The criminal law of pre-revolutionary Russia as a source of the history of childhood and motherhood

The history of childhood and the history of motherhood are relatively young and increasingly popular scientific fields. In Russia, the traditional interest of researchers is concentrated on the Soviet period, which is easily explained by the diversity and availability of the source base. With regard to pre-revolutionary Russia, the problem of sources of the history of childhood and the closely related history of motherhood is fundamental. Criminal law can become a promising source on the issues under consideration, a source that gradually reflects the attitude towards children and childhood in various historical periods of the Russian state. Through the regulation of crimes against life and health of children, the prosecution of pregnant women and nursing mothers, minors and juveniles, characteristics of sentence, criminal rules demonstrate consistent transformation of the perception of childhood and motherhood in the 11 - early 20 centuries in the Russian society. The study is based on the legal material of the 11 - early 20 centuries, containing criminal norms, from the Statute of Prince Yaroslav on the Church courts to the Criminal code of 1903. Criminal acts are understood in the work in a broad sense, including criminal procedural and penal aspects. This is true of pre-Soviet law, in which the issue of differentiation of criminal law as а branch of law has not been fully resolved. The criminal norms of the sources of law of Kievan Rus and the Moscow state confirm the concept of indifference of P. Aries, which is expressed in the form of a certain tolerance towards infanticide. Since the 17 century, the Cathedral code of 1649 and its additions, the changes in attitude to childhood have become evident. It is beginning to be perceived as different and in need of special respect and additional safeguard period. This trend is manifested in the protection of the life of the unborn child, in the refusal to interrogate children and pregnant women, in determining the age of criminal responsibility. Criminal acts of the eighteenth century prohibited the use of torture against children and pregnant women and established the qualified death penalty for the murder of an infant. The legislator of the nineteenth century is not only interested in the preservation of the physical life of the child, but ensuring that it is of a certain quality. Care for the health of children and their mothers is expressed in criminal provisions in the form of prohibitions on corporal punishment of pregnant women and women breastfeeding, restrictions on their employment, as well as in the maintenance of improved conditions of detention. The criminal law of the Russian Empire of 19 -the beginning of 20 centuries reflects changes in understanding of borders of children’s age and stages of maturation, testifying to consecutive infantilization of society.

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