The article attempts to show the interaction between law and literature, two distant and at the same time closely related disciplines. The aim of the work was to show that, despite the small attention devoted to a given topic and opinions questioning the legitimacy of searching for legal issues in Russian literature, it deserves the attention of researchers. The objects of observation were the works of eminent Russian authors, arranged in chronological order from the 10th to the 19th century. By reviewing them, we tried to prove that the legal problems presented in literaryworks have a timeless dimension. An insightful interpretation of the cited works may give greater knowledge, a clearer and more transparent message on the court proceedings or punishments than the most comprehensive of the legal books.