Date of Defense

12-9-2024

Date of Graduation

12-2024

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Gregory Howard

Second Advisor

Agatha Slupek

Abstract

This Project attempts to answer the question: Why did Russia adopt a legal practice that is seemingly inconsistent with its inquisitorial legal history? The Project examines this question through two theses posited by Máximo Langer and applying them to the Russian Federation’s Code of Criminal Procedure (“CCP”) Chapter 40. Chapter 40 of the CCP creates the Special Trial Procedure (“STP”), a summary proceeding allowing the defendant to agree to the charges they face in exchange for a reduced sentence. In inquisitorial legal systems, this sort of proceeding is not meant to occur because they are meant to be predicated on finding the truth; something that is not meant to be negotiated. The first thesis, the Weak Americanization Thesis, attempts to provide a method of analyzing the adoption by arguing that jurisdictions may “translate” inconsistent legal practices into its practice by moving through models. Second, Langer’s Administratization Thesis couches this idea into global trends. This thesis posits that, globally, criminal convictions are increasingly occurring through means other than trial proceedings, whatever that might look like for a given jurisdiction. Together, the theses try to answer the research question and provide a better understanding of changing legal practices in inquisitorial systems. I use these two theses together to examine the above question and to argue that Russia was able to adopt the STP because it engaged in a legal translation of “plea bargaining,” and it did so in a manner consistent with globally observed trends of the same. The analysis utilizes Langer’s conceptualization of the adversarial versus inquisitorial systems and argues that Russia’s STP is within what Langer calls a “cross-roads [sic]” of the models he places within those systems. Therefore, this Project argues that Russia adapted a practice to fit its needs consistent with the Weak Americanization Thesis, and it did so using administratized proceedings which Langer states is becoming increasingly prevalent globally.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

Presentation_Brewer Nathaniel.pdf (305 kB)
Defense Presentation

Included in

Criminology Commons

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