
The daughter of Peter the Great, Empress Elizabeth of Russia (1741-1761), upon ascending to the throne, attempted to amend the Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from 1649 (Sobornoye Ulozheniye) and her father’s legislation. She introduced a moratorium on the death penalty, defined the age of juvenile offenders, and established rules for their accountability for committed acts. In 1754, she established a Codification Commission, which presented a draft of the new Russian Criminal Code. The paper analyzes the humanization of criminal law in this period.