The Police Court and Investigation Procedures in the Tobolsk Province in a last third of the XIXth century

The present research is aimed to analyse court and investigation procedures of the police in the Tobolskprovince in a final third of the nineteenth century. The Siberian region with its geographical, social and legal peculiarities stood in manyrespects as a separate "state", a place which was associated with a legal nihilism. Imperial reforms were not systematic in the region, andusually came with an extreme delay. Different time terms of court and police reforms caused a mess in the activity of both authorities. Inaccordance with the reform of 1867 the Tobolsk province police carried on with the court and investigation procedures, thus having nopossibility to focus on public order insurance. Mass deportation into the region required such concentration from the guardians of order. Insome researches' judgement the concept of separation of powers did not work in the region: policemen opened proceedings, and it was themwho carried out the investigation. The province power tried to influence police officials, regularly indicated a necessity of proper fulfilmentof investigation functions, but information concerning corruptions which were practiced by the guardians of order reached the provinceauthorities rarely. Prosecutor's supervision, kept in the region, did not prevent police brutality either. The province prosecutors, having nopower for direct impact on the police, could only make petitions for the Tobolsk Governor, saying about various violations in investigationprocedure, in particular intolerable transgressions in forensic medical examination of victims and accused were frequently shown. Theexamination was held without any required formalities, when a doctor was inactive and unengaged into a case, had no facts or circumstancesof it, at times with no witness invited. Acts composed in such a manner did not meet any requirements of legally stated forensic medicalprotocols at all, and could not be considered as evidences at law. All investigation drawbacks mentioned above were a reason why people didnot apply for help when they were abused. Everything was solved locally, played it by ear, the police unlimited power discredited lawenforcementsystem in general, people used different trick not to go to police. It is notable that G. Kennan, an American journalist, calledSiberian policemen virtuoso of blackmail. For analysis of court and investigation activity of the province police the paper has drawn on anumber of extracts from genuine documents, which allows a reader to take a dive into the epoch and judge the events of the pastindependently.

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