Consideration and sentencing of cases of the murder of a spouse based on archival materials of the Tobolsk province of the early 20th century

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-4-989-1007

For citation

Spichak, Alexandra V. (2025). Consideration and sentencing in cases of the murder of a spouse based on archival materials of the Tobolsk province of the early 20th century, Herald of an Archivist, no. 4, pp. 989-1007, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-4-989-1007

Spichak, Alexandra V., Nizhnevartovsk State University, Nizhnevartovsk, Russia

Consideration and sentencing of cases of the murder of a spouse based on archival materials of the Tobolsk province of the early 20th century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of judicial proceedings as a procedure for resolving criminal cases of deprivation of life of a husband or wife in the early 20th century on the example of the Tobolsk province. The objectives of the study were, firstly, to determine the stages of consideration of such cases, as well as to study the content of the main documents documenting the results of each stage, and secondly, to find out the reasons for the discrepancy between gender equality before the law in terms of the severity of sanctions for certain types of crimes committed against a spouse and the lack of such equality in the choice of types of punishments by the judiciary. For the first time, based on unpublished documents from the State Archive in Tobolsk, the article highlights the following stages of trials of husband and wife murderers: preliminary investigation (interrogation of the suspect and witnesses, medical examination of the victim), preparation of an indictment, drawing up a list of persons summoned to the court session, notifying the accused of the articles imputed to him and the composition of witnesses, serving summonses, registration of documents on the course and results of the court session (minutes, question sheets, resolutions and sentences), receipt of the prisoner's subscription to the court decision. It is concluded that, in general, judicial proceedings on the periphery of the Russian Empire were conducted according to the rules established by the Statute of Criminal Proceedings and did not differ from a similar algorithm in its central part. It was important to determine how the district courts chose the punishment for the type of crime in question, and whether there were differences from the law enforcement practices of the central provinces. According to archival documents, at the beginning of the XX century. The district courts applied quite loyal sanctions to murderous husbands, unlike women who were punished for the same crime, as a rule, to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of their distance from the center of the Russian Empire. The following main causes of gender inequality in court in the early 20th century were identified: the gender composition of judicial institutions (100% of males), the peculiarities of the patriarchal mentality (a certain way of thinking and spiritual attitudes of the population), gender differences in the choice of the method of murder (mainly beatings for men, poisoning and conspiracy for women) and the inability to obtain divorce for reasons of abuse or dislike of a spouse(e). Studying the chosen topic helps to present a more complete picture of the system of choosing punishments and the activities of district courts in the Russian Empire. The results of the study can be used in the revision of modern judicial proceedings on this type of crime, as well as in the improvement of criminal legislation.

Keywords

Marital conflicts, archives, murder, punishment, district court, judicial proceedings, gender inequality, Tobolsk province, source analysis.

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About authors

Spichak, Alexandra V., Candidate of Historical Sciences, Nizhnevartovsk State University, Scientific Research Laboratory for Integrated Research of Social Systems, Senior Researcher, Nizhnevartovsk, Russia, +7-912-530-50-23, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Grant information

The article was prepared with the financial support of the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 22-78-10103 "Marital conflicts, methods of their resolution and prevention in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries. (inter-regional research)", https://www.rscf.ru/project/22-78-10103/

The article was received in the editorial office on 27.12.2024, recommended for publication on 20.06.2024.