Who adopted the constitution of developed socialism. Adoption of the constitution of the USSR. This material includes sections

The new Basic Law, called the Constitution of "Developed Socialism", was adopted in the Soviet Union on October 7. By the irony of history, the completion of the development and its introduction into action came at a time when "developed socialism" lost the ability to further progressive development. Work on the draft law took many years: the first, which was to replace the 1936 Constitution, was prepared and discussed shortly after the end of the Great Patriotic War. However, it did not come to the adoption of the new Constitution then. New commissions for its development were created at the XIX and XX Party Congresses. At the XXII Congress of the CPSU and in 1961, its Program was adopted, and at the same time the leadership of the party and the country once again decided to develop a new Constitution, which, as N.S. Khrushchev, "must be brought in line with the Party Program and legislatively consolidate new forms of social and state structure in our country, corresponding to the period of the extensive construction of communist society."
In April 1962, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the composition of the Constitutional Commission headed by Khrushchev. In her work, she proceeded from the fact that the new Constitution should outline the main features of the "period of expanded communist construction", showed the advantages of the new social system. One of the key provisions of the new Basic Law was to conclude that the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat was growing into a state of the whole people, and in this regard the transformation of Soviets of Working People's Deputies into Soviets of People's Deputies.
The main direction in the development of the political system was ours, but “the deployment of nationwide democracy, which is expressed in the unprecedented growth of activity and initiative of the masses in the management of the judiciary and the national economy, in the transfer of certain functions government agencies public organizations, in strengthening public principles in the activities of state bodies ”. And on time it was proposed to constitutionally consolidate the provision on the leading and guiding role of the CPSU in Soviet society. There were even proposals to write in the Basic Law that the highest power in the country belongs to the Communist Party, and the actual leadership of the political and economic activities in the republics - the Central Committees of the Communist Parties and their first secretary. Wishes were expressed to reflect in a special provision of the Constitution that in the USSR "the consolidation of various nationalities into a single communist nation is underway", and on this basis to remove the column on nationality from passports.
With the resignation of Khrushchev and the revision of the course for the direct construction of communism, the direction further work over the draft Constitution naturally changed. The threat to the existence of traditional nations from the coming “communist nation” (and anxiety in the national republics in this regard) was removed by an entry in the resolution of the 23rd Congress of the CPSU, from which it followed that the Soviet people as a new community was multinational.
The work on the draft Constitution was completed in accordance with the instructions of the 25th Party Congress (February 1976), when liberal and technocratic tendencies in the country's leadership were interrupted, the doctrine of partisanship finally prevailed, a tough foreign policy was formed, based on the development of the military-industrial complex, and the personalization of power was clearly expressed. and strengthening the positions of the party-state bureaucracy. At the same time, theses were promoted on the strengthening of the leading role of the working class, on the increasing social homogeneity of society, the expansion of the rights and freedoms of citizens (as a result of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975), growing democracy, on the participation of almost every adult in managing the affairs of their state. All these contradictions were reflected in the new draft Constitution, the authors of which were sometimes forced to combine the incompatible.
The final draft of the Constitution was prepared in May 1977. At the same time it was approved by the plenum of the Central Committee and submitted for public discussion. A session of the Supreme Council was scheduled for October for the final consideration of the revised and supplemented draft. On October 7, at the extraordinary, seventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 9th convocation, the Constitution was adopted. It emphasized the continuity of ideas and principles with the earlier Constitutions of 1918, 1924 and 1936.
The Constitution consisted of a preamble and nine sections: 1. Foundations of social order and politics; 2. State and personality; 3. National state structure; 4. Councils of People's Deputies and the procedure for their election; 5. Higher authorities and administration; 6. Fundamentals of building government and government bodies of the union republics; 7. Justice, arbitration and prosecutor's supervision; 8. Coat of arms, flag, anthem and capital; 9. Operation of the Constitution and the procedure for its application.
