The King's Russia Institute is pleased to invite you to a discussion of:

Criminal Justice and Regime Stability in Russia
with 
Ella Paneyakh Institute for the Rule of Law, European University at St. Petersburg (Russia)

Criminal justice in Russia is a core source of regime stability, and of inefficiency of the Russian Government at the same time. The Russian criminal justice system is dominated by law enforcement agencies, with the Procuracy (federal hierarchy of Prosecutors’ offices) as a core player that mediates an unequal power play between police and courts. Russian law enforcement agencies combine Soviet governmentality with a high degree of bureaucratic autonomy, which shields them not only from civil society, but also from reforms undertaken by Kremlin. While open for manipulation from above in selected politically sensitive criminal cases, the Russian police successfully overcome attempts to humanize and modernize its practices, and to improve the business climate. Instead, it expands its operations, driven by external practices of statistical oversight and, partially, a search for power on the local level. With courts mostly on their side, police officers primarily need to take into account their own superior’s legal consciousness, as well as their time and workload considerations, when deciding whether to open a case. 

While lay citizens are practically helpless against unfair criminal prosecution, employees of state agencies (as well as entrepreneurs) respond by creating internal rules and workplace routines that make prosecuting them for white collar crimes costlier in terms of time and effort. The law enforcement agencies thus project their internal governance practices and general governmentality over other branches of state. This leads to the overregulation of Russian governance on all levels. Avoiding the risks of criminal prosecution and the need to shield executives from responsibility are primary drivers for bureaucratization of all processes within the Russian government, and, consequently, business. At the same time, this domination creates invisible checks and balances that help sustain regime stability beyond the fear of political prosecution, by suppressing independent activity and upholding loyalty within elites and state apparatus as a whole.