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Drafting New Soviet Codes of Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2018

John N. Hazard
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Extract

Soviet jurists are engaged in the task of drafting new codes of law for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Constitution of the U.S.S.R., adopted in 1936, initiated the activity. It altered the principle incorporated in the first Constitution of the U.S.S.R. that codes of law were the concern of the constituent Republics. The federal government's powers were limited by the first Constitution of the U.S.S.R. to “establishing principles of judicature and legal procedure as well as principles of civil and criminal legislation for the Union;” “enacting basic labor laws” and “establishing general principles for the development and use of the soil as well as the exploitation of the mineral deposits, forests, and bodies of water throughout the entire territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.”

Type
Articles
Information
American Slavic and East European Review , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 1948 , pp. 32 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies 1948

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References

1 Art. 1, sections o, p, and m respectively. For Russian text, see Istorija sovetskoi Konstitucii v dekretakh i postanovlenijakh sovetskogo pravitelstva 1917-1936 (Moscow, 1936), p. 256. The English translation is that of Professor Samuel N. Harper. See Rappard, , Sharp, , Schnieder, , Pollock, , Harper, , Source Book on European Governments (New York, 1937), pp. v–88.Google Scholar

2 Art. 14, sections q and t respectively. For Russian text, see Konstitucii Sojuza S.S.S.R. i Sojuznykh Respublik (Moscow, 1937). The English translation is that of Professor Samuel N. Harper. See Rappard, Sharp, et al., op. cit., pp. v-107.

3 Art. 14, section u.

4 See Law of February 25, 1947, Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta S.S.S.R., No. 8 [462], March 6, 1947. A revised draft incorporating amendments to the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. at its third session on February 25, 1947, has been published under the title Konstitucija (osnovnoj zakori) Sojuza Sovetskikh Socialističeskikh Respublik (Moscow, 1947), and in English translation under the title Constitution of the U.S.S.R. (New York: American-Russian Institute, 1947).

5 Adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. on August 16, 1938. For Russian text, see Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta S.S.S.R., No. 11, September 5, 1938, and annotation to Code of Criminal Procedure of the R.S.F.S.R. in editions after 1938. For English translation, see Second Session of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., Verbatim Report (Moscow, 1938), p. 662.

6 See Speech by A. N. Poskrebyšev, Deputy for the Belebeevskij Electoral District of the Bashkir A.S.S.R., Zasedanija Verkhovnogo Soveta S.S.S.R. (tretja sessija), stenografičeskij otčët (Moscow, 1947), p. 352, and speech by K. K. Preikšas, Deputy for the Telšjsk Electoral District, Lithuanian S.S.R., ibid., p. 340.

7 See speech by G. B. Perov, Deputy for the Tallin-Ocean Electoral District of the Estonian S.S.R., ibid., p. 339.

8 “Unfortunately, the state commissions preparing the draft of the basic principles of labor legislation and the drafts of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the U.S.S.R. have spun out their work, and not one of them has yet presented a draft.” K. Preikšas, K., ibid., p. 340.Google Scholar

9 For rules of the legislative commissions see Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta S.S.S.R., No. 8 (462), March 6, 1947. For English translation, see the American Review on the Soviet Union, VIII, Nos. 3-4 (October, 1947), 91.

10 For the classic statement of the principle, see Frederick Engels, Herr Eugen Dührings Revolution in Science [Anti-Dühring] (English translation, Moscow, 1934), Part III, chap, 2, p. 314.

11 See Krylenko, N. V., “Prockt Ugolovnogo kodeksa Sojuza S.S.S.R.,” Problemy ugolovnoj politiki (Moscow, 1955), I, 3.Google Scholar

12 See Kurs sovetskogo khozjajstvennogo prava, ed. by L. Gincburg and E. Pašukanis (Moscow, 1935).

13 See P. Judin, “Protiv putanicy, pošlosti i revizionizma,” Pravda, No. 20 [6986] (January 20, 1937), p. 4.

14 For the principal speech and discussion following, see Akademija Nauk S.S.S.R., Institut Prava, “Osnovnye zadači nauki sovetskogo socialističeskogo prava, doklad A. Y. Vyšinskogo” (Moscow, 1938).

15 See Stalin, Joseph, Leninism (English translation; Moscow, 1934), II, 342.Google Scholar

16 See Vyšinskij, A. Y., Sovetskoe gosudarstvennoe pravo (Moscow, 1938), p. 53.Google Scholar

17 See Stalin, Joseph, Leninism; Selected Writings (New York, 1942), p. 474.Google Scholar

18 For such criticism, see speech by A. N. Poskrebyšev, p. 354, supra, note 6.

19 Law of June 4, 1947. Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta, S.S.S.R., No. 19 [473], June 11, 1947. For English translation, see the American Review on the Soviet Union, VIII, Nos. 3-4 (October, 1947), pp. 89-90.

20 See speech by M. S. Grečukha, Deputy for the Berežanskij Electoral District of the Ukrainian S. S. R., p. 361, supra, note 6.

21 See Agarkov, M. M., “Problema zloupotreblenija pravom v sovetskom graždanskom prave,” Izvestija Akademii Nauk S.S.S.R., otdelenie ekonomiki i prava, No. 6, 1946, pp. 424-36.Google Scholar

22 “Civil rights are protected by law, except in cases in which they are exercised in opposition to their social-economic reason for existence.”

23 See Greaves, V. E., “The Social Economic Purpose of Private Rights,” New York University Law Quarterly Review, XII (1934-35), 165, 439.Google Scholar

24 See Agarkov, , op. cit., p. 424.Google Scholar

25 See A. Venediktov, “K procktu Graždanskogo kodeksa S.S.S.R.,” Socialističeskaja zakonnost, No. 1, 1947, p. 9, column 2.

26 Ibid., p. 7, column 2.

27 See D. V., “K proektu Graždanskogo processualnogo kodeksa S.S.S.R.,” ibid., p. 11.

28 See “Predloženija čitatelej k razrabotke proetktov U.K. i U.P.K. S.S.S.R.,” p. 20, supra, note 25.

29 See G. Roginskij and D. Karnitskij, Ugolovnyj kodeks R.S.F.S.R., posobie dlja kuridičeskikh vuzov, škol i kursov (9th ed; Moscow, 1936), pp. 57-58.

30 See M. Šarogorodskij, Voprosy Obščei časti ugolovnogo prava v uslovjakh voennogo vremeni, “Učenye zapiski, vypusk 76, M.G.U., trudy juridičeskogo fakulteta” (Moscow, 1945), p. 100.

31 Op. cit., supra, note 28.

32 Some of the matters listed appear in an extension of the article, cited in ibid., No. 3, 1947, p. 15.

33 Ibid., No. 1, 1947, p. 22.

34 Ibid., No. 3, 1947, p. 17.

35 See I. D. Perlov, Kand. Jur. Nauk, “K proektu Ugolovno-processualnogo kodeksa Sojuza S.S.R.,” Sovetskoe gosudarstvo i pravo, No. 9, 1947, p. 44.

36 Ibid.

37 Ibid., p. 46.

38 Ibid., p. 51.

39 Ibid., p. 46.

40 Ibid., p. 50.

41 Op. cit., p. 23, supra, note 28.

42 Op. cit., p. 17, supra, note 32.

43 Op cit., p. 52, supra, note 35.