Guins George. Soviet Law and Soviet Society

The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1954. — 470 p. — ISBN 978-94-015-0324-2; 978-94-015-0869-8 (eBook)A study which aims to make clear the unique and specific characteristics of the Soviet regime is not a simple matter; it requires economic, psychological and sociological analysis of the legal order established for realization of the communist program. It is not the details but the foundations and basic principles of the Soviet system which ought to be expounded first and foremost, and for that purpose an almost encyclopedic review of all branches of the Soviet law is necessary. The subject of such a study is thus exceedingly complex and hardly exhausted in the present work. The Marxist philosophy of Law is based on an erroneous assumption that all legal institutions are purely an instrument of class domination. Because of that one-sided and erroneous approach, the cultural significance of some of the basic principles of the traditional system of law and their beneficial, stimulating, and educative effects are ignored. In fact, some legal institutions, like property rights and family law, have roots in human nature itself and therefore cannot and must not be eradicated completely. Some others are the result of lasting development and struggle for the perfection of the social order. We, people of the XXth century, are so accustomed to live under the protection of such legal rules that we forget sometimes how they were acquired and established by our forefathers. The attempt against certain rules, penal law and the judicial procedure cannot be characterized except as reactionary and demoralizing and cannot be justified.Introduction - A legal approach to the study of communismSoviet Philosophy of LawSoviet law and the legacy of the past
Soviet ethics
Soviet concept of law and state
Law does not wither away in the Soviet Union
Four stages in the development of Soviet lawSoviet Economic LawLegal foundations of the centralized economy
The sphere of economic freedomCivil LawProperty rights
Contracts
Inheritance lawLand Law and Labor LawKolkhozes
Soviet labour law
Penalties and rewards as incentives for workState LawFoundations of political power in the U.S.S.R.
Soviet centralism and national problems
Elections
The individual and the state
Democracy of "the highest type"Soviet SocietySocial stratification
Organization of social life
Family lawSoviet JusticeCrime and punishment
The judicial administrationPrinciples and Practice of International LawTwo systems of international law
Soviet satellitesReferences and bibliography

Index of authors cited and quoted in References
Index of subjects and proper names in the text