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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2019
The present annotated, bibliographic survey covers works in English on the issue of capital punishment in Russia in the years 1917–2000. Considered are primary sources of criminal law of the Russian Federation as well as periodical articles and essays on the topic. The work concludes with a chronology of the death penalty in Russia, which spans ten centuries.
1 An exception is Sergiy Holovatiy's essay Abolishing the Death Penalty in Ukraine - Difficulties Real or Imagined?, in “The Death Penalty: Abolition in Europe” 139 (Hood, Roger, ed., 1999). Although it reports about the capital punishment situation in Ukraine, this essay demonstrates how the new progressive thinkers in the area of criminal justice defeated adherents of the old Soviet system of power and were effective in abrogating the death penalty provision from the country's jurisdiction.Google Scholar
2 Adams, William W.. Capital Punishment and the Russian Revolution. (1968) at 318. (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, on file with the Columbia University Social Science Library).Google Scholar
3 See id. at 319.Google Scholar
4 Stalin was the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953. In order to gain personal power, he dismissed his political rivals by exiling, murdering and prosecuting them. Show trials were set up. Leading military personnel were reported as court-martialed on charges of treason and executed. Uncooperative peasants were arrested en masse, being shot or exiled. The intellectual elite was sent into concentration camps in Siberia and worked to death under brutal and inhuman conditions. Stalin's victims are numbered in tens of millions.Google Scholar
5 The first Russian Dumas met May 10-July 21, 1906; March 5-June 16, 1907; November 14, 1907- June 22, 1912; and November 28, 1912 - March 11, 1917.Google Scholar
6 See supra note 2.Google Scholar
7 See Bryner, Cyril, “The Issue of Capital Punishment in the Reign of Elizabeth Petrovna,” Russian Review 49 (1990): 389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 Between 1826 and 1906 only 170 persons were executed in Russia, but in 1906 alone 500 persons were executed by the government in order to suppress a revolutionary uprising of 1905. See Ger Peter Van den Berg, Russia and Other CIS States in “Capital Punishment: Global Issues and Prospects” 77, 77. (Hodgkinson, Peter & Rutherfods, Andrew, eds., 1996).Google Scholar
9 Supporters of the abolition of the death penalty frequently use the names of Tolstoy, Dostoevskii, and Turgenev in their arguments. These writers portrayed suffer and turmoil in the souls of people awaiting execution with such mastery that they continue to appeal to the minds of many generations of readers. Russian scholars and government officials, journalists and laymen often use literary examples to make a point.Google Scholar
10 Such Russian criminalists of the late 19th - early 20th century as Tagantsev and Kistiakovsky were abolitionists. The Criminal Code of 1903 (a.k.a. Tagantsev Code) provided the death penalty for political offenses only.Google Scholar
11 See Solomon, Peter H. Jr. Soviet Criminal Justice Under Stalin 27 (1996).Google Scholar
12 Id. at 27.Google Scholar
13 Id. at 28.Google Scholar
14 Pieter, Ger den Berg, Van, “The Soviet Union and the Death Penalty,” Soviet Studies 35 (1983): 154, 158.Google Scholar
15 2,159 death sentences were reported in 1962. See “The Most Recent Increase In Death Sentences In Russia Is Due To An Increase In The Number Of Premeditated Murders.” Rossiskaya Gazeta, Mar. 4, 1997, ¶ 2, available in LEXIS, All Sources: Country & Region (Excluding US).Google Scholar
16 According to the Ministry of Justice statistics, released for the first time in 1989 after many years of secrecy, there were 770 death sentences in 1985, 20 of which were remitted. For the following years the numbers were: 1986: 526 death sentences, 41 of which were remitted; 1987: 344 death sentences, 47 of which were remitted; 1988: 271 death sentences, 72 of which were remitted; 1989: 276 death sentences, 23 of which were remitted. See “USSR Makes Public Statistics On Death Sentences,” The Russian Information Agency ITAR-TASS, Jan. 16,1991, available in Lexis, All Sources: Country & Region (Excluding US).Google Scholar
17 See Protocol No. 6 to the Convention/or the Protection of HUMAN Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty ETS 114 (In force: 1 March 1985). <http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/EN/cadreprincipal.htm> As of April 2000, Turkey was the only nation in the Council of Europe that has neither signed nor ratified Protocol No. 6. Poland, Russia, and Albania have signed the treaty but not ratified it. All four countries have moratoria on executions.+As+of+April+2000,+Turkey+was+the+only+nation+in+the+Council+of+Europe+that+has+neither+signed+nor+ratified+Protocol+No.+6.+Poland,+Russia,+and+Albania+have+signed+the+treaty+but+not+ratified+it.+All+four+countries+have+moratoria+on+executions.>Google Scholar
