Development of views on the appropriation of property found in Russian criminal law before 1917: analysis of legislation

Introduction: The article reveals the issues related to the legal regulation of criminal liability for misappropriation of finds in the legislation of Russia from ancient times up to 1917. On the basis of the analysis of published normative-legal documents and literature, the way that the domestic legislator passed when solving the problem of criminality and punishability of the considered tort is demonstrated. It is noted that, despite the centuries-old practice, at the last stage of the period under consideration, the domestic criminal law fundamentally changed the vector of assessment of misappropriation of finds, which was reflected in the legislation of the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries.