the formation of the legislation of the penitentiary system of the pre-revolutionary period. Prison companies emerged as one of the types of punishment for military personnel. This type of punishment originated under Peter the Great and is mentioned in the Military Regulations, but it did not receive further development until the beginning of the 19th century. According to the Regulations, convicts, vagrants and fugitives were recruited into prison companies. The strictest military discipline was applied to them: they had to wear only those clothes that were given according to their position, to keep clean, so that they always had their hair cut, washed and shaved, since they were on duty.

It was strictly forbidden to employ prisoners in jobs other than serfs, and especially in private or particular jobs and assignments. The order or deviation from the instructions was monitored by the company commander and the commandant.

Regional regulatory legal acts were also issued on the basis of the all-Russian legislation. So, on December 24, 1838, the Regulations on the Vladimir Convict company of the civil department were approved in Vladimir.

The Regulation describes the procedure for enrollment, placement and other issues related to the detention of prisoners. The prison companies carried out the work determined by the Committee on the establishment of Vladimir.

The prison companies included fugitives and vagabonds from the Vladimir province, who were sentenced to exile in Siberia for minor crimes, assigned to workhouses, and sent through Vladimir to Siberia to settle for vagrancy and knowing skills.

In addition, the prisoners could be trained in skills so that the company would certainly have people who knew their business: a stonemason, a bricklayer, a bricklayer who could build a foundation from cobblestone, a cobblestone paver, a plasterer, a stove maker, a carpenter, a sawyer, a joiner, a blacksmith, a molar and glazier, a locksmith and a roofer.

In 1834, on his way from Kazan to St. Petersburg, Emperor Nicholas I visited Vladimir, where he inspected the places of detention. When examining the establishments, he noted that "a workhouse requires an indispensable device." Then the question arose about the construction of a new workhouse building in Vladimir ^{[1, p. 19]}.

It should be recalled that the plan of Provincial prisons was approved on April 25, 1821, according to which it was supposed to build prison buildings according to a special plan. The prisoners were placed according to the degree of their crimes. The plans were available in two copies: for stone and wooden prisons on a stone foundation with iron roofs.

The preparation of estimates, their approval by the ministry, and the bidding procedure to find a contractor for the construction of a new stone workhouse in Vladimir took years. Only on June 28, 1837, the contract was signed with the merchant of the first guild, Peter Ilyin.

On July 21, 1837, construction work began. In 1839, a two-story stone workhouse was built. But this building, by order of the local authorities, was converted into the premises of the arrest company of the civil department ^{[1, p. 20]}.

According to the annual report of the Society in 1838, prison buildings in the provincial city of Vladimir, the county towns of Alexandrov, Pereslavl, Yuryevets, Suzdal, Shui, Kovrov, Gorokhovetsk, Vyazniki, Sudogda, Melenki, Pokrov-Kamenny were in good condition. In the city of Murom, according to the approved estimates, major repairs were carried out to the prison building and the superstructure of the second floor.

In Vladimir province, there were 7 built stages in the counties: Pokrovsky in the village of Lipnik, Vladimirsky in the villages of Kolokin and Nesterkov, Kovrovsky in the villages of Grigorkovo, Vyaznikovsky in the villages of Rykin and Slabodishchi. Instead of these buildings, because of their dilapidation and because they were located on the old Nizhny Novgorod road, it was supposed, with the permission of the authorities, to build stone houses along the Nizhny Novgorod highway laid in the Vladimir province for overnight stays in the counties: Pokrovsky in the village of Lipnik; Vladimirsky in the villages of Novaya Bykovka and Yuryevets, Kovrovsky and Gorokhovetsky in the villages of Volyn, the village of Slabodishchi, Vyaznikovsky in the village of Likhaya Pozhnya. Projects were drawn up for the stages in the counties of Vladimirsky, Suzdalsky, Kovrovsky, which were soon to be submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for consideration, and in Vyazniki, according to the already approved project and estimate, an extension to the prison building for the stage room was carried out.

There were 10 prison committees in the province, and their actions fully corresponded to the charitable purpose of the institution. A statement was submitted to the prison committees, which shows the extent to which these institutions need funds to improve the detention of prisoners ^{[8, l. 107-109]}.

Further development of the penal enforcement system took place on August 15, 1845, after the approval by Nicholas I of the "Code of Criminal and Correctional Punishments" (hereinafter referred to as the Code). This document is the first criminal code in the history of the Russian state, which included 2224 articles combined into 12 sections. The Code did not apply to crimes committed by military personnel, as well as convicts and exiles. They were sued on the basis of the Military Criminal Statute of 1839 and the Statute of Exiles.

The Code describes the types of punishments and their consequences, compensation for damages, replacement of some punishments with others, punishments, circumstances that increase guilt and punishment, circumstances that reduce guilt and punishment, the duties of the court in determining punishments, mitigation and cancellation of punishments, the effect of articles of the Code on foreigners residing in Russia, the effect of the Code on Russian subjects crimes committed outside the country, crimes against faith, crimes of rebellion against State authority, crimes related to prison break-ins and prison escapes, categories of persons exempted from corporal punishment, and other issues. The Code represents a separate milestone in the development of the penal system in the pre-revolutionary period.

Thus, it can be said that in the first half of the 19th century, the formation of a new penitentiary system in the Russian Empire took place. The ministerial reform has created a sectoral system of government, in which the penal system is beginning to take its place. It is during this period that serious regulation of the activities of many penitentiary institutions takes place. The Prison Trustee Society begins its activities. Unfortunately, these innovations are being implemented on the ground with a serious delay. The eternal trouble is affecting – the great bureaucratization of the management system in Russia. Another serious problem is the chronic shortage of funds, which was particularly acute in the province.