18 So far, the jury system was introduced only to 9 out of 89 regions of the Russian Federation. Even those 9 regions with the jury system cannot hand down death sentences. Despite the Constitutional court ruling, the last death verdict was proclaimed in May 1999 in the case of a serial killer Retunsky. The three-judge panel had to satisfy the grief and outrage of the relatives of the murdered fourteen women and girls. (See Paddock, Richard C., “Amid Public Outrage, The Kremlin Shuts Doors Of Russia's Death Row,” Los Angeles Times, June 26, 1999, part A, at 10).Google Scholar
19 “Yeltsin Submits Death Penalty Abolition Protocol To Parliament,” Agence France Presse, Aug. 6, 1999, ¶ 5, available in 1999 WL 2650584.Google Scholar
20 The researcher should be aware that sometimes data on the death sentences vary. In many instances, there is no differentiation made between a death sentence handed down and an actual execution. For example, Rossiiskaya Gazeta (supra note 15) reported about 157 death sentences in 1993 and 160 in 1994, while Agence France Presse (supra note 19) had data on 160 executions from 1992 to 1996. There are even discrepancies in the reports issued by the same organization. (See Danilenko, G.M. & Burnham, W. Law and Legal System of the Russian Federation 584 (note 107) (1999).Google Scholar
21 “One Russian Out Of 100 In Prison,” Agence France Presse, Jan. 21, 1999, ¶ 4, available in 1999 WL 2533148.Google Scholar
22 See “Amnesty International Report 1997: Russian Federation” (visited Nov. 15, 2000) <www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/ar97/EUR46.htm> Other sources reported about between 53 and 140 executions carried out in Russia in 1996. (See “Capital Punishment On Hold In Russia, On The Rise” In The US, Dayton Daily News, Feb. 4, 1998, ¶ 22, available in 1998 WL 5880821).+Other+sources+reported+about+between+53+and+140+executions+carried+out+in+Russia+in+1996.+(See+“Capital+Punishment+On+Hold+In+Russia,+On+The+Rise”+In+The+US,+Dayton+Daily+News,+Feb.+4,+1998,+¶+22,+available+in+1998+WL+5880821).>Google Scholar
23 In 1992 President Yeltsin established the Presidential Clemency (Pardon) Commission consisting of 15 members. This panel had to review appeals to the President from prisoners, among them death row inmates. The Commission made recommendations to the President, which he took into consideration when deciding about granting a pardon. The Commission handled about 10 death penalty cases every week until its disbanding by President Putin in December, 2001. The functions of the Presidential Clemency Commission were transferred to 89 regional public commissions.Google Scholar
24 See Amnesty International Report 1998: Russian Federation (visited Nov. 15, 2000) <www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/ar98/EUR46.htm> The same report documents five public executions carried out in the Chechen Republic, mostly occupied by Muslims. Officially, the Chechen Republic is a part of Russia. Since 1991 Chechen people have been in the state of war with the Russian government, trying to obtain economic and political independence. In 1996 Shari'a law (Islamic law) was proclaimed in the Chechen Republic, which includes provisions for the death penalty and corporal punishment.+The+same+report+documents+five+public+executions+carried+out+in+the+Chechen+Republic,+mostly+occupied+by+Muslims.+Officially,+the+Chechen+Republic+is+a+part+of+Russia.+Since+1991+Chechen+people+have+been+in+the+state+of+war+with+the+Russian+government,+trying+to+obtain+economic+and+political+independence.+In+1996+Shari'a+law+(Islamic+law)+was+proclaimed+in+the+Chechen+Republic,+which+includes+provisions+for+the+death+penalty+and+corporal+punishment.>Google Scholar
25 See Amnesty International Report 1999: Russian Federation (visited Nov. 15, 2000) <www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/ar99/EUR46.htm> Part of the report on the situation in the Chechen Republic claims 30 people are facing execution.+Part+of+the+report+on+the+situation+in+the+Chechen+Republic+claims+30+people+are+facing+execution.>Google Scholar
26 “Most Russians Would Keep Death Penalty Option,” Interfax News Agency, June 10, 1999, available in 1999 WL 20790939.Google Scholar
27 See Semeynov, Oleg, “Death Penalty Cannot Be Legally Restored,” Gazeta: RU [Internet-Newspaper], Sept. 15, 2000, ¶ 1 (visited Sept. 15, 2000) <http://www.azeta.ru/dpcblr.shtmt>..>Google Scholar
