Features of organization and activity of courts and bar in Irkutsk province in the 20s of the XX century

Introduction. Five years after the October Revolution of 1917, the need to eliminate the revolutionary courts and to create a new judicial system was formed. At the same time, the problem of financing the judicial system and selecting professional personnel for working in courts of various levels remained. In 1922, the advocacy started to take shape, but was still under the close supervision of the authorities. Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the work is the dialectical method of cognition, which made it possible to trace the interrelationships between various facts and events. The analysis of statistical information in conjunction with the historical method of research revealed a clear vision of the functioning of the judicial system in Irkutsk province in 1921-1926. The results of the study outlined the problems of judicial reform in the 1920s of the XXth century. By the example of the courts of Irkutsk province the problem of dependence of the courts’ activity on the Party and political situation in the country is demonstrated. The problem of low qualification of court employees in combination with heavy workload of criminal and especially civil cases is also reflected. The issue of formation of state arbitration in Irkutsk is touched upon. The formation of a new judicial system was a logical and necessary step after the stabilisation of the political situation in the country and in connection with the changeover to the New Economic Policy. Simultaneously with the formation of the court system, the legal profession developed in the form of collegiums of defence counsel at the courts, but both the court and the collegiums were still under the influence of the Party and Soviet power.