The USSR Constitution of 1936 is subordinated to solving the problem of eradicating the exploitation of "man by man" and preventing the revival of the system of exploitation of "man by man" and its single manifestations in the future.
This is its highest idea, the idea of the whole people (and in essence the idea is global - universal, which found its expression in the state emblem of the USSR) - the so-called now "national idea". This idea expresses the highest meaning in the hierarchy of the provisions of the 1936 Constitution of the USSR, to which everything else is subordinated in it. This is stated in her text directly, unambiguously and repeatedly.
We have already begun an analysis of the 1936 Constitution last year (http://inance.ru/2014/12/constitution/). Today we continue to acquaint the reader with its conceptually significant provisions.
Let's turn to the text of the Constitution of 1936
Chapter I. Social order
Article 1.... The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of workers and peasants.
Article 2.... The political basis of the USSR is formed by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies, which have grown and become stronger as a result of the overthrow of the power of the landlords and capitalists and the conquest of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Article 3.... All power in the USSR belongs to the working people of town and country, represented by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies.
Article 4.. Economic basis The USSR is made up of the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of the instruments and means of production, which were established as a result of the liquidation of the capitalist economic system, the abolition of private ownership of the instruments and means of production, and the abolition of the exploitation of man by man.
Article 5.... Socialist property in the USSR has either the form of state property (national property) or the form of cooperative-collective farm property (property of individual collective farms, property of cooperative associations).
Article 6... Land, its subsoil, waters, forests, factories, factories, mines, mines, railway, water and air transport, banks, communication facilities, large agricultural enterprises organized by the state (state farms, machine-tractor stations, etc.), as well as public utilities and the main housing stock in cities and industrial centers is state property, that is, the national property.
Article 7.... Public enterprises in collective farms and cooperative organizations with their live and dead implements, products manufactured by collective farms and cooperative organizations, as well as their public buildings constitute the public, socialist property of collective farms and cooperative organizations. Each collective farm yard, in addition to the main income from the public collective farm economy, has a small amount for personal use. private plot land and personal ownership of a subsidiary farm on a personal plot, a dwelling house, productive livestock, poultry and small agricultural implements - in accordance with the charter of an agricultural artel.
Article 8.... The land occupied by collective farms is assigned to them for free and unlimited use, that is, forever.
Article 9.... Along with the socialist economic system, which is the dominant form of economy in the USSR, small private farming of individual peasants and handicraftsmen, based on personal labor and excluding the exploitation of other people's labor, is permitted by law.
Article 10.... The right to personal property of citizens to their earned income and savings, to a dwelling house and ancillary household, to household items and household items, to items of personal consumption and convenience, as well as the right to inherit the personal property of citizens, are protected by law.
Article 11.. Economic life The USSR is determined and guided by the state national economic plan in the interests of increasing social wealth, steadily raising the material and cultural level of the working people, strengthening the independence of the USSR and strengthening its defense capability. Article 12.... Labor in the USSR is a duty and a matter of honor for every able-bodied citizen according to the principle: "He who does not work, he does not eat." In the USSR the principle of socialism is being implemented: "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work."
And the guarantees of the rights and freedoms of the individual by the Soviet government, proclaimed in the USSR Constitution of 1936, appear as a result, provided only by the real eradication of the exploitation of "man by man" in the life of society. Those. this correlation of legal norms in the USSR Constitution of 1936 (measures to protect society and citizens personally from the exploitation of "man by man", the rights and freedoms of the individual, the duties of a citizen in relation to the state and society) is a consequence of the conscious expression in the jurisdiction of the USSR of objective sociocultural laws, and not populism, not politicking and not demagoguery of the Bolsheviks and I.V. Stalin personally.
And the Constitution of the USSR of 1936 is the first expression in the jurisdiction of this kind of objective laws of the existence of human society in the history of today's global civilization.
Even before the publication of the initial draft of this Constitution, I.V. Stalin talked about the rights and freedom of the individual with the authoritative representative of the Western liberal community - a successful journalist from the United States Roy Howard (1883 - 1964), who in 1925 became a "partner" in the newspaper company Scripps-Howard.
Howard... You admit that a communist society in the USSR has not yet been built. State socialism was built. Fascism in Italy and National Socialism in Germany claim to have achieved similar results. Isn't the violation of personal freedom and other deprivations in the interests of the state a common feature for all these states?
Stalin... (...) we have built this society not to infringe on personal freedom, but to make the human person feel free. We built it for real personal freedom, freedom without quotes. It is difficult for me to imagine what kind of “personal freedom” an unemployed person can have who walks around hungry and does not find the use of his labor. Real freedom is only there, where exploitation has been abolished, where there is no oppression of some people by others(in bold when we quote), where there is no unemployment and poverty, where a person does not tremble because tomorrow he may lose his job, home, bread. Only in such a society is real, not paper-based, personal and any other freedom possible. (...)
Howard... In the USSR, a new constitution is being developed, providing for a new electoral system. To what extent is this new system can change the situation in the USSR, since only one party will still stand in the elections?
Stalin... (...) electoral lists for elections will be submitted not only by the Communist Party, but also by all kinds of public non-party organizations. And we have hundreds of them. We do not have opposing parties, just as we do not have opposing classes of capitalists and a class of workers exploited by capitalists.
Stalin. Our society is made up exclusively of free laborers in town and country.- workers, peasants, intelligentsia. Each of these strata can have its own special interests and reflect them through existing public organizations. But as soon as there are no classes, as soon as the boundaries between classes are blurred, as soon as there remains only a certain, but not a fundamental difference between the various strata of socialist society, there can be no fertile ground for the creation of parties fighting among themselves. Where there are not several classes, there cannot be several parties, for a party is part of a class. (…) It seems to you that there will be no electoral struggle. But it will be, and I foresee a very lively electoral struggle. We have quite a few institutions that work poorly. It happens that one or another local authority is not able to satisfy one or another of the many-sided and ever-growing needs of the working people of town and country. Did you or did you not build a good school? Have you improved your living conditions? Are you not a bureaucrat? Has it helped to make our work more efficient, our life more cultural? These will be the criteria with which millions of voters will approach candidates, discarding the unfit, deleting them from the lists, nominating the best and nominating them. Yes, the electoral struggle will be lively, it will take place around many burning issues, mainly practical issues of paramount importance for the people. Our new electoral system will tighten up all institutions and organizations, make them improve their work. General, equal, direct and secret elections in the USSR will be a whip in the hands of the population against poorly functioning government bodies. Our new constitution will be, in my opinion, the most democratic constitution that exists in the world.
Personal freedoms and guarantees of personal inviolability were proclaimed by the USSR Constitution of 1936. And everything that JV Stalin explained to R. Howard found expression in the "Stalin Constitution".
Chapter IX. Court and prosecutor's office
Section 102... Justice in the USSR is administered by the Supreme Court of the USSR, Supreme Courts union republics, regional and regional courts, courts of autonomous republics and autonomous regions, district courts, special courts of the USSR created by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, people's courts.
Section 103... The consideration of cases in all courts is carried out with the participation of people's assessors, except in cases specifically provided for by law.
Section 104... The Supreme Court of the USSR is the highest judicial body. The Supreme Court of the USSR is responsible for overseeing the judicial activities of all judicial bodies of the USSR and the Union republics.
Section 105... The Supreme Court of the USSR and special courts of the USSR are elected by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for a term of five years.
Section 106... The Supreme Courts of the Union Republics are elected by the Supreme Soviets of the Union Republics for a term of five years.
Section 107... The Supreme Courts of the Autonomous Republics are elected by the Supreme Soviets of the Autonomous Republics for a term of five years.
Section 108... Regional and regional courts, courts of autonomous regions, district courts are elected by regional, regional or district Soviets of Working People's Deputies or Soviets of Working People's Deputies of autonomous regions for a term of five years.
Section 109... The people's courts are elected by the citizens of the region on the basis of universal, direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot - for a term of three years.
