Liability for Unlawful Correction of Justice: Historical Genesis of National Criminal Law

Abstract

The article examines the historical genesis of national criminal legislation in terms of regulating liability for interference with the judiciary. The author analyzes the legal monuments of Kievan Rus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Commonwealth of Poland, the Russian Empire, the Soviet era and independent Ukraine – the current Criminal Code of 2001 and its current draft created in the course of reforming criminal legislation. In the process of developing a model for periodization of criminal law protection of judicial independence and judicial activity in Ukraine, the author proposes to apply a mixed criterion based on the validity, legal force and level of codification of a legal instrument containing criminal law provisions on interference with the activities of judicial bodies, and also takes into account the historical stages of formation of Ukrainian Statehood. The author identifies the stages of development of criminal legislation in this area: Stage I (XI - XV centuries) – the origins of criminal law policy in the field of protection against interference with the activities of judicial authorities and persons entrusted with the administration of justice; Stage II (XVI - XIX centuries) – the formation of criminal law policy in the field of protection against interference with the activities of judicial authorities and persons entrusted with the administration of justice; III stage (early twentieth century - adoption of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in 2001) – fixation of the content of unlawful behavior within the criminal law policy of ensuring protection against interference with the activities of judicial authorities and persons entrusted with the administration of justice, which corresponds to the current provision of Article 376 of the Criminal Code; IV stage (late twentieth century - to the present) – further improvement of the criminal law policy in the area of ensuring protection against interference with the activities of judicial authorities and persons entrusted with the administration of justice.