The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation as Successor to the Supreme Court of the RSFSR: Historical and Legal Aspects

A democratic legal state is featured by a judicial system capable of effectively protecting the interests of citizens and organizations. In historical and legal studies, it is crucial to study how its main institutions were formed and developed. The study seeks to define the peculiarities of the legal and organizational foundations underlying the RSFSR Supreme Court’s creation and its subsequent development in modern Russia. This goal can only be reached by completing the following tasks:

– To provide an overview of the historical and legal aspects of the activities of the domestic higher courts;

– To describe the legal acts governing the structure of the highest judicial instance, both in the RSFSR and in modern Russia;

– To explore how the competencies of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation have been evolved.

This study analyzes the activities of the highest judicial bodies using a structural and functional approach; the historical and legal method and the analysis method are used to determine the scope of the highest courts’ authority and their significance at different stages of development. Through the analysis of the legal framework, a legal assessment is given to the activities of the Supreme Court of the RSFSR, and it is also concluded that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is its successor, since both courts in different historical eras were the highest judicial instance, whose function was to supervise lower courts and ensure uniformity of judicial practice.