Improving the elements of criminal liability for commercial bribery during the formation of the Russian centralized state and in the era of the Russian empire

The article considers the improvement of elements of domestic legislation on commercial bribery (in the context of bribery) during the formation of the Russian centralized state and in the era of the Russian Empire. The author consistently analyzes the norms concerning the topic under study contained in the Russian Pravda, Pskov and Novgorod judicial charters, the court books of the 15th-16th centuries, the Stoglav and the Cathedral Code. The article ends with a review of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire and the Regulations on Criminal and Correctional Punishments, the results are summed up.