History of the use and prohibition of torture in Russian criminal legislation

The article examines torture in the history of Russian law in a retrospective aspect. It is established that torture-like institutions had already developed in the times when the legal code Russkaya Pravda was drafted and operated. The author denies that the trial by combat and dunking referred to torture; trial by fire may well be attributed to the forerunner of torture in the true sense of the word. Historical sources of law are analyzed, including the Codes of Law of 1497 and 1550, the Council Code of 1649, Military laws and regulations by Peter the Great of 1715, as well as the legislation of the reigns of Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine II, Alexander I and other legal acts of the 17th-19th centuries, devoted to both the regulation of the use of torture and its prohibition. The reform of criminal legislation in the field of regulating criminal liability for torture, carried out by Federal Law No. 317-FZ of July 14, 2022, is considered separately. While generally commending the legislative changes outlined, the author believes that the torture-related crime system should be expanded through the inclusion of torture in certain corpus delicti.