Georgievskiy, E.V. Property as an object of protection in the criminal law of the ancient Russia

Abstract: In the ancient Russian criminal law property was one of the most important object of protection under criminal law. The encroachment upon property is recognized as criminal in almost all of the ancient Russian law, including the treaties between Russia and Byzantine Empire, the Russian Truth, the Pskov and Novgorod Judicial Charters, the treaties of the Russian cities with the Germans. The ancient Russian legislator gives detailed provisions on characteristic features of victims, objects of criminal encroachments and methods of crimes against property, which included not only theft and unlawful use of property belonging to other persons, but also destruction and harming of property. Such attention to characteristic features to object and objective elements of crime facilitated the formation of the optimal mechanism for the differentiation of the criminal responsibility of persons found guilty of such crimes. The presence or absence of property defined many vital issues for the ancient Russian people. These issues included the social stratification and legal self- Identification of person in the ancient Russian state. That is why encroachments on property were severely punished in the criminal law of the ancient Russia, and the punishment could be capital. Modern ideas on object and system of the judicial expertology.

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