History of the Public Prosecution Office of the Murmansk Region

The first Public Prosecution Office in Russia was established during the epoch of Peter the Great. With his firm hand, the Emperor reformed the structure of state authorities. The Council of Boyars was replaced with the Ruling Senate. Some mandates remained but most were substituted with so-called collegia. Regular army and police were established. Old members of local governments were replaced with new ones. The legislation of Russia was developing actively: in the 1st half of the 18th century, on average 160 new decrees were published annually. Peter the Great realized it was essential to establish a public authority possessing the powers to control and supervise execution of laws and in some respects, stand above the supreme governing body, the Ruling Senate. The Public Prosecution Office established in accordance with the Emperor's order dated January 12th, 1722 became such an authority. The order stated, "The Senate shall include a General Prosecutor and a Chief Prosecutor as well as any prosecuting collegium reporting to the General Prosecutor". The establisher defined the role of the public prosecutor by the following words, "This official shall be like an eye for us". The first General Prosecutor was P.I. Yaguzhinsky - a general-in-chief and a diplomat, a companion of all the highest orders of the Russian Empire.

With time, the functions of the Prosecution Office changed, especially after the court reform in 1864. During certain periods, the General Prosecutor was not only acting as the guardian of law but also the minister of finance, the minister of home affairs and so on. The only thing that remained permanent was that the Prosecution Office was always supervising the execution of Russian laws and fighting against criminal infringements.

After the Civil War and up till 1922, there was no Public Prosecution Office in Russia.
However, the new republic could not exist in isolation from the rest of the world. As the first diplomatic connections were established, a need emerged to somehow be regarded as a state by the international community. With respect to this, the 3rd session of the All-Russian State Executive Committee held on May 28th, 1922 resolved to establish a new Public Prosecution Office.

On August 25th, 1922 the presidium of the Murmansk municipal executive committee resolved to establish a Public Prosecution Office in the Murmansk Province. The next day, the first Public Prosecutor of the Province Andrey Ivanovich Ivanov issued his first order. In the next few years, the Prosecution Office of the Province consisted of only 2 officers. In 1926, the number of staff increased to 4 people.

In September 1927 when the Murmansk Province became the Murmansk District, the relevant prosecution authority was reorganized as a District Prosecution Office subordinated to the Public Prosecution Office of the Leningrad Region. Grigory Vasilyevich Sirotkin was appointed the first District Prosecutor.

The Murmansk Region was established on May 28th, 1938 in accordance with the order issued by the All-Russian State Executive Committee and therefore, the District Prosecution Office was transformed into a Regional Prosecution Office. The first Public Prosecutor in the Region was Alexey Mikhaylovich Vlasov.

In the 30?s, due to the rapid economic development of the Kola peninsula, new populated areas appeared in the Russian part of polar regions with Soviet government authorities.
The first regional Public Prosecution Office in the District was established in March 1931 in Khibinogorsk (today known as Kirovsk). Then in 1933, Prosecution Offices were established in the Tersky and Teribersky Districts followed by an office in the Kola-Loparsky District 2 years later and another office in the Polyarny District in 1936. Due to the rapid industrial development, the Monchegorsky District gained its independence in 1938 and the Prosecution Office Branch established in Monchegorsk one year earlier was transformed into a District Prosecution Office.

In 1938, Public Prosecution Offices were established in the Saamsky and Lovozersky Districts. The same year, the Kandalakshsky District separated from Karelia and joined the Murmansk Region and therefore, the relevant District Prosecution Office with all its employees became subordinated to the Prosecution Office of the Murmansk Region.
The first municipal Prosecution Office in Murmansk was established in 1938 but one year later due to the division of the city into regions, the municipal Office was replaced with three regional Prosecution Offices. In the following years, the structure of prosecution authorities in Murmansk changed several times: regional offices were united into one municipal office and vice versa. At present, each District of Murmansk has its own District Prosecution Office. The municipal Prosecution Office of Murmansk was abolished.

In 1944-1955, there were 2 independent offices in Kandalaksha ? the municipal and the district prosecution offices. In 1949, both offices of the Kandalakshsky District were eliminated. In the 40?s, the town of Polyarny and the Polyarny District had two independent Prosecution Offices as well.

Due to the abolition of the Teribersky and Polyarny Districts in 1960 as well as the Saamsky District in 1963, the relevant Prosecution Offices were dismissed.

At the same time, new Prosecution Offices were established. In 1945, the Prosecution Office of the Pechengsky District was established followed by the Prosecution Office of Severomorsk in 1951, the Prosecution Office of Apatity in 1966, the Prosecution Office of the Kovdorsky District in 1979, and the Prosecution Office of Olenegorsk in 1982.
At the moment, there are 3 district (Murmansk), 6 municipal, 5 regional, and 3 specialized prosecution offices (supervision over the execution of laws at special secure facilities, supervision over the execution of laws at correctional facilities, and the Murmansk Interregional Nature Protection Prosecution Office) in the Murmansk Region.

At present, public prosecution authorities do not only supervise the uniform execution of laws within their respective subordinate areas but also represent one single centralized system whose functioning is based on subordination of lower-level prosecutors to higher-level officers and the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation independent of federal executive authorities, public authorities of subjects of the Russian Federation, local governing bodies, political parties and unions. Without substituting the administration and control authorities or interfering with the business activities of enterprises, institutions, and organizations, the Public Prosecution Office performs its activities within the relevant scope of competence not overlapping with the scope of competence of other state and public institutions.

Among the currently employed officers of the Public Prosecution Office, 2 people have the honorary title of the Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation and 10 more people have been awarded the title of the Honored Public Prosecution Officer. It is a common habit for the employees of the Public Prosecution Office to constantly improve their qualification.
The methods of the Public Prosecution Office involving protection of civil rights practiced in the recent years including criminal procedures signify its new image of a state institution making protection of civil rights its priority target. Approximately 14 thousand people submit written and oral appeals and applications to the Public Prosecution Office annually. Each appeal initiates investigation and every fourth appeal is satisfied.

The Public Prosecution Office of the Murmansk Region is taking consecutive steps to coordinate the activities of law enforcement authorities with respect to counteraction against extremism, terrorism prevention, and struggle against organized crime, corruption, and other socially dangerous acts.