socialist law

8/10/2019 Socialist Law

1/3

Socialist law or Soviet law denotes a general type of legal system which has been used

in communist and formerly communist states . It is based on the civil law system, with major

modifications and additions from Marxist-Leninist ideology. There is controversy as to whether

socialist law ever constituted a separate legal system or not. !" If so, prior to the end of the #old

$ar , socialist law would be ran%ed among the major legal systems of the world.

$hile civil law systems have traditionally put great pains in defining the notion of private property ,

how it may be ac&uired, transferred, or lost, socialist law systems provide for most property to be

owned by the state or by agricultural co-operatives, and having special courts and laws for state

enterprises. citation needed "

Many scholars argue that socialist law was not a separate legal classification. '" (lthough

the command economy approach of the communist states meant that most types of property could

not be owned, the )oviet *nion always had a civil code, courts that interpreted this civil code, and a

civil law approach to legal reasoning +thus, both legal process and legal reasoning were largely

analogous to the rench or erman civil code system . Legal systems in all socialist states

preserved formal criteria of the /omano- ermanic civil law0 for this reason, law theorists in post-

socialist states usually consider the )ocialist law as a particular case of the /omano- ermanic civil

law. #ases of development of common law into )ocialist law are un%nown because of incompatibility

of basic principles of these two systems +common law presumes influential rule-ma%ing role of courts

while courts in socialist states play a dependent role . citation needed "

Soviet legal theory edit ")oviet law displayed many special characteristics that derived from the socialist nature of the )ovietstate and reflected Marxist-Leninist ideology. 1ladimir Lenin accepted the Marxist conception of the

law and the state as instruments of coercion in the hands of the bourgeoisie and postulated the

creation of popular, informal tribunals to administer revolutionary justice. 2ne of the main

theoreticians of )oviet socialist legality in this early phase was 34teris )tu5%a . citation needed "

(longside this utopian trend was one more critical of the concept of 6 proletarian justice6, represented

by 7vgeny 3ashu%anis . ( dictatorial trend developed that advocated the use of law and legal

institutions to suppress all opposition to the regime. This trend reached its 8enith under 9oseph

)talin with the ascendancy of (ndrey 1yshins%y , when the administration of justice was carried outmainly by the security police in special tribunals . citation needed "

:uring the de-)talini8ation of the ;i%ita ?, were part of the effort to

establish legal norms in administering laws. (lthough socialist legality remained in force after !=>?,

the dictatorial and utopian trends continued to influence the legal process. 3ersecution of political

and religious dissenters continued, but at the same time there was a tendency

to decriminali8e lesser offenses by handing them over to people@s courts and administrative

agencies and dealing with them by education rather than by incarceration. citation needed "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_law_(legal_system)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_law_(legal_system)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist-Leninisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist-Leninisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_law#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(polity)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(polity)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(polity)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_law#cite_note-austin-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_economyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_economyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_economyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Unionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Unionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialist_law&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialist_law&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism-Leninismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism-Leninismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Leninhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%93teris_Stu%C4%8Dkahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%93teris_Stu%C4%8Dkahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proletarianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Pashukanishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Pashukanishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Vyshinskyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD_troikahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD_troikahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De-Stalinizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De-Stalinizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De-Stalinizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchevhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decriminalizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_statehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_law_(legal_system)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist-Leninisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_law#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Warhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_(polity)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_law#cite_note-austin-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_economyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Unionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialist_law&action=edit&section=1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism-Leninismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Leninhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%93teris_Stu%C4%8Dkahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proletarianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Pashukanishttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Vyshinskyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD_troikahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De-Stalinizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchevhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decriminalizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_system


2/3

Ay late !=B>, the Mi%hail orbachev era was stressing anew the importance of individual rights in

relation to the state and critici8ing those who violated procedural law in implementing )oviet justice.

This signaled a resurgence of socialist legality as the dominant trend. It should be noted, however,

that socialist legality itself still lac%ed features associated with $estern jurisprudence.

