The Standing Committees: Techniques of Monitoring

Note from the editors of Sovety deputatov trudiashchikhsia: Continuing the study of the functioning of Soviets, personnel of the USSR Academy of Sciences' Institute of State and Law looked into the operations of local organs of power in the Latvian SSR. Jointly with practical workers in the field, they prepared a number of scholarly recommendations, including proposals to improve the techniques of monitoring [kontrol'] by the standing committees of district and city Soviets.     

Direction of Internal Affairs Organs By Local Soviets

The territorial organs of internal affairs are subordinate to local Soviets of working people's deputies and comprise departments or administrations of the executive committees of territorial, regional, city, and district Soviets. In their direction of these bodies local Soviets exercise essentially the same rights as in directing other departments and administrations of various branches of government under dual subordination. However, the distinctive features of the internal organizational structure of the internal affairs bodies themselves, as well as of their functioning and the specific form taken by their dual subordination, are responsible for the fact that that direction has unique aspects. (1)     

The Party Nucleus of a Soviet

In the decisions of the Central Committee of the Party on the work of local government authorities at various levels, attention has repeatedly been called to the need to make the groups of Party members in the Soviets more active and to assure that they will influence in every way the work of the bodies of representative government. This was also emphasized in the 1971 decree of the CPSU Central Committee, "On Measures to Further Improve the Work of the District and City Soviets of Working People's Deputies."     

The Standing Committees and the Ministries

The 23rd Congress of the CPSU posed the task of enhancing the role of the supreme Soviets and defined the principal directions to be followed in solving this task. The most important of them are the further improvement in the activity of the standing committees [postoiannye komissii], which contribute to the development of socialist democracy, the improvement in the work of the supreme Soviets and the agencies of state administration, and the activization of deputies. At the first session of the seventh Supreme Soviet [sed'mogo sozyva] of the USSR, the report by N. V. Podgorny, Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, "On Organizing the Standing Committees of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities," emphasized the major role of the standing committees in social and economic development and expressed confidence that their functioning would promote the fulfillment of the tasks facing the country. (1) The seventh supreme Soviets of the USSR and of the union republics carried out a number of practical measures to implement the instructions of the party to increase the role of the standing committees.     

Local Soviets in the Ukraine during the Years of the Great Patriotic War

From the very first day of the Great Patriotic War, local Soviets of all the Soviet republics contributed in every possible way to the use of all forces and means for the needs of defense of the Motherland and the defeat of the enemy. The Ukraine was one of the first to experience all the hardships of the fascist invasion: the death of people, the destruction of cities and villages, and the bestial cruelty perpetrated by Hitler's minions on the occupied territory. With the direct participation of the local Soviets of the republic, about 2 million people were mobilized into the ranks of the Red Army in the first months of the war alone, 657 fighting battalions were formed, sections of the People's Army numbering more than a million persons were created, and over 2 million citizens worked to build equipment for defense. The Soviets also used their efforts to organize the evacuation of the population, industrial enterprises, and various material goods from the territory near the front. By the end of 1941, more than 550 enterprises, 427 machine tractor stations, a huge volume of agricultural products, and over 4 million Soviet citizens had been evacuated from the territory of the republic.¹ This tremendous work was done under the leadership of Party organizations, the supreme organs of government, and the central administrative bodies of the republic. The entire country of Soviets gave all-round assistance to the Ukrainian SSR.     

Socialism and Contemporary International Law

The Great October Socialist Revolution brought about qualitative changes in the principles and norms of international law. It put an end to inequality and one-sided forms in the relations between the land of Soviets and foreign states. The Soviet state put forth a positive program for the development of peaceful relations, leading to the appearance and development of a new content and form in international law. (1)     

Representative Organs of Government and the Development of Government Administration During the Period of the Building of Communism

Active participation of the working people in public affairs is the key to successful solution of the problems of economic and socio-cultural development. This explains the fact that the role of the Soviets as the most all-inclusive, mass organizations of the people will increase in the course of the building of communism. Representative organs are the best and basic form for implementing the people's power. Combining the characteristics of agencies of state power and of public organizations, the Soviets emerge to an ever increasing degree as public organizations whose function it is to bring about participation by literally every citizen in the management of society's affairs.     