Section 110... Legal proceedings are conducted in the language of a union or autonomous republic or autonomous region, with provision for persons who do not know this language, full familiarization with the case materials through an interpreter, as well as the right to speak in court in their native language
Section 111... The proceedings in all courts of the USSR are open, since the law does not provide for exceptions, while ensuring the accused's right to defense.
Section 112... Judges are independent and obey only the law.
Section 113... The highest supervision over the exact execution of laws by all People's Commissariats and institutions subordinate to them, as well as individual officials, as well as citizens of the USSR, rests with the Prosecutor of the USSR. Section 114... The USSR Prosecutor is appointed by the USSR Supreme Soviet for a term of seven years.
Section 115... Republican, regional, regional prosecutors, as well as prosecutors of autonomous republics and autonomous regions are appointed by the Prosecutor of the USSR for a period of five years.
Section 116... District, district and city prosecutors are appointed by the prosecutors of the Union republics with the approval of the Prosecutor of the USSR for a period of five years.
Section 117... Bodies of the prosecutor's office exercise their functions independently of any local bodies, subordinate only to the Prosecutor of the USSR.
Chapter X. Basic rights and obligations of citizens
Section 118... Citizens of the USSR have the right to work, that is, the right to receive guaranteed work with remuneration for their work in accordance with its quantity and quality. The right to work is ensured by a socialist organization National economy, steady growth productive forces Soviet society, eliminating the possibility of economic crises and eliminating unemployment. Section 119... Citizens of the USSR have the right to rest. The right to rest is ensured by reducing the working day for the overwhelming majority of workers to 7 hours, establishing annual leaves for workers and employees with the retention of wages, providing for the service of workers a wide network of sanatoriums, rest homes, clubs.
Article 120... Citizens of the USSR have the right to material security in old age, as well as in the event of illness and disability. This right is ensured by the extensive development of social insurance for workers and employees at the expense of the state, free medical care for workers, and the provision of a wide network of health resorts for the use of workers.
Section 121... Citizens of the USSR have the right to education. This right is ensured by compulsory primary education, free education, including higher education, a system of state scholarships for the vast majority of students in higher education, education in schools in their native language, organization of free production, technical and agronomic services in factories, state farms, machine-tractor stations and collective farms. training of workers.
Section 122... A woman in the USSR is granted equal rights with a man in all spheres of economic, state, cultural and socio-political life.
The possibility of exercising these rights of women is ensured by providing women with the same right as men to work, pay, rest, social insurance and education, state protection of the interests of mothers and children, providing women with paid leave during pregnancy, a wide network of maternity hospitals, nurseries and kindergartens. ...
Section 123... Equality of citizens of the USSR, regardless of their nationality and race, in all spheres of economic, state, cultural and socio-political life is an immutable law. Any direct or indirect restriction of rights or, conversely, the establishment of direct or indirect advantages of citizens depending on their race and nationality, as well as any preaching of racial or national exclusiveness, or hatred and neglect, are punishable by law.
Section 124... In order to ensure freedom of conscience for citizens, the church in the USSR is separated from the state and the school from the church. Freedom of worship and freedom of anti-religious propaganda are recognized for all citizens.
Section 125... In accordance with the interests of the working people and in order to strengthen the socialist system, the citizens of the USSR are guaranteed by law: a) freedom of speech, b) freedom of the press, c) freedom of assembly and rallies, d) freedom of street processions and demonstrations. These rights of citizens are ensured by the provision of printing houses, stocks of paper, public buildings, streets, communications and other material conditions necessary for their implementation to workers and their organizations.
Section 126... In accordance with the interests of the working people and in order to develop the organizational initiative and political activity of the popular masses, the citizens of the USSR are guaranteed the right to join public organizations: trade unions, cooperative associations, youth organizations, sports and defense organizations, cultural, technical and scientific societies, and the most active and Conscious citizens from the ranks of the working class and other strata of the working people are united in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), which is the vanguard of the working people in their struggle to strengthen and develop the socialist system and represents the leading core of all organizations of working people, both public and state.
Section 127... The citizens of the USSR are guaranteed personal inviolability. No one can be arrested except by order of a court or with the sanction of a prosecutor.
Section 128... The inviolability of the home of citizens and the privacy of correspondence are protected by law.
Section 129... USSR grants the right of asylum foreign citizens, persecuted for the protection of the interests of workers, or scientific activity, or the national liberation struggle.
Section 130... Every citizen of the USSR is obliged to abide by the Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, to comply with laws, to observe labor discipline, to treat public duty honestly, to respect the rules of socialist society.
Section 131... Every citizen of the USSR is obliged to protect and strengthen public, socialist property, as the sacred and inviolable basis of the Soviet system, as a source of wealth and power of the homeland, as a source of a prosperous and cultural life all workers. Persons encroaching on public, socialist property are enemies of the people.
Section 132... Universal military service is law. Military service in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army is an honorable duty of citizens of the USSR.
Section 133... Defense of the fatherland is the sacred duty of every citizen of the USSR. Treason to the motherland: violation of the oath, going over to the side of the enemy, causing damage to the military power of the state, espionage - punishable to the fullest extent of the law, as the most serious atrocity "
Why is the "Stalinist Constitution" unacceptable to the Russian "elite"?
An unbiased analysis of the text of the 1936 Constitution of the USSR shows that this is a sound not only declaratively political, but also a legal document. And there are no textological grounds in it to evaluate it as a "decorative screen", the purpose of which is to present in a fine form the anti-popular dictatorship of an autocratic tyrant, whose will was guided by the only ruling party and state security organs. The rights and freedoms of citizens of the USSR are proclaimed by the Constitution of 1936 quite definitely and at the same time reasonably, in contrast to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993. That is why, when the USSR Constitution of 1936 was published, it was recognized by many public figures, writers, politicians as the most democratic in comparison with the constitutions of other states, and above all - with the constitutions of the so-called "developed" bourgeois-liberal democracies. The abuses of power in 1937 and subsequent ones have nothing to do with its text, contrary to the opinions of many.
Tyrants do not need such constitutions in terms of content, since such an understanding of law (jurisdiction) inevitably and inevitably undermines tyranny over time due to the personal development of people. Tyrannies give rise to constitutions that are different in content.
The 1993 RF Constitution is the constitution of an anonymous corporate, not a sole tyranny. But the possibility of realizing anonymous corporate tyranny badly reaches the consciousness of most ordinary people, and they, even realizing the tyrannical nature of power, strive to personify it: so for many V.V. Putin is an autocratic tyrant dictator, the sole ruler of Russia, despite the fact that one person is not capable of replacing the state apparatus, in the work of which the arbitrariness of officials is always expressed, to a greater or lesser extent, not under the control of the head of state.
Marginal notes
In this context, it is worth considering Khazanov's attempt to "crown" Putin and assign all responsibility to him.
TASS: It turned out that the artist did not come to the Kremlin empty-handed and prepared to present his present to the head of state, which he had prepared for Putin's recent birthday. It turned out that Khazanov had brought a copy of the Russian imperial crown to the Kremlin.
If you had brought something more modest, I would have kept it for myself, but now I will have to hand it over to the Kremlin,
- said Putin.
Khazanov suggested that one crown will continue to stand in the Diamond Fund, and his gift "can stand in the office" of the head of state.
No, no, thanks a lot,
- Putin refused the offer.
Taking the gift in his hands, the head of state placed the crown on the artist, noting:
Since the hero of the day is not me, but you, then this is exactly what will suit you.
The artist, however, noticed that "this hat" is hard for him (http://tass.ru/obschestvo/2488489).
Vladimir Putin reacted quite correctly, putting on the “Monomakh's hat” he proposed, and initially incorrectly, hinting that society, and not individuals, is responsible for the fate of society itself. Putin thus made it clear that the role offered by Khazanov was unacceptable to him, and thus Khazanov himself offered to try on what he was offering him.
- Ensuring the rights and freedoms of the individual, proclaimed in the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, in its context is based on objective socio-cultural laws, i.e. stems from them.
