The Law Enforcement System and Repressive Penal Measures of White Russia during Civil War

Abstract

The article explores the complex research on the law enforcement system and penal repressive activity in the state structures of “White” Russia during the Civil War. The relevance of such a study is due to the dearth of research into historical and legal science, and this article sheds some light on aspects of the history of the national state and law bypassed by scholars for this historical period. The judicial-investigative and prosecutorial authorities, police, and police structures did not cope well with their duties. The reasons for this were low monetary allowances for judges, judicial investigators and prosecutors, employees of state guards, and policemen in the conditions of galloping inflation; the severity and danger of their official activities in conditions of rapid criminalization of public relations; and the impossibility of proper material support for law enforcement agencies. This led to an acute personnel problem. In addition, in the context of political regimes of military dictatorships, the power-management system was militarized, and law enforcement agencies became, in essence, an appendage of the army, which made their work ineffective. The effectiveness of policing was also hampered by a wide range of functional responsibilities assigned to these structures, which resulted in them failing to meet responsibilities. This forced central and local authorities to turn to army units that carried out “white terror,” as their actions were characterized by brutality, arbitrariness, and lawlessness.