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 October Revolution of 1917; modified versions of it were adopted by many Communist states (see below) following the Second World War. Socialist law is the official name of the legal system used in Communist states. ... The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution or November Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... This article is about one-party states governed by Communist parties. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

Soviet Law had some of the characteristics of civil law systems, including some similar rules of procedure and legal methodologies. However, it introduced major differences: Civil law is a codified system of law that sets out a comprehensive system of rules that are applied and interpreted by judges. ...

• while civil law systems have extensive legislation dealing with private property, Soviet law upheld state ownership of the means of production and national economic planning
• the practical lack of civil rights and separation of powers, the lack of recourses against government;
• the idea that the underlying purpose of the law was to aid in the restructuring of society and advancing towards communism under the supervision of the Communist Party.

The means of production are physical, non-human, inputs used in production. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... The separation of powers (or trias politica, a term coined by French political thinker Montesquieu) is a model for the governance of the state. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( Russian: Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия Сове́тского Сою́за = КПСС) was the name used by the successors of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party from 1952 to 1991, but the wording Communist Party was present in the partys name since 1918 when...

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. The definition of continental subregions in use by the United Nations. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Ру́сь, Kievskaya Rus in Russian; Київська Русь, Kyivs’ka Rus’ in Ukrainian) was the early, mostly East Slavic¹ state dominated by the city of Kiev (ru: Ки́ев, Kiev; uk: Ки́їв, Kyiv), from about 880 to the middle of the 12th century. ... Justinian I depicted on a mosaic in the church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy The Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) is a fundamental work in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. ...

In 1917, the Soviet authorities formally repealed all Tsarist legislation 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. Tsar (Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian цар, Russian , in scientific transliteration respectively car and car ), often spelled Czar or Tzar and sometimes Csar or Zar in English, is the official Slavonic title designating Emperor in the following states: Bulgaria in 913–1422 (for later usage in 1908–1946, see below) Serbia in... Bold textJAMES CHECKLEY Legislation (or statutory law) is law which has been promulgated (or enacted) by a legislature or other governing body. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Marxism refers to the philosophy and social theory on one hand, and to the political practice based on Marxist theory on the other hand (namely, parts of the First International during Marxs time, communist parties and later states). ... bourgeoisie is basically a trem that meens middle class. ...

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. ... A plaintiff, also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. ... A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ... A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. ... A court is an official, public forum which a sovereign establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... See Roman Governor for the duties of a promagistrate as a governor of a province A promagistrate is a person who acts in and with the authority and capacity of a magistrate, but without holding a magisterial office. ... An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. ...

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. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( Russian: Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия Сове́тского Сою́за = КПСС) was the name used by the successors of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party from 1952 to 1991, but the wording Communist Party was present in the partys name since 1918 when...

Internal security

The Soviet internal police had a long history, with roots dating back to the Tsarist period. Although the Tsarist political police were ruthless, the police organs established by the Bolsheviks in 1917, known as the Vecheka, far surpassed their predecessors (this was a result of fighting in the civil war). Eventually, the Stalinist police apparatus was created, which many consider the classic historical example of totalitarianism. To suppress opposition, Joseph Stalin drastically increased the scope and powers of the secret police (first the GPU, then the NKVD, then the KGB). Millions perished at the hands of the secret police controlled by Stalin. However, after Stalin's death, the terror ended abruptly. Nikita Khrushchev initiated legal reforms and reorganized the police apparatus, the political police were brought under the control of the Communist Party, and the gulag was dismantled. Still, even in the era of glasnost ushered in by Mikhail Gorbachev nearly 30 years later, the organs of internal security still had a key role to play in protecting the Soviet regime from internal and external threats. The Cheka (ЧК in Russian) was the first (of many) Soviet secret police organizations. ... Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system named after Josef Stalin, who implemented it in the Soviet Union. ... Totalitarianism is a typology employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ... Stalin redirects here. ... Secret police (sometimes political police) are a police organization which operates in secrecy for the national purpose of maintaining national security against internal threats to the state. ... Categories: Russia-related stubs | Soviet and Russian intelligence agencies | Soviet repression structures and people ... The NKVD (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del )(Russian: НКВД, Народный комиссариат внутренних дел) or Peoples Commisariat for Internal Affairs was a government department which handled a number of the Soviet Unions affairs of state. ... The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield KGB (transliteration of КГБ) is the Russian-language abbreviation for Committee for State Security, (Russian: ; Komitet Gosudarstvennoj Bezopasnosti). ... (Russian: , Nikita Sergeevič Hruščëv; surname commonly romanized as Khrushchev, IPA: ; April 17, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ... Gulag ( , Russian: ) is an acronym for Главное Управление Исправительно—Трудовых Лагерей и колоний, Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey i kolonii, The Chief Directorate [or Administration] of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies of the NKVD. Anne Applebaum, in her book Gulag: A History, explains: Literally, the word GULAG is an acronym, meaning Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... (Russian: , Mihail Sergeevič Gorbačëv, IPA: , commonly anglicized as Gorbachev; born March 2, 1931) was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ...

See also

• Cuban Law
• Show trial
• Socialist Law
• Socialist Legality