Changing the Jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace Over Civil Cases

The article reviews the process of changing the jurisdiction of justices of the peace over civil cases that has been taking place for the last twenty years. The goal is to determine criteria used to establish jurisdiction and criteria applied to change it. The author analyzes the jurisdiction of justices of the peace under the Statute of Civil Procedure, the initial jurisdiction of justices of the peace in the Russian Federation. A conclusion is made that the jurisdiction of justices of the peace is changed at random to lower the burden on them. However, random changing the jurisdiction of justices of the peace does not facilitate the achievement of goals of justice and the judicial reform, thus, one needs to target factors that increase the burden on justices of the peace. The paper gives recommendations for the establishment of the jurisdiction of justices of the peace in the future.