- A fair share of the problems of post-Soviet Russia stems from the fact that attempts to force the country to live according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993, overflowing with pompous liberal gossip about democracy, freedom and human rights, covering up cynicism, hypocrisy, treachery and undeniable stupidity in its text and subtext, lead to conflict with the objective laws of society, and therefore its declarations, in principle, cannot be implemented. It is for this reason that she is a "decorative screen" hiding an anonymous supranational mafia-corporate tyranny, and her declarations are purely demagogic - populist - in nature. These essential features of the Constitution of the Russian Federation will be considered by us in the following articles.
However, it would be wrong to represent the USSR of the Stalin era as the ideal of social life embodied in the past: otherwise it would have been 1937, the catastrophe of the summer of 1941 and many other disasters and abuse of power of those times would have been impossible, and the USSR would now be the leader of civilizational development and determine the nature of globalization. The current legislation of the USSR and bylaws of that era did not really correspond to the Constitution in everything, and in some aspects even contradicted it, some of the provisions declared by the Constitution were not expressed either in the rest of the legislation or in uncodified social and political practice. The real life of the USSR did not comply with the Constitution of 1936, neither before its adoption, nor after - until it was replaced by the USSR Constitution of 1977.
But the reasons for this are not in the Constitution, but in society: in statistics, i.e. in the distribution of people according to the types of structure of the psyche; in the distribution of people by types of personal culture, perception of the world and thinking; in the attitude of people to state power, to the economic system and its components; in relation to those who have assumed certain powers of authority in state and economic management, to the rest of society. And if we analyze this problem, then the conclusion is inevitable:
The USSR Constitution of 1936 and Soviet society of that era (its morality, culture of perception and thinking, worldview, ethics prevailing in it) mutuallydid not match each other.
Let us consider the integral characteristics of the reasons for the inconsistency of life in the USSR with the Constitution of 1936, expressed by different people, who understood something in the life of human societies.
Those who are willing to give up their freedom in order to acquire short-lived protection from danger do not deserve either freedom or security.
- Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790), American politician, scientist and educator, one of the co-authors of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
Whoever becomes a creeping worm can then complain that he has been crushed?
- Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804).
Only he is worthy of happiness and freedom, who goes to battle for them every day.
- IV Goette (1749 - 1832), "Faust".
A righteous community society made up of scoundrels.
- an assessment of the prospects for a socialist experiment in Russia several decades before its start by V.O. Klyuchevsky (1841 - 1911).
We will quote one more statement outside the chronology:
Those who are smart enough not to get involved in politics are punished by the fact that they are ruled by people stupider than themselves.
- Plato (427 or 428 - 348 or 347 BC, Athens, ancient Greece).
The quoted statement of B. Franklin in Russian Empire and in the USSR the overwhelming majority did not know. It is also unknown to the overwhelming majority of Russians today: we do not study in detail the history of other countries and peoples and world history... but it should be: it is useful. The same applies to the statements of I. Kant and Plato.
Knowledge of the Faust plot in the Russian Empire was one of the signs of a person's belonging to an educated, culturally developed part of society. In the USSR, "Faust" for a long time was included in the compulsory course of literature in the system of universal compulsory education, and this phrase was read at least once in a lifetime by the overwhelming majority of the country's adult population. However, only a few out of thousands have attributed this principle to themselves and follow it in their lives; the overwhelming majority have forgotten and do not even suspect about the existence in the life of a crowd-"elite" society of the ethical regularity expressed by B. Franklin, I. Kant and I.V. Goethe.
The above statement by V.O. During his lifetime, Klyuchevsky was his personal intellectual property as a diary entry. Therefore, perhaps, one of his close friends heard him, with whom he discussed the problems of history, current politics and prospects. But it did not spread even to the educated part of society, not to mention its popularity among the "socialists" themselves. In Soviet and post-Soviet times, acquaintance with the works of V.O. Klyuchevsky was mainly the lot of professional historians, who for the most part are not interested in his notebooks of aphorisms. Therefore, this anticipatory real events assessment of the prospects of an attempt to build socialism in Russia - without a moral and ethical transformation of society - was unknown to the overwhelming majority both then and now. And the analysis of the events of that era does not correlate with it in the official historical science.
If we analyze the essence of Soviet power in its expression in the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, then Soviet power can exist only as the power of the people themselves, and not as the power of some “elite” that is somehow isolated from society, which is entrusted with the mission of ruling the state in the interests of the people.
FEDERAL EDUCATION AGENCY
CHITA STATE UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE FOR RETRAINING AND ADVANCING
abstract
on "History of State and Law of Russia"
USSR Constitution 1936
Chita 2006
Plan
Introduction. 4
New Constitution of 1936 General principles. 5
The main trends in the development of Soviet law in the 1930s. 7
Citizens' rights under the Constitution of 1936 9
The 1936 Constitution and Political Repression. 16
Conclusion. eighteen
During the period from 1924 to 1936 (after the adoption of the first Constitution of the USSR and before the adoption of the second), significant economic, political and social changes took place in the country.
The diversified economic structure has been reconstructed with the aim of strengthening the state planning sector. The remnants of the "exploiting classes" were eliminated, the social composition of the intelligentsia and the working class changed (many people from the countryside appeared in its midst).
Strong transformations took place among the peasantry.
A new ruling stratum has formed, which has created its own bureaucracy and ideologists. There have been significant changes in the sphere of nation-building. Many changes have also taken place in the structure and system of government and national economy management bodies.
A. Sources and scope of law
On the basis of the USSR Constitution, all power was concentrated in the Supreme Soviet, the principle of separation of powers was rejected as "bourgeois".
In a row legal sources the primary role was assigned to the law. A law in a formal sense is any act adopted by a representative body, in a material sense it is an act that does not necessarily come from the legislature, but contains norms of general importance that establish certain rules of behavior.
According to the 1936 Constitution, the formal and material aspects of the Soviet law always coincide. In practice, the Supreme Council delegates its functions (for the period between sessions) to the Presidium. The Council of People's Commissars also makes decisions and decisions on the basis of and in pursuance of applicable laws.
The process of delegating legislative power from one body to another was facilitated by the fact that these state-power structures were consolidated by party-political unity. The leading party bodies took the most active part in their formation.
\ Since the 1930s, an increasing number of government decrees began to be adopted jointly with the leading party body of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Party decisions actually acquired the character of normative acts. This transformation was also due to the idea of law as an instrument of state policy (therefore, the acts that governed the most serious political actions, for example, the collectivization of agriculture, came from two sources: the government and the Central Committee). The processes of concentration of political power within a narrow circle of party and state officials (nomenklatura) were accompanied by a narrowing civil rights for the bulk of the population.
This was especially evident in the areas of labor, collective farm and criminal law.
The introduction of passports and the institution of registration increased administrative control over the population. Rural residents, who often did not receive passports, were actually tied to their place of residence and limited in the right to move around the country.
B. Legal regulation of agriculture
In the field of agriculture, a number of measures were taken to strengthen the planning principles.
In May 1939, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution "On measures to protect public lands of collective farms from fragmentation", securing collective farm lands within the established limits and limiting the process of increasing the personal lands of collective farmers.
In January 1940, the same bodies adopted a decree "On the obligatory supply of wool to the state", in March - "On changes in the policy of procurement and purchases of agricultural products."
Back in September 1939, the agricultural tax system was changed, including a progressive income taxation of household plots and exemption from tax on workdays received by collective farmers. For collective farms, the per-hectare principle of taxation (on the amount of land) was established, stimulating a more intensive use of land holdings by collective farms.
Simultaneously with these measures, in April 1939, a resolution was adopted "On the Prohibition of the Exclusion of Collective Farmers from Collective Farms." The state sought to consolidate the labor force on collective farm lands and in collective farm production.
B. Legal regulation in the field of industrial production
Similar processes took place in the field of industrial labor. In December 1939, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), the Council of People's Commissars and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions adopted a resolution "On measures to strengthen labor discipline ...", which established differentiated standards of insurance coverage, depending on the length of service at a given enterprise (institution).
At the same time, the government introduced labor books in production, in which the position held, incentives and penalties imposed on the employee were recorded.
