Annotation

The article examines the views of Russian conservative thinkers of the second half of the 19th century on the place of judicial power within the system of state governance of the Russian Empire. The main focus is on analyzing the approaches of K. P. Pobedonostsev, L. A. Tikhomirov, and M. N. Katkov to issues of judicial independence, the relationship between the courts and supreme authority, as well as the permissible limits of borrowing Western European legal institutions. The author substantiates the conclusion that within the framework of conservative legal ideology, the judiciary was regarded as a necessary element of the state mechanism; however, its independence was understood as relative and did not extend to its relations with the supreme authority.