Soviet Politicians and Criminal Prosecutions: The Logic of Party Intervention

• NCJ Number: 109275
• Author(s): P H Solomon
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 50 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Council for Soviet and East European Research
• Corporate Author: Soviet Interview Project
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Working Paper No. 33

Annotation

Based on approximately 50 interviews with lawyers who had emigrated from the USSR, this essay analyzes rationales underlying the intervention of party officials in the prosecution of nonpolitical criminal cases.

Abstract

Party officials had responsibilities for supervising the work of justice agencies and disciplining wayward members of the party. Consequently, the essay first investigates to what extent the execution of these functions encouraged interventions into the prosecution of particular cases. This discussion concludes that party officials who supervised legal agencies rarely involved themselves in cases. Secret party rules, however, gave party secretaries the authority to screen prosecutions against members of the party until Krushchev's time. The practice survived informally from 1964 through 1984 and was ignored by Soviet leaders. The essay examines the dynamics of intervention, especially resistance to party advice and the resolution of conflicts. It suggests that rationales for intervention fell into two categories: protecting executives who had committed corporate crimes and protecting persons whose prosecution seemed to discredit the party or the state. Some party secretaries also used their leverage over legal officials to serve wholly personal goals. The author discusses consequences of intervention, factors contributing to leaders' tolerance in the post-Krushchev era, and reform strategies. Data on informants and 71 footnotes.