In July 1940, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the mandatory measure of labor was increased: instead of the existing seven- and six-hour working days, an eight-hour working day was established: instead of a five-day working week, a six-day one.
A month later, a new decree prohibited the unauthorized departure of workers from enterprises and institutions, as well as the transfer from one organization to another. Criminal penalties were applied to violators.
In October 1940, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the people's commissariats were granted the right to transfer workers and employees from one enterprise to another (regardless of their territorial location) in a compulsory manner.
At the same time, the Decree "On State Labor Reserves" was adopted, on the basis of which a network of vocational schools and factory schools was developed to train qualified workers. State reserves work force should have been at the direct disposal of the government.
Citizens' rights under the 1936 Constitution
In general, the 1936 Constitution enshrined the general principle of equality of citizens of the Soviet Union in only two social indicators that did not raise any political doubts: race and, oddly enough, nationality. Discrimination on the basis of race was not relevant in the Soviet Union. Moreover, the equality of all races was a proletarian principle, which was supported by the Soviet state as an international principle.
The State Statistics Committee did not keep statistics on this social indicator. And therefore, it is not possible to speculatively discuss the implementation of this principle in relation to such a social characteristic as race. A different assessment can be given to the proclamation and observance of the principle of equality on the basis of nationality.
The sign of equality on the basis of nationality was initially denied by Stalinist policy itself. After the adoption of the 1936 Constitution (as, indeed, before that), this principle was denied by everyday life. The resettlement of peoples, the acute "Jewish question" in the dimension of Stalinist policy - all of this denied the idea of equality of citizens of the USSR on the basis of nationality.
The question arises: why was the understanding of equality so limited - only on the basis of race and nationality? This is explained by the fact that the proletarian ideology, which later became the foundation of Soviet ideology, did not recognize equality on the basis of origin, property status, attitude to religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, and other circumstances.
The principle of equality on the basis of belonging to a particular religion or confession was not denied, but it was not declared in the Constitution of 1936. Article 124 of the Constitution enshrined the provision on the separation of church from state, and this consolidated the separation of believers from non-believers. Compliance with their policy of equality was not allowed. Rights were granted to those citizens who professed the state ideology, not religion. Regardless of gender, religious affiliation was the basis for the inferiority of citizens, referring them to the category of unreliable.
The origin and the principle of equality in the Soviet state were not combined in principle, since in accordance with Art. 1 of the Constitution, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a "socialist state of workers and peasants." This was the principled guideline of the state and the party, which was the party of workers and peasants. Origin not from workers and peasants initially excluded the citizen from the scope of the principle of equality, be it a man or a woman.
The property status as a social characteristic was the basis for attributing citizens to a class, to a social group. But due to the fact that the possessing classes were destroyed, the question of the property status did not arise. Equality was only possible between workers and peasants, including property equality.
This chain of exclusions can be continued, but the logic of exclusions is the same: equality was violated by the idea of forfeiture of rights if it was combined with ideological ideas. The equality of both men and women in society was subject to endless restrictions.
There can be no exceptions to the principle of equality. He is "connected" with a Citizen, who is equal in rights to another Citizen, be it a man or a woman. He is absolute, this principle.
The exemptions also concerned the principle of equality on the basis of sex. Outside of the above exceptions, equality was subtracted once more.
Article 122 of the Constitution of the USSR stipulated that "a woman in the USSR is given equal rights with (emphasis mine. - LZ) a man." This constitutional provision equalized the status of one sex with that of the other - male. There is hardly any reason to talk about the gender idea of equality of the two sexes, since the standards laid down in the Constitution were one-sided - male. This is not a standard in the modern sense, which is based on the idea of respect for human rights regardless of gender, be it a man or a woman. But this was an important step in understanding that a woman should be equal with a man in all areas of economic, state, cultural and socio-political life, albeit in conditions of limited freedom, the boundaries of which were determined by the state.
This was manifested in two more articles of the Constitution, which contained special regulations regarding the equality of citizens in the exercise of the fundamental political right - to elect and be elected.
Article 135 stipulated that elections of deputies are universal: all citizens of the USSR who have reached the age of 18, regardless of gender, have the right to participate in elections.
Any citizen could also become a deputy, regardless of gender.
Article 137 stated that “women enjoy the right to elect and be elected on an equal basis with (emphasis mine - L.Z.) - men”.
The constitutional consolidation of equality, namely the right to elect and be elected, was ensured for a long time by special political regulations of the Communist Party of the USSR. Democracy in a socialist way included, as a necessary element, the representation of women in all structures of power.
33% of women were among the members of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and similarly in the Supreme Soviets of the republics of the USSR, and up to 50% of women were represented in all structures of power at the lower level - the Soviets of People's Deputies. Women, in accordance with the ideological and political guidelines of the Communist Party, were to personify the victory of the ideology of the Soviet state and the Communist Party. The working woman, however, like the working man, had to personify the strength of the state of workers and peasants.
These "standards" were not a quota set by the state. This was the ideological stance of the party, according to which the representation of men and women personified the victory of socialist democracy. In reality, behind this was the system of governing bodies of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, which worked to demonstrate the success of the policy towards women.
This policy did not have a solid foundation, since society did not adapt the ideology and culture of gender equality. This ideology "descended" from above and, therefore, was not truly embedded in real social relations. But the illusion of achieving equality was supposed to reflect the "successes" of socialism, and it reflected this.
On the basis of gender equality, equality was adjusted towards the proletarian, socialist roles of workers - men and women. The slogan "He who does not work, he does not eat" was still generally recognized, although it had exceptions. And the seizures were made on the basis of gender.
First, the right to work was declared an obligation in the state of workers (article 12 of the Constitution). At the same time, this obligation of a citizen to work was declared as a right. Article 118 of the Constitution of the USSR established that “citizens of the USSR have the right to work, that is, the right to a guaranteed job ”(the right was ensured by the absence of unemployment).
But this right was filled with proletarian, Soviet ideological content. In accordance with the criminal and administrative legislation, persons evading the fulfillment of their labor duties were prosecuted. These standards had a legally binding force: they concerned mainly the male population. They operated until the beginning of perestroika. Those who did not work were declared a parasite.
The woman, in accordance with the idea of the Soviet state, was not only a hard worker, but also a mother. And the role of a mother certainly gave her a reason to be released from the obligation to work in production while giving her the right to be equal with a man. The right to work was not rigidly linked to the obligation to work only for women. She could only have the status of a mother. The role of the father did not relieve him of the obligation to work.
The gender-specific role of a man during all the years of Soviet power consisted of one thing: to be a toiler, a worker. The role of the father was not foreseen in the ideology of equality. And the state provided the man with work, which was not a right, but an obligation of a healthy man.
The paternity status was not provided for in the 1936 Constitution. Part 11 of Art. 122 of the USSR Constitution proclaimed state protection of the interests of mothers and children, state aid to mothers with many children and single mothers, granting women maternity leave with pay, creating a wide network of maternity hospitals, kindergartens and kindergartens.
This constitutional norm meant the reproduction of traditionally patriarchal ideas of society in relation to women and their roles in society. Despite the fact that equality for the sexes was guaranteed in all areas, paternity, the status of a father, was not enshrined at the level of constitutional legislation. According to the Constitution of 1936, there are no grounds to talk about the equality of the two subjects of family relations, father and mother.
In the 1930s, the principle of upholding the rights of women in relation to their children was practically undeniable. These are the roots of the old-fashioned family life, where the wife is the mother and the father is the worker. And this model was reproduced in the norm of the Constitution. The man did not have the right to state protection of the interests of paternity and state aid to large and single fathers. Paternity was not included as a standard of equality in the sphere of state patronage and patronage. This gender-asymmetric norm (Art. 122) reflected the idea of the unequal status of mother and father in society.
During the years of Soviet power, the state undermined the economic role of men as the head of the family. This role was destroyed by socialist wages. The state and the communist party assumed a patriarchal role in relation to the family, cementing the economic dependence of all family members as the basis of society on the employer-state.
