«Pastoral works» in the memories of A.F. Koni: problems of freedom of conscience in the Russian Empire on the eve of the First russian revolution

This publication examines the unexplored topic of the Senate jurisprudence regarding the legal status of Lutheran priests in the Baltic States at the end of the XIX century. The author defines the significance of the policy of state pressure on Protestant pastors in the context of the general attack of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Synod on non-Orthodox religious organizations under K. Pobedonostsev. Consideration of the issue from the position of the higher court of the Empire has not previously been undertaken in the scientific literature. During the preparation of the work, mainly narrative material was used the memoirs of the Chief Prosecutor of the Senate. Due to the small number of cases and the semi-secret nature, the materials of the Senate were not particularly reflected in the collections of decisions and sentences. The problem-chronological approach was applied to study this subject. As a result, the reasons of the weak pressure on Protestant pastors the author associates with the deep rootedness of Lutheranism in the popular environment, the brutal activity of the police and the church, fears of a quarrel with the Lutheran countries of Europe, etc. Few sentences against pastors who seduced the Orthodox into another faith reached the Criminal Cassation Department of the Senate, where they met with resistance a group of senators led by the famous lawyer, humanist A.F. Koni. Among the numerous schismatic and sectarian affairs that A.F. Koni, as chief prosecutor and senator, draw attention to the so-called pastoral affairs, which have not been sufficiently researched in the domestic scientific literature, and yet they well illustrate the church-state policy of the Russian state on the outskirts of the empire on the eve of the first Russian revolution. The author concludes that pastoral affairs are interesting not only from the point of view of the struggle of Russian infidels and the domestic educated intelligentsia for freedom of conscience in Russia, but they also allow to look from the inside at the work of the bureaucratic apparatus of the empire, to understand the work (internal kitchen) of the Governing Senate: internal intrigues, the indirect influence of the monarch and the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod on senators and, accordingly, the decision on religious matters, informal consultations of the Minister of Justice with the chief prosecutor of the criminal cassation department (probing the atmosphere in the case, including through an intermediary), the selection of a senator-rapporteur on a particular important case, etc. Thanks to A.F. Koni, attempts to persecute pastors did not develop, and after 1900 the persecution of priests on religious grounds in the Baltics stopped. The subject is interesting and requires further development and study.

ALEXANDER GOLITSYN 'S ACTIVITIES BASED ON MATERISALS OF RUSSIAN STATE HISTORICAL ARCHIVES

The article examines some little-studied documents devoted to the state activities of the prince, the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, the minister of public education and spiritual affairs, the chief of the postal department A.N. Golitsyn (1773-1844). A brief historiographic review is given in connection with the examination of documentary materials of the Russian State Historical Archive, which are related to the administrative-charitable, administrative-religious and state aspects of A.N. Golitsyn’s activities. The prince was one of the most famous and controversial statesmen of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century, which means that it is important to update his documentary heritage. The figure of A.N. Golitsyn, who have already gained popularity in Russian fiction in the second half of XIX century, is still being actively studied by Russian and foreign scholars both in the traditional «source-studying» context and the «new imperial history» approach. Since the documentary basis, related to the activities of the prince, is stored in various Russian scientific and archival institutions, the article attempts to give a general description of some documents from the founds of the Russian State Historical Archive, revealing the significance of A.N. Golitsyn outside his activities as the chief of the postal department, Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod and Minister of Public Education.

Creeping authoritarianism is a real risk in Tunisia

Significance He did not name a new prime minister. Over July 25-26, Saied dismissed Prime Minister Hicham Mechichi, dissolved his government, suspended parliament for 30 days, lifted parliamentary immunity and declared himself chief prosecutor, triggering Tunisia’s worst political crisis in a decade. Impacts The Ennahda party could be persecuted once again, this time on corruption charges, as the reconciliation offered excludes its members. Tunisia may become a new ideological battleground, pitting Turkey and Qatar against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The EU, the United States and Algeria have some influence on Tunisia and could perhaps play a moderating role.