The main innovation was the preamble, which stated the construction of "developed socialism" and the creation of a "state of the whole people." Thus, the “withering away of the state” was postponed for an indefinite period, and the task of comprehensive strengthening of law and order became a priority. The building of a "classless communist society" was called the highest goal of the state. The basis economic system In the USSR, socialist ownership of the means of production was recognized, the basis of the political system was the Soviets, the social basis was the union of workers, peasants and intelligentsia. New sections appeared in the text of the Constitution: on the political system of society, social development and culture, the status of a people's deputy. The new chapter (which had no analogues in previous Soviet constitutions) dealt with foreign policy issues. It was emphasized that it aims to provide favorable international conditions "To build communism in the USSR"; on “strengthening the positions of world socialism; support for the struggle of peoples for national liberation and social progress ”. The principle of socialist internationalism was consolidated in the relations of the USSR with the socialist countries and states that had freed themselves from colonial dependence. In practice, these provisions sometimes conflicted with the obligations of observing the principle of sovereign equality and the rights of peoples to control their own destiny, and justified the foreign policy expansion of the socialist state.
For the first time, the Basic Law reflects the actual mechanism of power in the USSR. The Communist Party was called "the leading and guiding force soviet society, the core of his political system, state and public organizations"(The famous sixth article). This legalization of the real role of the party led to monopoly control of the party organizations over the activities of enterprises and institutions. It sharply increased the importance of the party apparatus along the entire vertical of power, made membership in parties an almost mandatory condition for any career.
The new forms of “direct democracy” guaranteed by the Constitution were oriented towards the development of "genuine democracy": popular discussion and referendum; new civil rights - to appeal against the actions of officials; judicial protection from encroachment on honor and dignity; criticism of the actions of state and public organizations. For the first time, the Constitution strengthened the rights to health care, housing; using the achievements of culture; to the freedom of creativity. However, the implementation of these rights, as well as the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, rested on many laws and regulations in force, as before, often remaining impracticable.
According to the Constitution, all the Soviets of People's Deputies: the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Supreme Soviets of the Union and Autonomous Republics, regional, regional and other Soviets - constituted a single system of state power bodies. The highest organ of state power was the bicameral Supreme Soviet of the USSR, consisting of the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities. He was competent to decide the most important state issues: the adoption, change of the All-Union Constitution, the inclusion of new republics in the Union, approval of state budgets, social and economic development... In the intervals between sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, its functions were performed by the Presidium. Everyday management activities were carried out with the help of the state administration system, which was headed by the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The constitution also consolidated the increased economic and political role of the union center at the expense of the corresponding rights of the republics. By the end of the 1970s, the USSR had almost 90 central ministries and departments (in 1924 there were 10, in 1936 - 20).
The new Basic Law retained the provisions of the Constitution of 1936 on the national state structure. Numerous proposals aimed at eliminating the hierarchy of national statehood (and peoples) within the USSR by returning to the traditional, pre-revolutionary territorial principle administrative division of the country, equalization of the status of republics, the transfer of individual republics from autonomous to union, were not taken into account. At the same time, the very definition of the USSR as “a single union plurinational state”(Article 69) testified to the desire to strengthen federal neutralist principles. In contradiction with this was the “right of free secession from the USSR” (Article 71), enshrined in the Constitution for each Union republic, and the emphasis on its sovereignty (Articles 75, 80).
The Constitution distinguished "nations and nationalities" among the Soviet peoples, but did not provide any criteria for such a distinction. This was the reason for the deaf discontent among the peoples attributed to the "second grade". The constitutional provisions related to the sphere and regulation of national relations remained largely contradictory and did little to help the real strengthening of the state unity of the “new historical community” and the rallying of the country's peoples “for the purpose of joint building of communism” (Article 69).
Thus, the 1977 Constitution of the USSR finally formalized the conservative course of Brezhnev's domestic and foreign policy, legalized the party's strict ideological control over society, and preserved explosive contradictions in the national question.
Changes in state and political leadership in last years reign of Brezhnev. The rejection of economic methods of management resulted in centralization and bureaucratization, a rapid swelling of the administrative apparatus. By 1985, the total number of managers in the country approached 18 million people: for every 6-7 employees, there was one manager. The most significant bureaucratic layer (11.5 million) was made up of the lower apparatus of enterprises and organizations. Up to 10% of the state budget was spent annually on the maintenance of bureaucratic structures; the system of benefits and privileges for employees of the apparatus of all levels was expanded. The emphasis on the steady growth of the role of the CPSU was accompanied by the constant numerical growth of the party, which reached 19 million people by the mid-1980s. The party apparatus expanded accordingly.
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  • The subject and method of the history of the domestic state and law
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USSR Constitution 1977