If a woman had the right to choose: to be a mother or a worker, or to combine two roles, then a man had no such choice. He had to work. But in its only role-status, it was placed in a one-line economic dependence on the state. And he was indebted only to the state for his "well-being" (however, like a woman). He was attached to a patriarchal state and, in addition, totalitarian in its sutras. It consisted in economic dependence.
This undermined the idea that was traditional for the Russian (pre-revolutionary), in principle, patriarchal family: the head of the family is a male breadwinner. It could be a father, husband, brother - all males. The Soviet economy was not able to give the man, who was traditionally considered the head of the family, sufficient material support to support the family. Unwittingly, the socialist state, the socialist economy made the role of the head of the family economically untenable. This is one of the reasons for the change in the nature of family relations in the 20s, 30s and subsequent years.
In addition to this reason, there is another. A woman came to the socialist labor market. She received the same right to work as a man. She became economically independent. And it also determined the nature of family relationships. The family began to build up like an egalitarian family, where the husband and wife had independent earnings, but at the same time they were economically tied to the state. The woman left the economic dependence on her husband-breadwinner, and the economic role of the husband - the head of the family, breadwinner remained only in tradition - in the history of the family. From a certain time, economic power began to belong to the state - the only employer-breadwinner. The gender dependence of the two sexes on the socialist state has become a characteristic of the family and society since the beginning of the 30s.
1936 Constitution and Political Repression
It is impossible to assess the 1936 Constitution without analyzing the political repressions that followed the adoption of the Constitution.
The idea of equality was hardly fundamental during this period of the country's history. The "equality" of the two sexes - men and women - when pursuing a policy of repression is a subject of special expertise.
With the unconditional political and ideological orientation of the repressions, their important component was repression against "enemies of the people" and their families. The data, now known to everyone, published in the press, allow us to draw a conclusion. Repressed citizens of the USSR - Russia and other republics, for the most part were not "enemies of the people" They were "enemies" of the system that ruthlessly destroyed people, and the state ideology, which was forcibly imposed and spread, and which was also used to destroy people.
The repression, of course, did not have an ideology of gender symmetry under it. But by virtue of the internal logic of repression, it was a symmetry of gender repression. It reproduced the rule of destruction of people - men and women, "enemies of the people", enemies of the system. A rare family was not repressed. Even children were hurt. They were not bearers of ideology. But they were the link between generations. To the system that was destroying their parents, they were potentially dangerous. They were, from the standpoint of the totalitarian system, the successors of the clans, who personified the idea of resistance to the system.
ČSVN (a member of the family of the “enemy of the people”) are wives and children, they are sons and husbands. These are people who have been repressed. They were citizens of the USSR. They remain in the memory of those people who became the grandchildren of the repressed family members of the enemies of the people.
CHSVN is an abbreviation for gender symmetry, it is an indicator of the destruction of almost the entire family.
The gender symmetry of repression has never been explored. It should be the subject of future research to establish the truth.
The repressions were based on the power ideology, which was reproduced in the practice of destruction and humiliation of society. A woman-mother, a woman-wife, as an object of violence, in many cases was included in the circle of repressions only on the grounds that she was the object of patriarchal, totalitarian relations, where a woman was recognized as the object of the application of force - the power of power.
Conclusion
In history, the USSR Constitution of 1936 is a symbol of the power of a totalitarian state and violence. During the repression, the 1936 Constitution was used as a decoration. It was used for ideological purposes as a tool for affirming the idea of the state's concern for a citizen and his family while simultaneously destroying the family and family members. But neither men, nor women, nor children could have imagined that the Constitution of gender symmetry could become for them the last concern of the state about gender well-being, their last "funeral". Nobody has calculated the costs of using violence and the ideology of state violence. The power, muscular in nature, led to victims, and the victim, as you know, is not an object of concern for the totalitarian state. She is to be protected, be it a man or a woman. Gender symmetry in protection from violence should be the subject of special attention of society and the state.
Congresses of Soviets of the USSR, Union and Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics // Sat. doc. T. VI. M., 1964.S. 464-465.
The history of the nation-state building of the USSR. 1917-1908 vol. 1.s. 354
Dongarov A.G. War, which could not have been // Questions of history. 1990. No. 5. p. 38.
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Strong A.L. The New Way of Lithuania. M. 1990, p. eleven.
History of state and law of Russia / Textbook. Ed. Epic. M. 1996. Otv. Ed. Yu. P. Titov.
History of state and law of Russia / Textbook. Ed. Epic. M. 1998. Otv. Ed. S. A. Chibiryaev.
History of State and Law of Russia / Textbook Part 2. M. 1997. Otv. Ed. Chistyakov. Ed. "Century"
A guide to the history of the fatherland. / Ed. "Prostor". M. 1994.
Abramov A.V. History of Russia. M. 1993.
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History of State and Law of the USSR, Part 2. / Ed. I.O. Chistyakov and Yu.S. Kukushkina. M. 1971.
In the second half of the 30s. state building and state administration in Russia was determined by the 1936 Constitution.
Serious changes took place in the country, which led the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) to a decision to amend the Constitution.
This proposal was adopted at the VII Congress of Soviets of the SSR, held from January 29 to February 6, 1935.The new Constitution was supposed to 1) further democratize the electoral system, 2) it is necessary to amend the Constitution in accordance with the existing class forces in the country, namely to indicate the creation of a new socialist industry, the defeat of the kulaks, the victory of the collective farm system, the establishment of socialist property as the basis of Soviet society, etc.
The following actively participated in the development of the draft Constitution: Stalin (Chairman of the Constitutional Commission), Kalinin (Deputy Chairman), Bukharin, Ordzhonikidze, Gamarnik, Tukhachevsky and others.
On July 12, 1936, the draft Constitution was published and discussed for almost six months. The discussion of the draft Constitution took place in various forms: at meetings of workers, at plenary sessions of the Soviets, at meetings of sections and deputy groups of the Soviets, etc. More than 50 million people, or about 55% of the adult population of the USSR, took part in the discussion. During the discussion, the Constitutional Commission received 154 thousand proposals, amendments, additions and comments.
On November 25, 1936, the VIII Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the USSR began its work in Moscow. At the congress, a discussion of the draft Constitution began. The congress elected an editorial commission, which made a number of changes to the original text of the draft.
On December 5, 1936, the VIII Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the USSR unanimously approved the draft Constitution of the USSR. The day of the adoption of the Constitution - December 5 - was declared a national holiday.
It must be said that in its content the Constitution of the USSR in 1936 was much broader than the Constitution of the USSR in 1924. The Constitution of the USSR in 1936 consisted of 13 chapters, including 146 articles. Chapter I of the Constitution considered questions of the social structure of the USSR. It noted the existence in the USSR of two friendly classes - workers and peasants. According to the Constitution of 1936, the state leadership of society in the USSR was carried out by the working class as the most advanced.
The political basis of the USSR was formed by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. All
power in the USSR, according to the Constitution, belonged to the working people of town and country represented by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. According to the Constitution of 1936, the economic basis of the USSR was the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of the instruments and means of production. According to the Constitution, socialist property was represented by either state or collective-farm-cooperative property.
The land occupied by collective farms was assigned to them for free and perpetual use, that is, as it was believed then, forever.
The Constitution enshrined the most important socialist principle of distribution: "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work". It declared work a duty and a matter of honor for every able-bodied citizen of the USSR. "Who does not work shall not eat".
Chapter II of the Constitution "State structure" enshrined the principles of Soviet socialist federalism, the voluntariness of the unification of the Soviet Union republics, and their sovereignty was consolidated.
Each union republic had its own Constitution, which was in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR and took into account the peculiarities of the republic. Each republic constitutionally retained the right to freely secede from the USSR; the territory of the union republics could not be changed without their consent.
In chapters III to VIII, the USSR Constitution of 1936 considered the organization, system and procedure for higher bodies the authorities of the autonomous republics, local authorities.
