Prosecutor General of the USSR
Encyclopedia
The Procurator General of the USSR (Генеральный прокурор СССР in Russian
, or Generalnyi prokuror SSSR), was the highest functionary of the Office of Public Procurator of the USSR, responsible for the whole system of offices of public procurator
s and supervision of their activities on the territory of the Soviet Union
.
had its historical roots in Imperial Russia, and under Soviet law
public procurators had wide ranging responsibilities including, but not limited to, those of public prosecutors
found in other legal systems
. Offices of Public Procurator
s were and are still used in other countries adhering to the doctrine of Socialist law
.
The Office of Public Procurator of the USSR was created in 1936, and its head was called Public Procurator of the USSR until 1946, when it was changed to Procurator General of the USSR. According to the 1936 Soviet Constitution
, the Procurator General exercised the highest degree of direct or indirect (through subordinate public procurators) control over the accurate execution of law
s by all ministries
, departments, their subordinate establishments and enterprise
s, executive and administrative bodies of local Soviets, cooperative
organizations, officials (including judges in court proceedings), and citizens on behalf of the state.
The Procurator General was appointed by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for a 7-year term and given a class rank of the Active state counselor of justice. His deputies and Procurator General of the Military were appointed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
of the USSR on recommendation from Procurator General. The Procurator General appointed public procurators of the Soviet republics
and, on their recommendation, public procurators of autonomous republic
s, krai
s, oblast
s and autonomous oblast
s. He also issued orders and instructions for all of the offices of public procurators, instructed on differentiation of their competence
, etc.
The Procurator General had the right to present his issues to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet that needed to be solved in the legislative manner or demanded interpretation of the law.
The Procurator General's participation in the plenary session
s of the Supreme Court of the USSR
was mandatory. He had the right to obtain on demand any case from any court for checking purposes, voice his protest over a law, verdict, decree, or definition, which had already come into force, of any court and to suspend them until the matter was resolved.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, or Generalnyi prokuror SSSR), was the highest functionary of the Office of Public Procurator of the USSR, responsible for the whole system of offices of public procurator
Public procurator
A public procurator is an officer of a state charged with both the investigation and prosecution of crime. The office is a feature of a civil law inquisitorial rather than common law adversarial system of law and is usually found in current or former communist states...
s and supervision of their activities on the territory of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
History
The office of procuratorProcurator (Russia)
Procurator , was an office initially created by Peter the Great, the first Emperor of the Russian Empire, in an effort to bring the Russian Orthodox Church more directly under his control.The Russian word prokuror also has the meaning of prosecutor....
had its historical roots in Imperial Russia, and under Soviet law
Soviet law
The Law of the Soviet Union—also known as Socialist Law—was the law developed in the Soviet Union following the October Revolution of 1917...
public procurators had wide ranging responsibilities including, but not limited to, those of public prosecutors
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
found in other legal systems
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
. Offices of Public Procurator
Public procurator
A public procurator is an officer of a state charged with both the investigation and prosecution of crime. The office is a feature of a civil law inquisitorial rather than common law adversarial system of law and is usually found in current or former communist states...
s were and are still used in other countries adhering to the doctrine of Socialist law
Socialist law
Socialist 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...
.
The Office of Public Procurator of the USSR was created in 1936, and its head was called Public Procurator of the USSR until 1946, when it was changed to Procurator General of the USSR. According to the 1936 Soviet Constitution
1936 Soviet Constitution
The 1936 Soviet constitution, adopted on December 5, 1936, and also known as the "Stalin" constitution, redesigned the government of the Soviet Union.- Basic provisions :...
, the Procurator General exercised the highest degree of direct or indirect (through subordinate public procurators) control over the accurate execution of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
s by all ministries
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
, departments, their subordinate establishments and enterprise
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
s, executive and administrative bodies of local Soviets, cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
organizations, officials (including judges in court proceedings), and citizens on behalf of the state.