Use of the Method of Concrete Sociology to Study the Work of Deputies

The role and significance of the work of deputies to local Soviets are increasing under present conditions. As a consequence, there is definite interest in questions pertaining to the amount of time needed to perform duties as a deputy, whether this coincides with working time and to what degree, whether the time expended upon functions as a deputy is used most rationally, how effective the deputy's activity is, and whether it is affected by his education, age, occupation, sex, party affiliation, etc., which factors promote, and which hinder, the deputies' work, and how the training of deputies, exchange of experience, etc., should be organized so as to take their own desires into consideration to a maximum degree. These and other questions were posed in the course of an investigation conducted by personnel of the Law Sector of the Institute of Economics of the Estonian SSR, the Department of CPSU History of Tartu University, and the Computer Center of Tartu University. The study was conducted with the aid of an appropriate questionnaire and subsequent processing of the materials obtained on a "Ural-4" computer. The questionnaire data were obtained directly from the deputies. Certain generalizations on the work of deputies to the local Soviets may be made by means of these data.     

Soviet Law and Government

Broad preparations are now under way for the forthcoming elections to the supreme Soviets of the union and autonomous republics and the local Soviets of working people's deputies. As we know, elections will take place on March 3 in the RSFSR, the Ukrainian, Belorussian, Uzbek, Kazakh, Moldavian, Latvian, Tajik and Turkmenian union republics, and on March 17 in the Georgian, Azerbaijan, Lithuanian, Kirgiz, Armenian and Estonian union republics.     

The District and City Soviets: Current Problems

Among measures implemented by the Party in recent years to develop socialist democracy, a large part is played by measures to raise the role and improve the work of Soviet representative organs — Soviets of working people's deputies — which, as L. I. Brezhnev noted in the Summary Report of the Party Central Committee to the Twenty-Fourth Congress of the CPSU, are the foundation of the socialist state and most completely embody its democratic character. Either directly or through organs subordinate to them, the Soviets deal with all questions pertaining to state, economic, and sociocultural development. Their activity is directed toward implementing the Party line of more completely satisfying the material and cultural needs of the Soviet people.     

Informing the Population About the Activity of State Agencies

Under the conditions of developed socialism, the general problem of informing the population, and that of its knowledge about matters of state and law in particular, becomes increasingly more pertinent. "The development of socialist democracy," said L. I. Brezhnev at a meeting with voters of the Bauman Electoral District in Moscow on June 10, 1966, "demands the solution of many problems that the Party has placed on the order of business." One of these tasks is "providing fuller information to the people about everything happening within the country and on the world scene, and increasing publicity [glasnost'] about the work of the agencies of Soviet government." The Communist Party associates improvement of socialist democracy particularly with the level of society's information "about the policies of the Party and state." (1) Therefore, the Soviet government pays much attention to the solution of questions associated with informing the citizenry about the work of governmental agencies and also about their regulation by law. Thus, for example, in the RSFSR law "On the District Soviet of Working People's Deputies of the RSFSR" (June 29, 1971), we read about the responsibility of the executive committee to inform the population about questions placed on the order of business of the soviet (Article 33), to bring decisions of the district soviet to the knowledge of the citizens (Article 38), and to report on its work at meetings of the working population and at citizens' places of employment (Article 55). Article 93 reads: "The district soviet of working people's deputies is responsible for informing the population about its functioning. …" Presidiums of the supreme Soviets of union and autonomous republics monitor observation of provisions of the law, assuring that the population will be widely informed on the work of state agencies. (2) In this connection, examination of the question of the content and forms whereby the population of the USSR becomes informed about the activity of state agencies is of interest.     

苏联法影响中国法制发展进程之回顾

在 2 0世纪中国历史上 ,苏联的革命法制理论和若干重要制度曾深刻地影响了中国的法制发展进程。孙中山曾主张“以俄为师”并进行过法制改革 ;中国共产党所领导下的人民民主政权的法制建设也是以苏联为标尺 ;新中国成立初期在创立社会主义法制的过程中 ,更是将苏联法全方位地移植到了中国。苏联法制为中国革命政党所接受与其自身的性质和中国革命的需要紧密相关。     

An Important form of Improvement of the Professional Skills of Justice Personnel

In accordance with the joint decree of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers of July 30, 1970, "On Measures to Improve the Work of Judicial and Procuracy Organs," and Decree No. 640 of November 12, 1970, of the RSFSR Council of Ministers, permanent republic-wide courses for improving the qualifications of justice personnel in the RSFSR have been organized in that federation. Here members of supreme courts of autonomous republics, members of territorial, regional, city, and national area courts, presiding judges of district (or city) people's courts, people's judges, consultants of departments of justice and of courts, notaries, and defense attorneys will undergo retraining. Branches of the republic-wide courses for bailiffs, office heads, secretaries of courts and hearings, clerks, and inspectors are being established in affiliation with the ministries of justice of autonomous republics and the justice departments of the executive committees of territorial and regional Soviets of working people's deputies.     