28 See “Clemency Commission Chairman Comes Out For Abolishing Capital Punishment,” Interfax News Agency, Apr. 9, 2000, ¶ 7,8, available in. 2000 WL 17234053.Google Scholar
29 See Nesterova, Svetlana, “Death Penalty Debate Puts Putin In No Win Situation,” Gazeta: RU [Internet-Newspaper], Sept.14,2000, ¶ 4 (visited Sept. 14, 2000) <http://www.gazeta.ru/toporik.xhtml>..>Google Scholar
30 See Pristavkin, Anatoly, “A Vast Place Of Execution - The Death Penalty In Russia,” in The Death Penalty: Abolition in Europe 129, 133 (Hood, Roger, ed., 1999).Google Scholar
31 “Kotenkov: Putin Ne Otmenit Moratorii Na Smertnuiu Kazn.” Gazeta: RU: Novosti [Internet-newspaper], Sept. 14, 2000 (visited Sept. 14, 2000) <http://www.gazeta.ru/cmertniypirgov.shtml#21622>..>Google Scholar
32 See supra note 24.Google Scholar
33 See Lozva, Mark Franchetti, “Living Hell of Russia's Death Row.” Sunday Times (London), Aug. 6, 2000, ¶ 5, available in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, News, General News.Google Scholar
34 Id., at ¶ (25.Google Scholar
35 See “Death Penalty Repeal Is The Only Answer: Editorial.” St-Petersburg Times [electronic edition], June 4, 1999, (visited August 2, 2000) <http://www.ptimes.ru/archive/times/471/opinion/editor.htm>..>Google Scholar
36 See Schabas, William A., The Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law 1 (1997).Google Scholar
37 One of the first books published in English, which presented in an organized way scattered data available on the Soviet judicial statistics appeared in the 1980s. See Vanden Berg, Ger P., The Soviet System of Justice: Figures and Policy (1985).Google Scholar
38 There are good legal analyses of the new Criminal Code of the Russian Federation given from two different perspectives. One is an article written by a Russian legal scholar, who participated in drafting the current code (See Naumov, Anatolyi V., “The New Russian Criminal Code As A Reflection Of Ongoing Reforms,” Criminal Law Forum 8 (1997): 191. The other article is a Western perspective on the new Russian Criminal Code and Naumov's interpretation of it (See Pomorski, Stanislaw, “Reflections On The First Criminal Code Of Post-Communist Russia,” American Journal of Comparative Law 46 (Spring, 1998): 375. Both authors approach the Russian Criminal Code in comparison with European principles of criminal law. Naumov gives definition for the principles of legality, equality of ail citizens before the law, culpability, justice, and humanism. Pomorski focuses on the implementation of the principles of legality, culpability, and ultima ratio of the criminal sanction by the code.Google Scholar
39 Los, Maria, Communist Ideology, Law and Crime (1988). The book concentrates mainly on the criminal justice system in Poland.Google Scholar
40 Adams, William W.. Capital Punishment and the Russian Revolution. (1968) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, on file with the Columbia University Social Science Library).Google Scholar
41 In Vitebsk (Belorussia) fourteen innocent men were convicted and sentenced to death on charges on serial killing in the 1980s. This became known as “Vitebsk Affair.” The reports in the newspapers did not indicate how many people were actually executed or set free after the real murderer was found.Google Scholar
42 This is the title of Ilya Ehrenburg's novel Ottepel’ (1954). This word is a symbol of liberal atmosphere of the post-Stalin era under Khrushshev. The transformation of the Soviet law in the post-Stalin era is analyzed in Berman's, Harold J. article “The Dilemma of Soviet Law Reform,” Harvard Law Review 76 (1963): 929.Google Scholar
43 In December 1999, Ukrainian Parliament finally ratified Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which provides for the abolition of the death penalty except in time of war or the imminent threat of war.Google Scholar
44 There is no English translation available for this code. Sometimes the title is translated as Corrections Code. The transliterated Russian title is Ugolovno-ispolnitel'nyi Kodeks. Google Scholar
45 The English translation is available. The Sudebnik (1497) (last modified Oct. 16, 1998) <http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/sudebnik.htmt>..>Google Scholar
46 The English translation is available at Excerpts from The Code of Law of 1649 (Ulozhenie) (last modified Dec. 24, 1996) <http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dml0www/1649code.htmt>..>Google Scholar
47 Wilson, Cheri C. at the University of Minnesota has translated into English and created an excellent commentary to the Basic Principles Concerning the Reform of the Judicial Administration in Russia (last modified Aug. 17, 1998) <http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/princ_ntro.html>..>Google Scholar
