New Legislation in the Union Republics with Respect to the Legal Profession

The Soviet legal profession occupies a place of honor in the system of government and public organizations whose duty it is to protect the rights and liberties of Soviet citizens and to strengthen socialist legality and order. In performing the function of defense in criminal trials and in providing other legal services to citizens, enterprises, institutions and organizations, and by vigorous activity to educate the people with respect to Soviet law, lawyers promote the defense of the rights and legal interests of the citizenry, their training in a spirit of respect for Soviet laws, prevention of crime, strengthening of socialist legality, and proper administration of justice.     

The Role of International Legal Norms in Ensuring the "Right to a Legal Defense"

On 22 November 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted the "Declaration of the Rights and Freedoms of the Individual and Citizen."¹ Article 1 of the declaration states that universally recognized international norms on human rights have priority over the laws of the RSFSR where they directly give rise to rights and duties of citizens. But, in the words of A.M. Vasil'ev, this is "really only a defended, not a proclaimed right."² The systems of international and Soviet law set down the procedure and the order of realization of rights and freedoms and the ways and means for their legal defense. An important guarantee for the realization of rights and freedoms is ensuring the individual's right to a legal defense.     

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.     

The Legal Standing of Soviet Collegia of Attorneys

Protection of the rights of citizens is the task not only of the Soviet national state but of a number of social organizations. The collegium of defense attorneys is a social organization set up and functioning specifically to conduct comprehensive defense of citizens' rights by juridical means. Defense of the individual's rights against any infringements, the struggle for legality, and assistance to socialist administration of justice make the rewarding and humane work of the attorney of major state significance. Its role increases as democratic institutions are broadened and the guarantees of the rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens are strengthened.     

The trade in people in and from the former Soviet Union

This paper focuses on the trafficking and smuggling of human beings fromand through the former Soviet Union. It explores the reasons for the risein the illegal movement of people; the groups which facilitate it; the demographics of the people who are moved and the business side, includingthe profits, the disposition of profits and the use of corruption to facilitatethe trade. With the disintegration of state control over national territory, this mass movement of people often violates national laws and the national sovereignty of the countries of the Soviet successor states and the countrieswhere the former Soviet citizens move illegally. The paper concludes that thistrade mirrors and contributes to the overall downward development of thepost-Soviet economies. In contrast, a comparative look at the respective Chinese developments indicates that trade in human beings tends to facilitatethe growth of both the Chinese legitimate and illegitimate economies.     

How the Short Course Was Created

The question of where the capital is to be situated has not yet been resolved. [The towns of] Kaluga, Kaliningrad, and Podol'sk have been suggested, however. Moscow is considered the least felicitous alternative. Still, there is more than enough time to deal with this question, since the republic does not exist yet. But the foundation for its establishment has already been laid. On May 26, at a meeting of the Small Soviet [executive committee] of the Moscow Oblast Soviet, Lev Kozlovich, chairman of the standing committee on housing, utilities, and roads, urban planning, transport, and communications, raised for discussion the question of "the expedience of creating a Republic of Muscovy" within the territory of Moscow Oblast. As stated, the proposal was motivated by the desire to abolish a glaring injustice—the inequality of rights among the subjects of the federation, Russia's autonomous republics and regions.     

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.     

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。     

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.     

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.     

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.     

The Rights of the Soviet Police and Socialist Legality

According to the decisions of the November (1982) and June (1983) Plenums of the CPSU Central Committee, the police [militsiia] and other law-enforcement agencies are to mobilize all their forces in order to strengthen public order, to guarantee the comfort and personal safety of citizens, to display a high measure of proficiency and efficiency in their work, and to adhere strictly to Soviet legislation. "The normal course of our society's development," Iu. V. Andropov emphasized, "is inconceivable without the strictest observance of the laws that protect the interests of society and the rights of citizens."¹     

The Law on the Status of Deputies to the Soviets - In Action

The Law on the Status of Deputies to Soviets of Working People's Deputies in the USSR, adopted by the Supreme Soviet, has been in effect now for over a year and a half. Taking into consideration the special importance of exact and undeviating implementation of that law, the Committees on Legislative Proposals and the Mandate Committees of the two houses of the USSR Supreme Soviet have made a careful study of experience in carrying out this law and discussed this question in March 1974 at a joint meeting. A report to this meeting was presented by I. K. Lutak, deputy to the USSR Supreme Soviet and leader of a group of member-deputies of these committees who had prepared this question for consideration. G. I. Usmanov, chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and deputy to the USSR Supreme Soviet, presented a report on experience in applying the Law on the Status of Deputies, as did N. A. Evsigneev, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Voronezh Regional Soviet of Working People's Deputies. Animated discussion arose at the meeting. Participating in it were deputies R. Kh. Abdullaeva, L. T. Torkkeli, A. N. Balandin, F. S. Kuralenok, B. P. Beshchev (USSR minister of transportation), and also S. I. Gusev, deputy procuratorgeneral of the USSR. I. V. Kapitonov, chairman of the Committee on Legislative Proposals of the Council of the Union and a secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, also spoke at the meeting.     

