Features of criminal proceedings according to the judicial reform of 1864

For a long time in monarchical Russia, criminal proceedings were not adversarial and were based on formal evidence, which allowed the prosecution to easily bring the case to a guilty verdict. The situation began to change in the 19th century. At first, within the framework of the well-known systematization of Russian legislation, a block of norms "On legal proceedings for crimes" was identified in the fifteenth volume of the Code of Laws of the Russian Federation, where some, still very small, provisions were introduced that expanded the powers of the parties to the process. And the judicial reform of 1864 changed the situation dramatically, in particular, the institution of advocacy was introduced, the processes received unusually wide openness to society, the status of the parties to the criminal process was streamlined. The article provides an overview of the most indicated and other significant changes that were reflected in the adopted fundamental criminal procedural law - the Charter of Criminal Procedure. At the same time, the changes of the liberal current should not be overestimated - Russia remained an absolutist state, and the judicial system, with all the liberal changes, was under the control of the highest authority in the person of the emperor and other persons occupying leading positions of power in the state apparatus.