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Soviet Union [USSR] THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, THE JUDICIAL ORGANS, AND NONPOLITICAL CRIME
The Soviet Union had two separate legal systems. The first
maintained law and order on a daily basis, enforced the law, and
adjudicated disputes that arose among the citizenry. This system
was administered by the organs of justice: the MVD, the Procuracy,
the Ministry of Justice, and the courts. The other legal system,
administered by the KGB on behalf of the party leadership, was
arbitrary and repressive and was used to suppress and punish
critics of the Soviet regime. Some cases did not fall neatly into
one category or another. There was a gray area in which a seemingly
ordinary case took on a political character. As Western expert
Gordon B. Smith pointed out, "Soviet legal policy must bridge these
two systems, providing a framework for the functioning of each."
Data as of May 1989
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