Crimes against family rights under the Criminal Code of 1903 of the Russian Empire. A look into the past through the prism of modernity

The research presented in the article is aimed at identifying the prerequisites for establishing responsibility for committing criminal acts against family rights, as well as the features of this responsibility under the Criminal Code of the Russian Empire in 1903. The methodological basis of the study was the principles of the dialectical method of cognition (objectivity and comprehensiveness of the object of study, historicism, universal connection of phenomena, consistency). In the course of the research, general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, description, comparison, generalization, structuring, analogy) and private scientific methods (historical-legal, comparative-legal, sociological, legal modeling, legal forecasting) were used. The article outlines the vector of transformation of modern views of Western civilization (under the significant influence of which post-Soviet Russia has been for a long time) on family relations, marriage and their role in society. The thesis is put forward that the interest in the past, the choice of certain topics for research, this or that assessment of long-standing events are largely determined by the present in which researchers are staying, as well as the expected future. In the form of a brief historical digression, foreign (Western European) and domestic legal ideas about the tasks and boundaries of the criminal law protection of family relations in the period preceding the adoption of the Criminal Code of 1903 are presented and compared with each other. It is indicated what the developers of this Code were guided by when designing the relevant norms. An overview of the components of criminal acts against the rights of family members according to this legal act is given, and a classification of the corresponding encroachments is presented. Based on the results of the comparative legal analysis, the main differences between the Criminal Code of 1903 and the previous codified criminal law act (the Code on Criminal and Correctional Punishments as amended in 1885) in matters of responsibility for committing criminal acts against the rights of the family are formulated. The generic object of such encroachments is revealed, and it is shown to what extent religious interests and values acted as an additional object when committing the acts under consideration provided for in both of these statutes. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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