Drunkenness and Offenses in the Russian Empire during the Reign of Anna Ioannovna

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the law enforcement practice in Russia in the 1730s with regards to the recognition of alcohol intoxication as an aggravating factor in a crime, which emerged in the military legislation of the first quarter of the 18th century in connection with the need to discipline the soldiers of the regular army. The review of the historiography demonstrates a significant number of monographs and articles covering various aspects of the history of the production, distribution, and consumption of alcohol in Russia. Moreover, there are different points of view on the enforcement of military codes in the legal practice of authorities. However, none of the scholars has attempted to research to what extent norms of military law were enforced in civil courts. The aim of the study was to identify how the courts approached cases in which the accused were charged with committing an offense while intoxicated. The research was based on primary sources of the late 1720s–1730s from the office of Kungur voivodeship and the court and administration of Ekaterinburg. The author concludes that were differences in the perception of the degree of importance of a particular case. Mostly they were treated as cases of dishonor. Torture aimed at establishing whether the offender was drunk at the time of the crime was carried out only in cases of murder, in accordance with the provisions of the Council Code. The verdict on them was also based on the norms of the Council Code.

Keywords:

Russian Empire, legal history, 18th century, the Council Code, the military regulations, judicial proceedings, drunkenness