Deprivation of liberty as the main type of criminal punishment in the Russian legislation in the pre-revolutionary period

Introduction. Imprisonment as a form of punishment in Russia has a rich history. For several centuries it was regarded as a popular and universal means of fighting crime. In practice not all types of criminal penalties, but only a small part of them which, unfortunately, do not always achieve their goals, which in accordance with art. 43 of the criminal code are to restore social justice, correction of the convict and prevention of new crimes. In this regard, the purpose of the research is consideration of processes of formation and evolution of the institution of execution of imprisonment penalty. Methods. We used such methods of scientific knowledge as analysis, synthesis, formal-legal and historical. The author comprehensively addresses the causes and characteristics of the practical application of the basic form of criminal punishment in pre-revolutionary Russia - the deprivation of liberty. The article convincingly and consistently reveals the legal regulation of execution of punishment in form of imprisonment from the period of Tsarist Russia and ending with the beginning of the 20th century. Conclusions. The article considers evolution of development of such type of punishment as imprisonment in the modern age in the Russian criminal law. A wide range of literary sources and legal acts are analyzed and reviewed.