Modified versions of the Soviet legal system operated in many Communist states following the Second World War—including Mongolia, the People's Republic of China, the Warsaw Pact countries of eastern Europe, Cuba and Vietnam.
In 1917, the Soviet authorities formally repealed all Tsarist legislation and established a socialist legal system.
[7] The 1960s reforms tried to improve the judicial system and the activities of the courts, the restoration and development of several democratic principles dismantling special conferences attached to the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and certain categories of state crimes.
[8] Soviet criminal and civil cases involve trials that were "primarily[...]official investigation[s] of the truth of the claims and defenses presented".
The examiner was prohibited from using force though the accused could be confined for long durations: up to 10 days before being charged, up to 9 months during the preliminary investigation (with the approval of the Procurator General).
The sledovatel was subordinate to the procurator (prokuratura) that was tasked with the prosecution, "'general supervision' of legality", and reporting illegal administrative actions.
The proceedings were informal compared to criminal procedure in democratic countries based on the rule of law.
The accused or the procurator could appeal decisions to a higher court consisting of three professional judges that reviewed the facts and the law.
[10] During the trial, the judges had the additional responsibility of educating the people, for example revealing and removing the causes and conditions that led to the crime.
[13] Therefore, the Soviet legal system regarded law as an arm of politics and courts as agencies of the government.
[5] The USSR and other countries of the Soviet bloc had abstained from affirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), saying it was "overly juridical" and potentially infringed on national sovereignty.
[18]: 117 Sergei Kovalev recalled "the famous article 125 of the Constitution which enumerated all basic civil and political rights" in the Soviet Union.
But when he and other prisoners attempted to use this as a legal basis for their abuse complaints, their prosecutor's argument was that "the Constitution was written not for you, but for American Negroes, so that they know how happy the lives of Soviet citizens are".