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Soviet Union [USSR] Military Justice
Military justice in the Soviet Union was administered by the
Main Military Procuracy, which was subordinated to the procurator
general and responsible for ensuring that laws were observed within
the military. It also supervised criminal investigations of armed
forces personnel carried out by its employees, as well as by the
KGB (in cases of political crime). Military cases were tried in
military tribunals, which were under the authority of the Supreme
Court.
The Judiciary and the Legal Profession
The court structure in the Soviet Union, set forth in the
Constitution and governed by several all-union and republic
statutes, was quite complex. In courts of first instance, one judge
sat with two elected people's assessors (lay judges), who were
ordinary citizens, elected at general meetings of factories,
offices, collective farms, or residential blocks for a term of two
years. Appellate and review procedure came before a bench of three
judges. Although a legal education was not required and any citizen
over the age of twenty-four could in principle be elected to the
post of judge, more than 95 percent of all judges had higher legal
education. The party carefully screened candidates for election to
the position of judge, which had a term of five years. Most judges
above the local level were party members. In addition to
determining innocence or guilt, judges performed an important
function of socialization, often lecturing defendants for failing
to uphold socialist values. Judges were part of the union-republic
Ministry of Justice and the fifteen republic ministries of justice.
There was no system of binding precedent, but supreme courts at
all-union and republic levels gave "guiding explanations" to be
followed.
Advocates, or defense attorneys, were controlled by the
Ministry of Justice at the all-union and republic level and at the
local level by the justice department of the local soviet.
Advocates were usually law school graduates with some practical
training. The Soviet Union had approximately 18,000 advocates,
organized into colleges of around 150 attorneys each. These
colleges maintained consultation bureaus, each with a staff of
about twenty, in most towns and cities. The bureaus provided legal
advice on a variety of issues, such as divorce, custody,
inheritance, property rights, and housing disputes. The bureaus
also offered legal defense for persons accused of criminal
offenses. According to the 1977 Constitution, all defendants had
the right to legal counsel. Legal fees were set by the state and
were low enough for most people to afford. According to Soviet
émigrés, however, many defense lawyers expected additional payments
or gifts "under the table."
Legal advisers to government agencies and departments,
enterprises, factories, and
state farms (see Glossary) were called
iuriskonsul'ty. Numbering approximately 29,000 in 1989, they
represented their employer in court and drafted internal rules,
contracts, and commercial documents.
Data as of May 1989
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