Characteristic traits edit ")ocialist law is similar to common law or civil law but with a greatly increased public law sector and

decreased private law sector. C"

partial or total expulsion of the former ruling classes from the public life at early stages of

existence of each socialist state0 however, in all socialist states this policy gradually changed

into the policy of 6one socialist nation without classes6

diversity of political views directly discouraged.

the ruling #ommunist party was eventually subject to prosecution through party committees

in first place.

abolition of private property considered as a primary goal of socialism, if not its defining

characteristic, thus near total collectivi8ation and nationali8ation of the means of production0

subordination of the judiciary to the #ommunist 3arty

low respect for privacy , extensive control of the party over private life0

low respect for intellectual property as %nowledge and culture was considered a right for

human %ind, and not a privilege as in the free mar%et economies.

extensive social warrants of the state +the rights to a job, free education, free healthcare,

retirement at >? for men and DD for women, maternity leave, free disability benefits and sic%

leave compensation, subsidies to multichildren families, ... in return for a high degree of social

mobili8ation.

the judicial process lac%s adversary character0 public prosecution is considered as 6provider

of justice.6

( specific institution characteristic to )ocialist law was the so-called burlaw court +or, verbally, 6court

of comrades6, /ussian EFGH JK NJO PQ which decided on minor offences. citation needed "

Chinese Socialist law edit " (mong the remaining communist governments, some +most notably the 3eople@s /epublic of #hina

have added extensive modifications to their legal systems. In general, this is a result of their mar%et-

oriented economic changes. Rowever, some communist influence can still be seen. or example, in

#hinese real estate law there is no unified concept of real property 0 the state owns all land but often
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachevhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_rightshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_rightshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialist_law&action=edit&section=2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_law#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruling_classeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruling_classeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_property#Marxist_perspectivehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adversarial_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adversarial_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlaw_courthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialist_law&action=edit&section=3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Chinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_markethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_markethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_markethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estatehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estatehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachevhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_rightshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialist_law&action=edit&section=2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_law#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruling_classeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_property#Marxist_perspectivehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_propertyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adversarial_systemhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlaw_courthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialist_law&action=edit&section=3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Republic_of_Chinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_markethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_markethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estatehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_property


3/3

not the structures that sit on that land. ( rather complex ad hoc system of use rights to land property

has developed, and these use rights are the things being officially traded +rather than the property

itself . In some cases +for example in the case of urban residential property , the system results in

something that resembles real property transactions in other legal systems. citation needed "

In other cases, the #hinese system results in something &uite different. or example, it is a common

misconception that reforms under :eng Siaoping resulted in the privati8ation of agricultural land and

a creation of a land tenure system similar to those found in $estern countries. In actuality, the village

committee owns the land and contracts the right to use this land to individual farmers who may use

the land to ma%e money from agriculture. Rence the rights that are normally unified in $estern

economies are split up between the individual farmer and the village committee. citation needed "

This has a number of conse&uences. 2ne of them is that, because the farmer does not have an

absolute right to transfer the land, he cannot borrow against his use rights. 2n the other hand, there

is some insurance against ris% in the system, in that the farmer can return his land to the village

committee if he wants to stop farming and start some other sort of business. Then, if this businessdoes not wor%, he can get a new contract with the village committee and return to farming. The fact

that the land is redistributable by the village committee also ensures that no one is left landless0 this

creates a form of social welfare . citation needed "

There have been a number of proposals to reform this system and they have tended to be in the

direction of fully privati8ing rural land for the alleged purpose of increasing efficiency. These

proposals have usually not received any significant support, largely because of the popularity of the

current system among the farmers themselves. There is little ris% that the village committee will

attempt to impose a bad contract on the farmers, since this would reduce the amount of money the

village committee receives. (t the same time, the farmer has some flexibility to decide to leave

farming for other ventures and to return at a later time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hochttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hochttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_(law)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaopinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_tenurehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_tenurehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_worldhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contracthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contracthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contracthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_welfarehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_welfarehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hochttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_(law)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaopinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatizationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_tenurehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_worldhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contracthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_welfarehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed

socialist law

Documents