| Abstract: | In 2015, Russia's judicial system saw a marked expansion in the repressive activity of the law enforcement bodies. For the first time in many years, there was a significant rise in the frequency of sentences involving imprisonment, while standards of proof in the Russian courts declined. The judiciary tried to compensate for its inability to resist pressure from the law enforcement bodies through the unprecedented application of amnesty in court verdicts. Sporadically declared amnesties have become almost the only thing protecting the Russian penal system from overcrowding. |