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.     

The Right of Citizens to Appeal Acts by Officials to Courts

The increased role of the courts and enlarged judicial protection of citizens' rights enunciated in the USSR Constitution constitute a further development of Soviet socialist democracy. As we know, the notion of appealing to courts the acts of administrators was propounded by the founders of Marxism-Leninism themselves. (1) In the USSR, the foundations of the institution of judicial supervision of the functioning of the executive were established in the earliest years of Soviet power and were developed in the decree of the Central Executive Committee (TsIK) and Council of People's Commissars of April 11, 1937 - establishing judicial supervision over the activities of financial bodies in recovering from citizens arrears of federal and local taxes and levies, compulsory salary insurance, and local-option taxation - and in the Statute on Elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR affirmed by decree of the USSR TsIK of July 9, 1937, granting citizens the right to appeal to courts decisions of executive committees of soviets on refusal to make corrections in lists of voters. (2) This institution was subsequently developed in the Principles of Civil Procedure of the USSR and Union Republics and the corresponding codes of the union republics establishing procedural rules for trial by courts of cases arising out of relationships at administrative law.     

Interpellations By Deputies

The deputy's interpellation is one of the forms whereby local Soviets perform their monitoring [kontrol'naia] function. In the Program of the CPSU, "systematic discussion by Soviets of deputies' interpellations" is regarded as one of the means of improving the forms of representative government and socialist democracy.     

Public Reason,Neutrality and Civic Virtues

In this paper I argue that political liberalism is not the “minimalist liberalism” characterised by Michael Sandel and that it does not support the vision of public life characteristic of the procedural republic. I defend this claim by developing two points. The first concerns Rawls's account of public reason. Drawing from examples in Canadian free speech jurisprudence I show how restrictions on commercial advertising, obscenity and hate propaganda can be justified by political values. Secondly, political liberalism also attends to the identity, and not just the interests, of its citizens. It attempts to cultivate certain virtues of character. But it does so in a way that does not entail the acceptance of a comprehensive or perfectionist doctrine. Rawls's defence of neutrality of aim does not mean the state should be neutral towards all the views its citizens espouse. I conclude that political liberalism shares little with the doctrine Sandel claims is embedded in American law.     

No Country for Made Men: The Decline of the Mafia in Post‐Soviet Georgia

This article studies the decline of a long‐standing mafia known as thieves‐in‐law in the post‐Soviet republic of Georgia. In 2005 an anti‐mafia campaign began which employed laws directly targeting the thieves‐in‐law. Within a year, all Georgia's thieves‐in‐law were in prison or had fled the country. This article looks at the success of the policy by investigating how Georgia's volatile socio‐economic environment in the 1990s affected the resilience of the thieves‐in‐law to state attack. The article presents data showing that the chaos of this period impacted on the ability of thieves‐in‐law to coordinate activities, regulate recruitment, and protect their main collective resource—their elite criminal status. Due to this, the reputation of the thieves‐in‐law as a mafia drastically declined creating vulnerability. The article adds to the literature on resilience in criminal networks and the study of organized crime in the post‐Soviet space.     

Memory Disorder

During all the changes of the last fifteen years Russia has not been able to rid itself of partiality in peering into its own past. Beginning in the second half of the 1980s, when Gorbachev's liberalization freed the task of remembering from the control of official historiography, several new images of the past have emerged, profoundly changing Russian citizens' views of their country only to retreat once more to the periphery of public awareness. The tragedy of Stalinism finally became an object of public discussion, then was ousted from public consciousness once more. Attitudes toward the October Revolution, which laid the foundations of the Soviet system, underwent radical revision, while an idealized picture of prerevolutionary Russia was instilled in the minds of Russian citizens. When Russia was first bidding farewell to the Soviet period, the alternative image of the past that was supposed to form the basis of a new identity took root easily, but over time it has lost much of its power. Another schism developed between the view of the past propagandized by the authorities and the public's living memory. At the dawn of the twenty-first century Russia still cannot cope with the agonizing experience it endured in the twentieth.     

Eliminate Errors in Court Interpretation of Legislation on Necessary Defense

The principle of necessary defense is an important legal means of preventing crime that socializes citizens in the spirit of struggle in defense of state and public interests and the rights and legal interests of Soviet citizens. Actions committed in necessary defense are socially useful.