5 - Citizens and the state: the debate over the Procuracy

Summary

Today there is law and order in everything. You cannot beat someone for no reason. If you do beat someone, it must be for the sake of order.

Maxim Gorky, The Lower Depths (1903)

A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.

Joseph Stalin, 1879–1953

A fundamental component of reform of the Russian legal system is redefining the status of individual citizens vis-à-vis the state. As we have noted, since ancient times, state authority has ruled supreme in Russia and was only marginally restricted by the power of law, the courts, or constitutions. Indicative of the state-centric conception of legal authority is the predominant role played by the Procuracy in the Russian legal system. In recent years, political pressures unleashed by the policies of glasnost, perestroika, and democratization have, however, posed a serious challenge to the role of the Procuracy. In the wake of the attempted August 1991 coup d'état, and the fragmentation of central organs of authority of the former USSR, the future role of the prosecutor's office in the Russian legal system is a hotly debated issue. At the heart of the debate is the question whether (or how) the rights and interests of citizens should be enhanced and the powers of the state curtailed.

History of the Procuracy

The Procuracy dates back to 1722, when Peter the Great created the post of procurator-general, subordinate to the Imperial Senate.