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The Law of the Soviet Union - also known as Soviet Law, or Socialist Law - was the law that developed in the Soviet Union following the Russian Revolution of October 1917; modified versions of it were adopted by many Communist states (see below) following the Second World War. Soviet Law had many of the characteristics of civil law systems, including similar rules of procedure and legal methodologies, although it was distinguishable from other legal systems by the influences of state ownership of the means of production, the power of the Communist Party, the ties between the legal system and national economic planning, the lack of a distinction between civil and criminal law, and the idea that the underlying purpose of the law was to aid in the restructuring of society and advancing towards communism.
1 History and influence of Soviet Law
The legal system of the Soviet Union was the principal model followed by other members of the Soviet family of legal systems ( Mongolia, the People's Republic of China, the countries of eastern Europe, Cuba and Vietnam being the most notable). This legal system was developed after the Russian Revolution and based on traditional Western civil law, with many elements originating in the Russian legal tradition (going back as far as the 10th Century Kievan Rus) and influences from Byzantine secular and canon law.
In 1917, the Soviet authorities formally repealed all TsaristTsar ( Bulgarian Russian often spelt Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires from 913 and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. It is derived from the Latin title Caesar. History of usage The title tsar legislationLegislation refers to the set of statutory laws in a state. Legislation is passed by a legislature and, in some states, must also be confirmed by the executive. When a bill becomes a law the law is said to be 'promulgated' or 'enacted'. For information on and began to establish a socialist system with the final aim of reaching communism. The vast majority of Marxist theory concerned itself with matters of politics, economics and sociology - not legislation - and thus "socialist law" had to be built from scratch, using mostly non-Marxist legal theory. A few general guidelines were laid out. First, the new legal system should eliminate the political power and dominance of the bourgeoisie; second, law should be the instrument of the state and the people, not a restriction to policy-makers; third, law should establish rules of public order which ease the state's transition into socialism and eventually communism; and fourth, law should educate citizens in how they can help to build a communist social system. This is the basis on which Soviet Law was constructed.
2 The Structure of a Soviet Court
Soviet Law did not use an adversary system, in which a plaintiff and defendant argue before a neutral judge. Instead, court proceedings in the Soviet Union included a judge, a procurator, a defense attorney and two people's assessors , and allowed for free participation by the judge. This same system was used for all cases, due to the aforementioned lack of distinction between civil and criminal law.
Judges kept legal technicalities to a minimum; the court's stated purpose was to find the truth, rather than to protect legal rights. Other aspects of Soviet Law more closely resembled the Anglo-Saxon system. In theory, all citizens were equal before the law - defendants could appeal to a higher court if they believed their sentence to be too harsh. However, the procurator could also appeal if he/she considered the sentence to be too lenient. Soviet Law also guaranteed defendants the right to legal representation, and the right to be tried in their native language, or to use an interpreter. Although most hearings were open to the public, hearings could also be held privately, if the Soviet Government deemed it necessary.
Legal codes Soviet law
