Revolutionary tribunals (commonly abbreviated as revtribunals, ) in

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

were established soon after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

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 singl ...

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 has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

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, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

and other abuses by merchants, industrialists,

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

s and others". The term was borrowed from the

Revolutionary Tribunal The Revolutionary Tribunal (; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. In October 1793, it became one of the most powerful engines of ...

of the French Revolution. The first trial was that of

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

functionary Sofia Panina. When the

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

(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

Revolutionary Military Council The Revolutionary Military Council (), sometimes called the Revolutionary War Council Brian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Raskolnikov s "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin." or ''Revvoyensoviet'' (), was the supreme military authority of Soviet Rus ...

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 and Semyon Aralov. 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 Organizations of the Russian Revolution Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Law enforcement in the Soviet Union 1917 establishments in Russia 1922 disestablishments in Russia Courts and tribunals disestablished in the 1920s Courts and tribunals established in 1917 Legal history of Russia

History

See also

References