The need to create a new Constitution of the USSR. The question of the development and adoption of a new Constitution of the USSR was first raised by H.C. Khrushchev at the extraordinary XXI Congress of the CPSU. Then, in the materials of the XXII Party Congress, held in 1961, this was given a more complete justification. It boiled down to the fact that the Soviet state had grown from a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a state of the whole people, and proletarian democracy into a state of the whole people. This provision was enshrined in the Party Program adopted by the XXII Congress of the CPSU.

The congress recognized it necessary to consolidate the new qualitative composition of Soviet society and the state in the Basic Law and decided to start working out the draft Constitution of the USSR.

In accordance with this, on April 25, 1962, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution "On the development of a draft Constitution of the USSR." At the same time, a Constitutional Commission was formed, headed by N.S. Khrushchev.

As part of the commission, nine sub-commissions were created, which worked on various sections of the draft of the future Basic Law.

After the October 1964 Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, at which L.I. Brezhnev, there have been significant changes in the composition of the Constitutional Commission. On December 11, 1964, by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, L.I. Brezhnev. This circumstance, however, did not lead to increased activity in the work on the draft Constitution. For more than ten years, the commission was practically inactive. During this decade, there have been changes in the characteristics of the social system that existed in the country.

In November 1967, in a report dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, L.I. Brezhnev announced the building of a developed socialist society in the USSR. Naturally, it took time to develop and substantiate the theory of developed socialism and, taking it into account, to develop a draft Constitution. Special attention was paid to this at the XXV Congress of the Communist Party held in 1971. After the congress, the work of the Constitutional Commission intensified.

Maisky 1977. The plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU considered the draft Constitution of the USSR presented by the Constitutional Commission and approved it in general. Following this, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree to submit the project for public discussion. On June 4, 1977, the draft of the new Constitution of the USSR was published in the central and local press. A nationwide discussion began, which lasted about four months. The discussion was attended by over 140 million people, or more than 4/5 of the country's adult population.

The project was considered and approved by 1.5 million meetings of labor collectives, military units and citizens at the place of residence, 450 thousand party and 465 thousand Komsomol meetings. The draft Constitution was discussed and approved at sessions of more than 50 thousand local Soviets and at sessions of the Supreme Soviets of all union and autonomous republics. During the discussion, 180 thousand letters were received from the working people of the country. In general, during the nationwide discussion, about 400 thousand proposals were received aimed at clarifying, improving and supplementing the draft Constitution.

All proposals received were studied and generalized, and then considered at meetings of the Constitutional Commission and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Many of the proposals made during the nationwide discussion were taken into account and used in finalizing the draft Constitution. At the extraordinary session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the ninth convocation, the draft of the new Basic Law of the USSR underwent a comprehensive discussion, and amendments were made to 18 articles and one more article was added. On October 7, 1977, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR unanimously approved the Constitution of the USSR. It was divided into a preamble, 21 chapters, 9 sections and contained 174 articles.

Continuity and features of the 1977 USSR Constitution Characterizing the distinctive features of the 1977 USSR Constitution, it should be noted that it retained continuity in relation to the previously existing Soviet constitutions. At the same time, it differed significantly from the previous Soviet constitutions and contained many new things. For the first time in Soviet constitutional history, a preamble became an integral part of the Basic Law. It traced the historical path of Soviet society, as the result of which a developed socialist society was considered. The preamble gave a description of the main features of this society.

