ABSTRACT
The article focuses on the topic of pretrial detention in the Russian Federation. Using a data set of 10,000 coded decisions of Russian criminal courts, the paper answers the following questions: what factors influence the likelihood of pretrial detention in the Russian criminal justice system? Does the fact of pretrial detention affects decisions regarding case dismissal, the type of punishment, and length of incarceration? The hypotheses are tested using the logit and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models with standard control variables (such as gender, employment status, criminal history, procedural characteristics of the case). The analysis shows that the key predictors of pretrial detention are unemployment status, informal criminal records, and the non-confession of guilt. Furthermore, it is shown that the fact of pretrial detention significantly influences the likelihood of the non-dismissal of the case. The key predictor for the likelihood of choosing imprisonment as a type of punishment is pretrial detention. No significant connection was established between pretrial detention and the length of incarceration.
