concept
Examining Magistrate (sudebny sledovatel)
examining magistrate
also: судебный следователь, следователь, исправляющий должность судебного следователя
A judicial investigator in the pre-1917 Russian court system responsible for gathering evidence and interrogating witnesses ahead of trial; Popikov holds only the provisional rank of 'candidate for judicial office' acting in the post, a detail underscoring his youth, inexperience, and self-importance.
Reading notes
- On Official Business §2 The acting examining magistrate
The sudebny sledovatel, the judicial investigator responsible for the preliminary inquiry into any death that might be a crime; Lyzhin holds the post only in an acting capacity.
- The Examining Magistrate §1 the examining magistrate
A sudebny sledovatel (судебный следователь) was the judicial officer of the pre-1917 Russian court system charged with investigating crimes and unexplained deaths -- gathering evidence, questioning witnesses, and, as here, attending autopsies -- ahead of any trial; that professional habit of mind is exactly what turns the magistrate's own anecdote into an unintended self-interrogation over the course of the story.
- Thou and You §2 Кандидат на судебные должности
"Candidate for judicial office" (kandidat na sudebnye dolzhnosti) was a probationary rank for a law-school graduate awaiting a permanent judicial appointment, meanwhile filling in ad interim for an actual examining magistrate. Popikov's grand manner throughout the story sits on top of a distinctly junior and provisional post.