The Procurator General was appointed by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for a 7-year term and given a class rank of the Active state counselor of justice. His deputies and Procurator General of the Military were appointed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was a Soviet governmental institution – a permanent body of the Supreme Soviets . This body was of the all-Union level , as well as in all Soviet republics and autonomous republics...
of the USSR on recommendation from Procurator General. The Procurator General appointed public procurators of the Soviet republics
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
and, on their recommendation, public procurators of autonomous republic
Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union were administrative units created for certain nations. The ASSRs had a status lower than the union republics of the Soviet Union, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs....
s, krai
Krai
Krai or kray was a type of an administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, and is one of the types of the federal subjects of modern Russia ....
s, oblast
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
s and autonomous oblast
Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union
Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union were administrative units created for a number of smaller nations, which were given autonomy within the republics of the Soviet Union.-Azerbaijan SSR:*Nagorno-Karabakh AO -Byelorussian SSR:...
s. He also issued orders and instructions for all of the offices of public procurators, instructed on differentiation of their competence
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
, etc.
The Procurator General had the right to present his issues to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet that needed to be solved in the legislative manner or demanded interpretation of the law.
The Procurator General's participation in the plenary session
Plenary session
Plenary session is a term often used in conferences to define the part of the conference when all members of all parties are to attend.These sessions may contain a broad range of content from keynotes to panel discussions and are not necessarily related to a specific style of delivery.The term has...
s of the Supreme Court of the USSR
Supreme Court of the USSR
The Supreme Court of the USSR was the supreme court of the Soviet Union during its existence. The Supreme Court of the USSR included the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR and other elements which were not typical of Supreme Courts found in other countries, then or now.-See also:*...
was mandatory. He had the right to obtain on demand any case from any court for checking purposes, voice his protest over a law, verdict, decree, or definition, which had already come into force, of any court and to suspend them until the matter was resolved.
Procurators General
- Pyotr KrasikovPyotr KrasikovPyotr Ananyevich Krasikov was a functionary of the All-Union Communist Party and the Soviet Union.He was the first Procurator General of the Soviet Union....
(15 March 1924–20 June 1933) - Ivan Akulov (20 June 1933–3 March 1935)
- Andrey VyshinskyAndrey VyshinskyAndrey Januaryevich Vyshinsky – 22 November 1954) was a Soviet politician, jurist and diplomat.He is known as a state prosecutor of Joseph Stalin's Moscow trials and in the Nuremberg trials. He was the Soviet Foreign Minister from 1949 to 1953, after having served as Deputy Foreign...
(3 March 1935–31 May 1939, from 1931 - the prosecutor of the RSFSR) - Mikhail Pankratov (31 May 1939–7 August 1940). Mikhail Ivanovich Pankratiev (31 May 1939–7 August 1940).
- Viktor Bochkov (7 August 1940–11 March 1943)
- Konstantin Gorshenin (12 March 1943–4 February 1948, from 1946—Procurator General of the USSR)
- Gregory Safonov (5 February 1948–8 August 1953)
- Roman RudenkoRoman RudenkoRoman Andreyevich Rudenko was a Soviet lawyer. He was the prosecutor of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1944-1953 and Chief prosecutor of the entire Soviet Union from 1953. He is also well known for acting as the Soviet Chief Prosecutor at the main trial of the major Nazi war...
(8 August 1953–23 January 1981) - Alexander Rekunkov (9 February 1981–26 May 1988)
- Aleksandr Sukharev (26 May 1988–22 September 1990)
- Nikolai Trubin (11 December 1990–29 January 1992)
See also
- People's Court of the USSRPeople's court (Soviet Union)People's court in the late Soviet Union is a court of first instance which handled the majority of civil and criminal offenses, as well as certain administrative law offenses....
- Supreme Court of the USSRSupreme Court of the USSRThe Supreme Court of the USSR was the supreme court of the Soviet Union during its existence. The Supreme Court of the USSR included the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR and other elements which were not typical of Supreme Courts found in other countries, then or now.-See also:*...
- Ministry of Justice of the USSRMinistry of Justice (Soviet Union)The Ministry of Justice of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , formed on 15 March 1946, was one of the most important government offices in the Soviet Union. It was formerly known as the People's Commissariat for Justice...
- Procurator General of the Russian FederationProsecutor General of RussiaThe Prosecutor General of Russia heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russian Federation ....