According to the Constitution, the supreme body of state power in the USSR was the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, elected for 4 years. Legislative power in the USSR was exercised exclusively by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which consisted of two chambers: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities, which equally belonged to the legislative initiative. Laws were considered approved if they were passed by both houses by a simple majority of votes.
The constitution guaranteed the immunity of the deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. They could not be brought to justice or arrested without the consent of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and in the period between sessions with the consent of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
The Constitution established a session-based procedure for the work of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The highest authority in the period between sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, elected at a joint meeting of both chambers.
Chapter V of the Constitution of the USSR determined the competence of the government of the USSR - the Council of People's Commissars, which was the highest executive and administrative body of the USSR. He was accountable to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and in the period between its sessions - to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
According to the Constitution, the Council of People's Commissars united and directed the work of the all-Union and republican people's commissariats and other economic and cultural institutions subordinate to it. According to the 1936 Constitution, there were 8 all-union people's commissariats. The branches of state administration, which are within the competence of the USSR, were led by the People's Commissars of the USSR. In their area of competence, they had the right to issue orders and instructions, and also checked the execution of decisions and orders of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.
Chapter IX of the Constitution, which was called "The Court and the Prosecutor's Office", enshrined the principles of the organization and activities of the bodies of the court and the prosecutor's office. According to the 1936 constitution, justice in the USSR was administered by the Supreme Court of the USSR, the supreme courts of the union republics and autonomous regions, district courts, and special courts of the USSR.
The people's courts were to be elected by the citizens of the district on the basis of universal, direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot for a period of 3 years. The Constitution proclaimed the principle of independence of judges and their subordination to the law, which in practice was often violated.
Chapter X of the 1936 Constitution of the USSR enshrined the basic democratic rights and freedoms of citizens of the USSR: the right to democratic rights and freedoms of citizens of the USSR; the right to work, to rest, to material security in old age, as well as in the event of illness and disability; education; equality of citizens of the USSR, regardless of gender, nationality and race, etc.
The Constitution was not limited to the formal fixation of the rights of citizens, but clarified the guarantees of these rights. In particular, proclaiming the right to work, the Constitution established that this right is ensured by the socialist organization of the national economy, the steady growth of the productive forces of Soviet society, and the elimination of unemployment.
The right to material security was guaranteed by the extensive development of social insurance for workers and employees at the expense of the state, free medical assistance to workers, and the provision of a wide network of resorts for their use.
The equality of women under the Constitution was ensured by the provision of equal rights with men to work, wages, rest, and social security.
The Constitution of the USSR enshrined not only the rights, but also the duties of citizens of the USSR: the duty to observe the Constitution, to comply with laws, to strengthen public socialist property. The Constitution of 1936 regarded the defense of the USSR as an honorable duty of every citizen of the USSR.
Chapter XI of the Constitution was devoted to the electoral system of the USSR. It secured universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. Citizens of the USSR were granted the right to vote from the age of 18. The right to nominate candidates for deputies was granted to public organizations and societies of workers: communist party organizations, trade unions, cooperatives, youth organizations, and cultural societies. Each deputy was obliged to report on his work and on the work of the corresponding Council and could be recalled at any time by the decision of the majority of voters.
Each citizen had one vote, and all citizens participated in the elections on an equal footing. Women enjoyed equal rights with men. Citizens who were in the ranks of the Red Army enjoyed the right to elect and be elected on an equal basis with all citizens.
The peculiarity of the USSR Constitution of 1936 was that it did not contain program provisions.
Characterizing the Constitution of 1936, it must be said that in form this Constitution was the most democratic. But this Constitution was an inoperative Basic Law: its democratic principles were crossed out by extraordinary measures, and in real practice most of its provisions were not implemented; many scholars have called the 1936 Constitution a scrap of paper.
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State University – Graduate School Economy
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abstract on
history of state and law
USSR Constitution 1936
Completed: student 155 of group 1 course
Abdyushev Ruslan
Checked by: Doctor of Law,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor
Tumanova Anastasia Sergeevna
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………… ... 2
Adoption of the Constitution ………………………………………………… .3
Significance of the Constitution of the USSR of 1936 …………………………………… .14
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… .16
References ……………………………………………………………… 17
Introduction
The new history of mankind has brought with it a unique, previously unknown phenomenon of state life - the Constitution. The first such acts, as you know, were created in the United States and European countries. At present, this phenomenon is already widespread much wider than at the dawn of its appearance. For our state, the constitution became relevant at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the tsarist regime was forced to take certain steps towards an act securing the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, clearly regulating and defining the boundaries and forms of state power.
The Soviet period of Russia already shows the great role of the Constitution in the legal life of the country. And if one can argue about the actual effectiveness of the Soviet constitutions, then one cannot deny the importance attached to it by both the state elite and the international role of this document at a particular stage of state development.
The topic of the essay is the Constitution of the USSR of 1936 - a document unique in that it consolidates many progressive rights and freedoms of citizens, establishes democratic principles of government, which existed at the same time in a totalitarian society, where it was not uncommon for an outright violation of fundamental civil rights, not to mention about political. Nevertheless, according to many researchers, this act cannot be written off in terms of its usefulness for improving, transforming our society in a democratic direction. This document is also of great interest for a more complete, objective disclosure of the internal situation of our state that existed at that time, the struggle and movements in the upper echelons of power. Of course, it is also important from the point of view of studying the constitutional and legal development of our state.
The work used scientific articles, tutorials authors such as Isaeva, Titova, Chibiryaeva, monographs, as well as directly the primary source - the Constitution of the USSR in 1936.
It provides for the disclosure of the main provisions of this document, the prerequisites for its creation, the process of adoption and the role for public and state life.
1. Adoption of the constitution
The Soviet state for the period 1924-1936 a long period of development has passed, as a result, there have been significant changes in the political, economic, social spheres. If the NEP period presupposed a certain deviation from the principle of state monopoly on property, concessions were made regarding the possibility of the existence of a private form of ownership, then the outlined centralization and strengthening of power excluded such a state of affairs. The “exploiting classes” were liquidated, the social composition of the intelligentsia and the working class changed — the proportion of people from the countryside increased. Certain changes have also taken place among the peasantry.
A new ruling elite has emerged with its own bureaucracy and ideology. Serious changes were also observed in nation-building. The structure and system of government bodies has also undergone significant changes. The provisions of the 1924 constitution no longer reflected the current state of affairs, which predetermined the need for the adoption of a new Basic Law. 1
The plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) made a decision to submit on behalf of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) a proposal to amend the Constitution of the USSR. The changes concerned two directions: 1) the implementation of the democratization of the electoral system in terms of replacing incompletely equal elections with equal ones, multi-stage elections with direct ones, open voting with closed ones; 2) concretizing the socio-economic basis of the constitution, that is, bringing the Basic Law in line with the resulting correlation of class forces in the state (the creation of a modern, socialist industry, the defeat of the kulaks, the triumph of the collective farm system, the recognition of socialist property as the basis of Soviet society).
The proposal of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was fully approved by the 7th Congress of Soviets of the USSR, held from January 29 to February 6, 1935.The Central Executive Committee was instructed to elect a Constitutional Commission, and the next elections to the bodies of Soviet power to be held on the basis of the new electoral system. The Constitutional Commission was created under the chairmanship of I.V. Stalin. Also, 12 subcommissions were formed: on general issues, economic, financial, legal, on the electoral system, judicial authorities, central and local authorities, public education, labor, defense, foreign affairs and an editorial, consisting of chairmen of subcommissions. 1
Many prominent party, public, military leaders, scientists, representatives of the republics took part in the development of the project: Kalinin (deputy chairman of the Constitutional Commission), Bukharin, Ordzhonikidze, Bubnov, Krylenko, Yakovlev, Tukhachevsky, Akulov. In May, a draft document was prepared, and on June 12, 1936, it was published, after which it was discussed for six months. The discussion took various forms: at meetings of sections and deputy groups of the Soviets, at meetings of workers, at plenary sessions of the Soviets. The results of the discussion were summed up at extraordinary republican, regional, regional and district congresses of Soviets, which were held from the second half of October to 23 November. The draft Constitution was approved by the congresses of the Soviets after discussion and consideration of the amendments. 50 million people took part in the discussion, which was 55% of the adult population of the USSR at that time. The constitutional commission received 154 thousand amendments, proposals, remarks and additions to individual chapters and articles of the draft.