A Leap to the Realm of Freedom : A Brief Essay on the Most Recent Period in the History of Contemporary Russian Journalism

"Speculation is one of the disgusting forms of parasitism," said Comrade L. F. Il'ichev at the June Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee.     

The New Rights Augment Powers

In its decisions, the Twenty-Fourth Congress of the CPSU devoted much attention to further developing socialist democracy, strengthening the Soviet state, and improving the entire system of the political organization of society. Among the contemplated measures, a special place is assigned to improving the work of the local Soviets. It is deemed essential that they exercise their functions more fully, that they exert an effective influence on the development of the economy and culture and on improving the people's welfare, and that they concern themselves more persistently with social and consumer services and the maintenance of public order.     

The Local Soviets of Working People's Deputies at the Present Stage in the Building of Communism

The local Soviets have been and remain the most numerous link of the soviet system of representation. Being engaged, day in and day out, with various problems in the development of the economy and culture, they concern themselves with improving the wellbeing of the people under the conditions existing in each populated place. The population often judges the success and shortcomings of the machinery of government in general in terms of the triumphs and failings of the local Soviets. Therefore, in dealing with the problem of reinforcing and developing the Soviets as the organization embracing the entire people and embodying its unity, the 22nd Party Congress and the Program adopted by it directed attention to the need to improve the organization and functioning of all levels of the soviet system of representation.     

Elections and the Soviets

Elections for the local Soviets now functioning were held in March 1961. The number of Soviets elected in the USSR as a whole was 49,858, of which 7 were for territories, 107 for regions, 9 for autonomous regions, 10 for national areas, 3,401 for districts, 1,678 for towns, 343 for districts in cities, 3,061 for settlements, and 41,242 for villages.     

Cultural relativism and comparative criminology

The recent spate of comparative studies of crime is long overdue as a potential palliative to the traditional ethnocentrism of American criminology. But their comparative method is uncritically taken from two incompatible propositions derived from Durkheimian empiricism. As such, the generalizations about criminal behavior that these studies advance should be treated more with caution than optimism. This essay discusses the alleged advances over Durkheimian empiricism made by two distinct forms of cultural relativism. If what every man believes as a result of perception is indeed to be true for him; if, just as no one is to be a better judge of what another experiences, so no one is better entitled to consider what another thinks is true or false... then, my friend, where is the wisdom of Protagoras, to justify his setting up to teach others and to be handsomely paid for it? Socrates, in Plato'sTheaetetus     

After the Election

We are close to the point where an election is a choice in the literal sense of the word. The election to local Soviets that just took place is a notable example of this. Voters in multi-candidate constituencies were provided the opportunity to choose a single deputy from among several candidates. And they were not the only ones; indeed, in the remaining constituencies, too, one candidate was selected from among several nominees. This lent additional energy to the electoral campaign, and increased its social and political weight.     

Criminal Justice in Soviet Russia

Compared to American criminal justice, the fabric of Russia's system is a tightly woven structure operating under centralized co-ordination. During recent history, the goals of Russia's criminal justice system have shifted from repression by terrorism to crime prevention through education and an emphasis on individual duty in peace-keeping matters.

The militia (police), created in 1917, has been mandated to prevent crime through intelligence activities, direct intervention, and citizen education. In 1966, it was given the responsibility for the supervision of offenders newly released from correctional institutions. Peoples Volunteer Brigades and the DRUZHINNIKS aid the militia in crime prevention.

The courts also make use of non-professionals in the persons of lay assessors to insure that the accused is judged by his “peers.” The court system itself is inquisitorial in nature as opposed to the American accusational model. As the accused person moves through pre-trial and trial procedures, one can see how his “rights” may be legally abridged at every step.

Russian courts have a variety of sentences from which to choose, ranging in harshness from public censure to death by shooting. Deprivation of liberty may be applied by degree from “education” to compulsory labor to strict incarceration. The Soviets are attempting an organized plan of diversionary sentencing, in order to reduce prison populations to all but the most dangerous offenders.

Correctional facilities depend on inmate commissions to keep order and motivate good behavior through group influence and peer pressure. Inmates as well as civilians have “a national duty to mind other people's business.”

In the United States, justice is fragmented into a variety of jurisdictions: municipal, county, state, and federal, each with its own law enforcement agencies, courts, and correctional agencies. Further, there is only limited coordination among the various segments of the system. There is little argument to the proposition that the American “system” of criminal justice is inefficient.

Unlike America's disjointed system, the Russian Criminal justice system is unified; militia (police), procurators (prosecutors), courts, and correctional facilities operate under a centralized coordinating body. This body is characterized by a unity of purpose and a high degree of systemic integration (Juviler, 1979, p. 1).