Revolutionary tribunals (commonly abbreviated as revtribunals) in

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

were established soon after the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

by the Soviet "Decree of the Soviet of Peoples' Commissars Concerning the Courts No. 1" ("Декрет о суде № 1") of November 22 ( N.S.: December 5), 1917.

History

The 1917 decree proclaimed that the workers' and peasants' revolutionary

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...

s were established "for the purpose of the struggle against

counter-revolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

forces and defend the revolution, as well as to struggle against marauders, and profiteers,

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

and other abuses by merchants, industrialists,

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

s and others". The term was borrowed from the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (french: Tribunal révolutionnaire; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. It eventually became one of the ...

of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. The first trial was that of

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

functionary

Sofia Panina Countess Sofia Vladimirovna Panina (Russian: Софья Владимировна Панина; 23 August 1871 – 16 June 1956) was Vice Minister of State Welfare and Vice Minister of Education in the Provisional Government following the Russian F ...

. When the

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...

(Extraordinary Commission) was established in the next month, its functions included handing accused persons over to revtribunals. On September 2, 1918, on the basis of a resolution of the

All-Russian Central Executive Committee The All-Russian Central Executive Committee ( rus, Всероссийский Центральный Исполнительный Комитет, Vserossiysky Centralny Ispolnitelny Komitet, VTsIK) was the highest legislative, administrative and r ...

, the

Revolutionary Military Council The Revolutionary Military Council (russian: Революционный Военный Совет, Revolyutsionny Voyenny Sovyet, Revolutionary Military Council), sometimes called the Revolutionary War CouncilBrian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Ra ...

of the Republic was established , which on October 14, 1918, issued order No. 94, clause 11 of which read: “To form a Military-Revolutionary Tribunal under the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic". The Chairman of the Tribunal was Julius Daniševskis and members

Konstantin Mekhonoshin Konstantin Aleksandrovich Mekhonoshin (russian: Константин Александрович Мехоношин; 7 May, 1938) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet military figure and politician. Life and career He was born in the se ...

and

Semyon Aralov Semyon Ivanovich Aralov (russian: Семён Иванович Аралов; 18 December 1880 – 22 May 1969) was a Russian revolutionary, military commander and Soviet statesman who served as the first head of the Soviet Red Army Intelligence Dir ...

. Later the "Statute of Revolutionary Tribunals" of April 12, 1919, established the precedence of revtribunals over people's courts and gave them unrestricted rights to set the measure of prosecution. On October 21, 1919, the Special Revolutionary Tribunal was established within the

to consider "grave cases of profiteering, bribery and abuse of office (должностные преступления)". As the decree said, "in its considerations, the Special Revolutionary Tribunal follows the interests of the revolution and is not bound by and forms of legal proceedings."Yu.P.Titov, "Establishment of the System of Soviet Revolutionary Tribunals" («Создание системы советских революционных трибуналов»). Moscow, 1983

References

{{reflist Russian Revolution Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Soviet law

History

See also

References