On November 25, 1936, the work of the VIII Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the USSR began in Moscow, where the discussion of the project began. After Stalin's report, 56 delegates spoke in the debate. To develop the final version of the constitution, taking into account the amendments and proposals made, the congress elected an editorial commission, which made a number of changes to the original version of the text. In total, 47 amendments and additions were adopted, affecting 30 articles.
Significant additions concerned the Council of Nationalities and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Direct elections to the Council of Nationalities were established, the number of deputies of both chambers was equalized. These changes contributed to the democratization of the country's representative body. The land was assigned to collective farms not only for unlimited, but also for free use. Art. 10 was supplemented by the right of citizens to inherit personal property. Amendment to Art. 35 that the deputies of the Council of Nationalities are also elected according to national constituencies made it possible to take into account the interests of small nationalities more fully. Amendment to Art. 65 concerned the fact that the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR is responsible not only to the Supreme Soviet, but in the period between sessions and to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which expanded the competence of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The number of deputy chairmen of the Presidium was also increased from 4 to 11, which increased the representativeness and equality of the union republics. 1
The Secretary General himself, I.V. Stalin. So, reporting the draft of the new constitution at the Extraordinary VIII All-Union Congress of Soviets on November 25, 1936, in the section devoted to bourgeois criticism of the draft, he said: “In the USSR there is no basis for the existence of several parties, and hence the freedom of these parties. only one party - the party of communists, boldly and to the end defending the interests of the workers and peasants. And that it defends the interests of these classes well, there can hardly be any doubt about that. " At the same time, he spoke out against the proposal for a complete exclusion from draft Article 17, which spoke of the union republics having the right to freely secede from the USSR, as well as against the requirement to amend Article 125 in that respect to ban the practice of religious rites. "I think," he said, "this amendment should be rejected as not in line with the spirit of our constitution." He also spoke out against the amendment to Article 135, which continued to deprive religious ministers of voting rights, all former people and persons who were not engaged in socially useful labor, former White Guards: "The Soviet government deprived the unearned and exploitative elements of voting rights, not forever, but temporarily, until a certain period. Is it time to revise this law? They say that this is dangerous, because they can to crawl into the supreme bodies of the country elements hostile to Soviet power, some of the former White Guards, kulaks, priests, etc. But what is there, in fact, to be afraid of? has already managed to consolidate his power quite strongly, it is no coincidence that the Constitution of 1936 is often called so - "Stalinist". 4
The extraordinary VIII Congress of Soviets of the USSR in 1936, on December 5 by article-by-article voting, and then completely unanimously approved the draft Constitution of the USSR. The day of the adoption of the Constitution - December 5 - was declared a national holiday. The congress also decided to hold the next elections of the Soviet bodies under the new electoral system.
The new constitution consisted of 13 chapters and 146 articles. The famous Declaration of the Rights of Workers and Exploited People was excluded from the text. It was replaced by a chapter on social order and a chapter on fundamental rights and obligations of citizens. 1
In the sphere social order(Chapter 1) proclaimed that the USSR is a socialist state, the society of which consists of two friendly classes: peasants and workers. State leadership is exercised by the working class as an advanced class. The political basis of the USSR was formed by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies, to which all power in the country belonged (Art. 2). The sovereignty of the Soviet people was consolidated: "All power in the USSR belongs to the working people of town and country, represented by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies." The economic basis of the state was established: the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of the instruments and means of production (Art. 4). The abolition of the capitalist economic system, the abolition of private ownership of instruments and means of production, and the abolition of the exploitation of man by man were proclaimed. Socialist property had two forms: state and cooperative-collective farm. The objects of state and cooperative-economic property were listed (land, its subsoil, waters, forests, factories, factories, mines, mines, etc.).
Along with the socialist form of ownership, small individual farming based on personal labor was allowed. The Constitution prescribed that any collective farm yard, in addition to its main income from the social economy of the collective farm, has the right to a small household plot of land for personal use and in personal property - a household on a personal plot, productive livestock, poultry, a residential building, a small household inventory in accordance with with the charter of an agricultural artel. The law protected the right of citizens to own a residential building, savings and earned income, items of personal consumption and convenience, items of personal consumption and convenience, as well as the right to inherit personal property (Article 10). 1
The economic life of the country was determined and directed by the national economic state plan. Labor was seen as a duty. In Art. 12 spelled out the principle "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work."
In the second chapter of the Basic Law "State structure" (Articles 13-29), the principles of socialist Soviet federalism, the free will of equal Soviet republics to unification found their consolidation, the competence of the union republics and the Union was determined, and the sovereignty of the union republics was proclaimed.
Article 14 contains an exhaustive list of issues under the jurisdiction of the USSR in the person of its higher authorities and government bodies. These included: representation in relations in the international arena, signing and ratification of treaties with foreign states; declaration of war and signing of peace; acceptance of new republics into the Union; monitoring the implementation of the constitution and ensuring the consistency of the Constitutions of the union republics with the Constitution of the USSR; approval of changes in the borders between the union republics; leadership of all armed forces, organization of the country's defense; trade with other countries based on state monopoly; protection of state security; approval of the national economic plans of the USSR; approval of the unified state budget; management of agricultural and industrial institutions and enterprises, banks; transport and communications management; management of the monetary and credit system; state insurance; provision and conclusion of loans; the establishment of the basic principles of land use, as well as the use of mineral resources, forests and waters; the establishment of basic principles in the field of health and education; ensuring a unified system of national economic accounting; establishing the foundations of labor legislation; legislation on legal proceedings and judicial system; civil and criminal code; laws on union citizenship; laws on the rights of foreigners; the publication of all-Union acts of amnesty. 1 Thus, there is a clear tendency to increase and expand the competence of the Union. The union republics solved the issues not mentioned in article 14 on their own. Each of them had its own constitution, built, albeit with the characteristics of a republic, but fully corresponding to the union. Article 17 enshrined the right of the republic to secede from the Union. Article 22-29 lists the administrative-territorial components of the RSFSR and the union republics.
Chapters III-VIII deal with system of government and administration... The principle of the supremacy of the representative bodies of state power, which formed government bodies accountable and controlled by them, was approved. The supreme body of power was the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; legislative power was exercised exclusively by this body. Laws were recognized as adopted if they received a simple majority of votes in both chambers (in the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities). The Council of the Union was elected at the established rate - 1 deputy per 300 thousand of the population. The norm of election to the Council of Nationalities was as follows: from each union republic 25 deputies, from the autonomous republic 11, from the autonomous region 5 and from the national district 1 deputy. The Constitution established a session-based procedure for the work of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR - two sessions a year, not counting extraordinary ones. This body was elected for a period of 4 years. Both chambers were declared equal (Article 37). Each chamber elected a chairman and two deputies (arts. 42, 43).
In the period between sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the supreme body of power was the Presidium accountable to it, which was elected at a joint meeting of both chambers. The competence of the Presidium is contained in Art. 49: he interpreted the laws of the USSR, issued decrees, held a referendum on his own initiative or at the request of one of the union republics; canceled the decisions of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the Union republics if they did not comply with the law; in the period between the sessions of the Supreme Soviet, dismissed and appointed the People's Commissars of the USSR with the further approval of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; conferred honorary titles of the USSR and awarded orders; carried out an act of pardon; replaced and appointed the high command of the Armed Forces of the USSR; in the period between sessions of the USSR Armed Forces declared a state of war; announced general and partial mobilization; ratified international treaties; appointed and dismissed plenipotentiary representatives of the USSR in foreign states. 1
The government of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars, was formed by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and was the highest administrative and executive body of state power. It united and directed the work of 8 all-Union people's commissariats: defense, foreign affairs, foreign trade, communications, communications, water transport, heavy and defense industries, and 10 union-republican people's commissariats: food, light, forestry, agriculture, grain and livestock farms , finance, home affairs, domestic trade, justice and health care.