Bulgarian chief prosecutor faces dismissal

Headline BULGARIA: Chief prosecutor faces dismissal

Erdogan may forestall deterioration with 2021 election

Significance He also withdrew Turkey from a convention protecting women and sexual minorities, while the chief prosecutor filed a case to close the main Kurdish opposition party. These back-to-back moves caused shock waves at home and abroad, further tarnishing Turkey’s international image. Impacts The loss of investor confidence in the government’s handling of the economy will be profound and lasting, pushing it deeper into crisis. The government’s openly anti-feminist, anti-LGBT stance may contribute to further violence and abuse against women and sexual minorities. Fresh protests are likely and could turn violent, especially in the Kurdish provinces, where repression will be heavy-handed. Western responses will be limited, given Turkey’s importance: as a NATO member; in controlling EU migration; and for US Middle East policy.

Boris Vladimirovich Zalessky (1887—1966): Unknown Pages of the Biography of the Scientist

New biographical data about the Russian scientist-geologist, specialist in the field of petrography B. V. Zalessky are identified and specified. The links in the history of the Zalessky (Zalesky) family, which belonged to the hereditary nobility of the Kazan province, who had estates in the Vyatka, Kazan and Kostroma provinces, are being restored. Verified information about the closest relatives of B. V. Zalessky is provided: his great-grandfather — the honorary caretaker of the Yaransky district school P.A. Zalessky; grandfather — a member of the city council of Kazan, comrade of the mayor and acting mayor N. P. Zalessky; father — the prosecutor of the Vyatka, then the Kazan district court, later the assistant to the chief prosecutor of the Criminal Cassation Department of the Government Senate V. N. Zalessky (erroneously presented in the works of a number of researchers as “Zalsky”), etc. The characteristic of the personality, scientific activity and social circle of B. V. Zalessky is given. His relations with famous figures of Russian science and culture — M. M. Bakhtin, the Florensky family are considered. Scattered information contained in various sources — unpublished (archival) and published (scientific articles and monographs, memoirs and epistolary sources, documentary prose, reference and encyclopedic literature and Internet publications) is collected and generalized.

The investigator as an independent subject of criminal prosecution in cases of terrorist crimes

This article aims to study the theory and practice of criminal prosecution of terrorist crimes in the Russian Federation. Most of the scientific work is mainly devoted to the study of criminal law and the criminological aspects of the fight against such criminal activities. It is therefore of particular importance to identify the problems of legal regulation of the investigator's activities in order to prosecute criminal offences and develop proposals for their optimal resolution. Cognitionic methods include: an anthropological, synthesis, statistics, partner, particular, systemic structural, legal modeling. In the Russian federation the prosecutor has judicial supervision in the criminal proceedings. Everything concludes that Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 87-87-05.06.2007 redistributed control of the criminal proceedings by the investigator of the corporation a series of substantive rights of the chief prosecutor of the investigating body. In this sense, the optimal proportion of departmental control and tax supervision of the investigator, such as the establishment of a reasonable balance of these powers of control and supervision, increases the effectiveness of criminal prosecution of terrorism offences.

The United States, the International Criminal Court, and Afghanistan: The Rupturing of Mutual Accommodation

In September 2018, then U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton delivered a speech that ushered in a new, more aggressive era of U.S. foreign policy vis-à-vis the International Criminal Court (icc). Washington’s disapprobation over the icc’s interest in the alleged crimes of U.S. personnel in Afghanistan has been seen as the cause for this change. While this is certainly partly true, little attention has been paid to Fatou Bensouda’s prosecutorial behaviour as an explanatory factor. Using the framework from David Bosco’s Rough Justice, this article demonstrates that a distinct shift in prosecutorial behaviour occurred when Fatou Bensouda took over as Chief Prosecutor. In contrast to Luis Moreno Ocampo’s strategic approach, avoidant of U.S. interests, Bensouda’s apolitical approach directly challenged the U.S. This shift in prosecutorial behaviour ruptured the ‘mutual accommodation’ that previously characterised the icc-U.S. relationship and, in turn, produced the shift in U.S. policy that now marginalises the Court.