Arson as a criminal act during the formation of the Russian centralized state

Abstract

The analysis of one of the most dangerous criminal offenses of the period of the formation of the Russian centralized state (the end of the XIII – beginning of the XVI centuries) – arson is carried out. Russian Russian legislation development slowdown in the Horde period was objective and did not contribute to the improvement of criminal law, laid down in the first legislative monuments of Ancient Russia – Russkaya Pravda and its derivatives. The formation of a Russian centralized state opens a new page in the development of domestic law. In the conditions of feudal fragmentation, a variety of legal regulation has developed, regional legal acts have appeared (Pskov, Dvinskaya and Belozersk court certificates). Centralization required the creation of uniform legal norms and laws, which was reflected in the Judicial Regulations of this period, the analysis of the provisions of which allows you to see of legal principles for cities and their absence for forests and fields. Attention is drawn to the increase in the number of arson attacks due to the social stratification and enslavement of peasants, who have chosen the form of struggle against feudal lords, the arson of their estates. Turning to the study of historical legal experience allows us to recreate a more complete and objective picture of the formation and development of Russian legislation, including such a phenomenon as arson.