The system of the highest bodies of power and administration of the union and autonomous republics was built by analogy with the all-union republics.
Local government bodies (krai, oblast, autonomous oblasts, districts, districts, cities, villages) were the Soviets of Working People's Deputies, which were elected for a term of 2 years (Articles 94-95). The Soviets of Working People's Deputies issue orders and adopt decisions in accordance with the rights granted to them by the laws of the Union and the Union Republic. The administrative and executive bodies of the Soviets were the executive committees elected by them. They were reported both to the Council that elected them and to the executive body of the superior Council.
Chapter IX of the Constitution "Court and Prosecutor's Office" enshrined the principles organization and activities of the courts and prosecutors... According to Art. 102 justice in the country was carried out by the "Supreme Court of the USSR, the Supreme Courts of the Union republics, regional and regional courts, the courts of autonomous republics and autonomous regions, district courts, special courts of the USSR created by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, people's courts" 1. The people's courts were elected for a term of 3 years by the citizens of the respective region on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. Other links of the judicial system were formed by the respective Soviets of Working People's Deputies for a period of 5 years. Important principles for the implementation of judicial activities were enshrined. Among them, the subordination of judges only to the law and their independence (Art. 112); participation of people's assessors in the consideration of all cases, except for cases stipulated by law; ensuring the right of the accused to defense; ensuring the opportunity for persons who do not know the language of the proceedings, the right to speak in their native language, as well as the framework for familiarization with the case materials with the help of an interpreter. 2
The supervision of the unswerving observance of laws by institutions and people's commissariats, citizens and officials by the Constitution was entrusted to the Prosecutor of the USSR. Republican, regional, regional prosecutors, as well as prosecutors of autonomous republics and autonomous regions were appointed by the Prosecutor of the USSR for a period of five years. District, district and city prosecutors were appointed by the prosecutors of the union republics with the approval of the Prosecutor of the USSR for a period of five years. The bodies of the prosecutor's office were independent from any local authorities and had direct subordination only to the Prosecutor of the USSR. In practice, during that period, the NKVD bodies were actually removed from the control of the prosecution authorities. 1
Chapter X is of great interest, in which the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens of the Soviet state were enshrined. The right to work (Article 118) provided for a guarantee of obtaining a job with wages depending on the quantity and quality of labor. At present, it is of great value, and if modern states based on a market economy are not able to provide employment for the entire population, then in the USSR a sufficient number of jobs were indeed created. 2 The right to rest (Article 119) provided for the reduction of the working day for most workers to 7 hours, as well as the established annual leave with the preservation of wages. There was a right to material security in old age and in case of illness and disability, which was completely unknown to Russia before. The workers were provided with free health care, a wide network of resorts, social insurance. The right to education was ensured by its free education, including higher education, by the compulsory primary education, by a system of scholarships for students, by organizing training at factories, state and collective farms.
In a separate article, the equality of men and women was enshrined. The equality of the sexes in economic, state, socio-political and cultural life was emphasized. The exercise of these rights by women was ensured by granting women equal rights with men to pay, work, rest, social insurance and education, the provision of maintenance and leave during pregnancy, a wide network of maternity hospitals, nurseries and kindergartens. 1
The equality of citizens, regardless of race and nationality, was proclaimed in all areas of life. Direct or indirect restriction of rights and freedoms depending on national, racial characteristics was punishable by law. By separating church from state and school from church, freedom of conscience was ensured. All citizens were left with the freedom to practice religious cults and anti-religious propaganda. The constitution provided for the provision of such political rights as freedom of speech, press, assembly and meeting, street processions and demonstrations. It also indicated the means of ensuring the right: the provision of printing houses, stocks of paper, public buildings, streets and other material conditions to workers and their collectives. 2
The inviolability of the person, the impossibility of being arrested otherwise than by a court order or the sanction of a prosecutor was prescribed in Article 127. The inviolability of the home and the secrecy of correspondence were also proclaimed.
The main duties of citizens were also prescribed: to abide by the Constitution, to comply with laws, to be honest with the public duty, to respect the rules of socialist society, to observe labor discipline. Defense of the Fatherland is the sacred duty of every citizen, and military service is an honorable duty.
Chapter XI of the Constitution was devoted to electoral system THE USSR. For the first time, the principle was approved, according to which one person has only one vote (insane persons and persons convicted with deprivation of voting rights did not participate in the elections). Citizens of the USSR were granted the right to vote from the age of 18. Public organizations had the right to nominate candidates. All deputies had to report on their own work and could be recalled at any time by the decision of the majority of voters - the so-called "imperative mandate".
3. Significance of the Constitution of the USSR in 1936
The 1936 Constitution of the USSR has a number of features. She proclaimed the Union a socialist state. Introduced the concept of the political basis of the state - the Soviets of Working People's Deputies. It proceeded from the victory of socialist forms of property, introduced the concept of the economic basis of society. The principle of a planned economy was introduced. The union state structure was consolidated, in form - federal. Established universal, equal, direct suffrage by secret ballot, abolished restrictions on the participation in elections of certain categories of persons based on class or social characteristics. Established a new system of state power - instead of the All-Union Congress of Soviets, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee - the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; analogous bodies in the union and autonomous republics; in the localities, instead of congresses of Soviets, there are Soviets of Working People's Deputies: territorial, regional, district, etc. The 1936 Constitution established a more complete list of socio-economic, political and personal rights of citizens.
The Constitution enshrined the social and political equality of citizens, as well as the equality of women and men. She provided for a number of political rights and freedoms. None of the previous constitutions said anything about parties in general, including the Communist Party taking over the ruling positions. In the Constitution of 1936, the first step was taken towards the formation of a one-party system in the country. In Art. 126, which spoke about the right to unite in public organizations, provided: “the most active and conscientious citizens from the ranks of the working class and other strata of the working people are united in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).
Thus, the Constitution of the USSR consolidated the basic provisions of the state structure and prescribed the rights and freedoms of citizens. But besides this (and formal proclamations are of little use for the country), the constitution had great ideological significance. On the day of the adoption of the constitution on the squares of Moscow and major cities rallies and demonstrations were held, the workers of the whole country were happy to receive the news of the new Constitution. As reported in the press, "the speakers in short, excited speeches spoke of the happiness and joy of living in these days ... they glorified the name of the great creator of the constitution, the wise leader, teacher and friend of Comrade Stalin." 1 About 1 million people took part in the demonstration on Red Square. Ideological propaganda really helped to raise the spirit and mood of ordinary people, which gave impetus to the further development of the state.
Conclusion
So, the Constitution of 1936, one of the Basic Laws of the Soviet state, had its own exclusivity and peculiarity. The time of its adoption determined its general importance for the state. There is factual material that speaks of multiple cases of violation of the provisions of this document. Some articles were just proclaimed, not being applied in practice. Nevertheless, the new X chapter "Basic rights and obligations of citizens" provided not only the proclamation of many, alien at that time even for Western countries rights, but also had an established mechanism for their implementation, real guarantees. So in the Soviet Union of that time, the right to work and social guarantees were really ensured. What this document shows not only as an ideological device of the ruling elite, but also as a law fixing the real rights of citizens.
The importance of the document for the "socialist construction" of the state is noted. In the pre-war period, it to a certain extent contributed to the enthusiasm of the working people, which was so necessary and had great importance in the accumulation of funds for the subsequent struggle against Nazi Germany. In the international arena, this document gave a civilized facade to the building of the entire USSR. Among other things, the Constitution of 1936 is one of the stages in the movement of our state from totalitarianism to a more democratic and progressive state regime.
Bibliography:
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2.) J.V. Stalin. On the draft constitution of the USSR. Report at the extraordinary VIII All-Union Congress of Soviets on November 25, 1936. - "Bolshevik". 1936. No. 23.
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7.) Constitutional law of the Russian Federation: textbook / M.V. Baglai. - 7th ed., Rev. and add. - Norm, 2008 .-- 816 p.
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