overstepped the bounds of its legal authority, the injured party may
make an application to have the case revised and tried again.* This is
not, according to French juridical conceptions, an appeal. The Court of
Revision** (Cour de Cassation) does not enter into the material facts
of the case, but merely decides the question as to whether the essential
formalities have been duly observed, and as to whether the law has been
properly interpreted and applied; and if it be found on examination that
there is some ground for invalidating the decision, it does not decide
the case. According to the new Russian system, the sole Court of
Revision is the Senate.

* This is the procedure referred to by Karl Karl'itch, vide
supra, p 37.

** I am quite aware that the term "Court of Revision" is
equivocal, but I have no better term to propose, and I hope
the above explanations will prevent confusion.

The Senate thus forms the regulator of the whole judicial system, but
its action is merely regulative. It takes cognisance only of what is
presented to it, and supplies to the machine no motive power. If any
of the lower courts should work slowly or cease to work altogether, the
Senate might remain ignorant of the fact, and certainly could take
no official notice of it. It was considered necessary, therefore, to
supplement the spontaneous vitality of the lower courts, and for this
purpose was created a special centralised judicial administration, at
the head of which was placed the Minister of Justice. The Minister is
"Procureur-General," and has subordinates in all the courts. The primary
function of this administration is to preserve the force of the law,
to detect and repair all infractions of judicial order, to defend
the interests of the State and of those persons who are officially
recognised as incapable of taking charge of their own affairs, and to
act in criminal matters as Public Prosecutor.

Viewed as a whole, and from a little distance, this grand judicial
edifice seems perfectly symmetrical, but a closer and more minute
inspection brings to light unmistakable indications of a change of plan
during the process of construction. Though the work lasted only about
half-a-dozen years, the style of the upper differs from the style of
the lower parts, precisely as in those Gothic cathedrals which grew up
slowly during the course of centuries. And there is nothing here that
need surprise us, for a consid