FORMATION AND REFORM OF DOMESTIC CRIMINAL LEGISLATION TO COMBAT SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE: A HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS

Throughout the process of modernizing and improving Russian law, the domestic legal system has repeatedly experienced various difficulties and problems at various historical intervals. This circumstance emphasizes the relevance and justifies the necessity and significance of studying historical experience, allowing its application in the development of modern legislation. For these reasons, this research comprehensively examines and analyzes problematic aspects related to the evolution and reform of domestic legislative norms aimed at combating human trafficking. In the course of the study, the author defines, delineates, and characterizes the historical stages in the development of the norms of the analyzed legislation. In particular, it characterizes the legal mechanisms used by government bodies aimed at combating this criminal manifestation in various periods of Russian history. In the course of this research, the author convincingly demonstrated that the norms of domestic criminal law in this area, over several centuries of the pre-revolutionary period, were aimed both at ensuring personal rights and freedoms and at protecting the moral principles of Russian society. In conclusion, the author concludes that throughout the various historical periods of the development of domestic legislation aimed at combating the slave trade, processes aimed at finding guilty and applying penalties against individuals committing criminal acts in this area continued. The author focuses on an important circumstance: namely, that, beginning with the first domestic legislative provisions, criminal law norms were aimed not only at ensuring personal rights and freedoms but also at protecting the moral foundations of citizens.