The Supreme Court of the RSFSR as a Court of First Instance

Abstract

The establishment of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR is connected with the unification of the judicial system, the renewal of the legal system and the first codification of republican legislation, due to the proclamation of a new economic policy and strict implementation of the principle of legality in all spheres of public life. In this regard, the Supreme Court of the RSFSR was entrusted with the most important function of ensuring the implementation of the principle of legality in the law enforcement activities of the republican courts. It was implemented through the consideration of cases by way of appeal in cassation and review of cases in a supervisory manner, through judicial explanations, interpretation of law, as well as a result of the reclamation of any cases that are in the proceedings of other courts of the Republic. The paper examines the little-studied practice of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR as a court of first instance. The material and procedural law of the Soviet period is analyzed to determine the categories of cases within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR in the first instance. The first procedural codes (Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure of 1923) outlined the judicial activity of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR as the first instance in both civil and criminal cases. In this regard, it is stated both the generic jurisdiction of cases, due, in particular, to counter-revolutionary, economic or official crimes, and exceptional, determined by cases of national importance. In the future, during the period of updating legislation dictated by the new codification of law, only exclusive jurisdiction is noted in the activities of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR, predetermined by cases of special complexity or special social significance, including those related to encroachment on state and ideological interests. The political resonance that accompanied the consideration of such cases ensured the achievement of the preventive goal of the «show trial».