Pension Provision for Judges in the Russian Empire
Authors:   Volga Branch, Russian State University of Justice, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russian Federation, Toropkin Sergey A. 
Published: December 2021

Introduction. Pension provision is one of the institutions which ensure the implementation of the principle of independence and impartiality of judges. The reform of the modern judicial institutions should take into account the accumulated historical experience of creating and developing both state and non-state pension mechanisms. The analysis of the genesis of pension legal relations in autocratic Russia allows us to understand the essence and purpose of modern institutions of post-service provision for judges, as well as to obtain a scientific basis for the ongoing transformations of the pension system as a whole. Theoretical Basis. Methods. The purpose of the research is to identify patterns and factors of creation and development of pension institutions for judicial employees in autocratic Russia. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were investigated: an analysis of the causes of the emergence and transformation of state pension institutions for Russian judges in the period from the XVII to the beginning of the XX centuries, the study of the system of emerital pensions of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Empire, other non-state methods of pension provision, and the determination of functional characteristics of pensions of judicial employees in the specified period. In the course of the research a dialectical method of scientific knowledge was used, from the standpoint of which the reforms of the pension system and related legal norms were considered comprehensively, in development, interrelation and interaction with other phenomena of social and political life. General scientific (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, analogy, system- structural, functional, etc.) and specific scientific (formal-legal, comparative law, philological) methods were based on the dialectical method. Results. As a result of the research, the following conclusions were made: the pension system as a form of post-service provision for judges gradually replaced the system of feedings and estates as the rewards for service. Starting with one-time appointments of pensions personally by the monarch, the pension system gradually began to cover all civil servants. At the same time, seniority pensions in the autocracy could be received not only by judges, but also by other employees of the court apparatus. Additional pension guarantees for judicial employees appeared after the creation of the emerital Fund of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Empire, as well as The Committee for the Charity of Honoured Civil Servants. Pensions in autocratic Russia had a broad function, including stimulating long-term honest service and preventing corrupt behavior. Discussion and Conclusion. State pension provision in Russia has always been an important element in the system of other legal incentives attracting the most talented lawyers to work in the courts. Of all forms of material security for judges, pension provision is the most conducive to conscientious public service of a judge as it is a kind of reward, a goal which can only be achieved through a long period of faithful service.