The 1977 Constitution of the USSR expanded the range of issues related to political and economic systems. The section "Foundations of the social system and politics of the USSR" is devoted to them.

In Art. 1 spoke about the Soviet state as a socialist state of the whole people, expressing the will and interests of workers, peasants and intelligentsia, working people of all nations and nationalities of the country.

As in the 1936 Constitution of the USSR, the Soviets were enshrined in the new Constitution as the political basis. However, in the conditions of the state of the whole people, they were called the Soviets of People's Deputies.

As an economic foundation, the Constitution retained socialist property.

One of characteristic features The 1977 Constitution of the USSR was the expansion of the limits of constitutional regulation. It examines issues related to nature conservation, ensuring reproduction natural resources and improvement surrounding man Wednesday.

The formulation in the Constitution of the principles of the policy of the state and all its bodies was also of great importance. This is expressed in such new chapters as "Social Development and Culture", "Foreign Policy", "Defense of the Socialist Fatherland." The Constitution presented the political system of the USSR (state Soviets, public organizations, labor collectives) as a single mechanism for exercising democracy under the leadership of the Communist Party, which is the core of this system.

For the first time in the history of Soviet Constitutions, the 1977 Basic Law directly enshrined the principle of socialist legality as one of the basic principles of the state, its organs and officials (Article 4).

A special article was devoted to consolidating the leading role of the Communist Party in the political system of the USSR (Art. 6).

Unlike the Constitution of the USSR of 1936, where the rights and obligations of citizens were discussed only in the tenth chapter (after the chapters on state bodies), the section "State and Personality" in the Constitution of the USSR of 1977 follows the section "Fundamentals of the Social System and Politics of the USSR ".

At the same time, the 1977 USSR Constitution significantly expanded the totality of citizens' rights and freedoms. The previously established rights were now supplemented with the right to health protection, the right to housing, the right to use cultural property, the right to participate in the management of state and public affairs, to submit proposals to State bodies, to criticize shortcomings in their work.

It is especially important to note that the 1977 Constitution of the USSR for the first time in the Soviet constitutional legislation provided for the right of citizens to appeal against the actions of any officials in court (Article 58). True, neither the Constitution nor subsequent legislation established a mechanism for exercising this right, which, of course, could not but affect the reality of this constitutional right of citizens.

The duties of citizens were given a more detailed interpretation. The main duties of citizens were to comply with the Constitution and laws, work conscientiously and observe labor discipline, protect the interests of the state and help strengthen its power, strengthen the friendship of the nations and nationalities of the country, protect socialist property, fight waste and promote the protection of public order, protect nature and cultural monuments ... The Constitution established the obligation to bear with dignity the high title of a citizen of the USSR, to defend the socialist Fatherland, and to promote the strengthening of friendship and cooperation between peoples.

Section I of the Constitution also contains new chapters on social development and culture, on foreign policy USSR and the defense of the socialist homeland.

The chapters on national-state relations are combined into the section "national-state structure", which more accurately reflected the essence of those norms that made up the content of the section.

A special section of the 1977 USSR Constitution is devoted to the Soviets of People's Deputies and the procedure for their election. It is followed by sections defining the system of state power and administration bodies, as well as the foundations for building republican and local state bodies. This was followed by a section on justice, arbitration and prosecutorial supervision.

The Constitution of the USSR is completed by sections (not divided into chapters): on the coat of arms, flag, anthem and the capital of the USSR, on the operation of the Constitution and the procedure for changing it.

Soon after the adoption of the Constitution of the USSR in 1978, new Basic Laws of the Union and Autonomous Republics were adopted, which corresponded to the Constitution of the USSR and took into account the peculiarities of the republics. The Constitution of the RSFSR was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation on April 12, 1978.

The Basic Law of the state of the whole people, which fixed the political and achieved level of social development and culture of the USSR, the basic rights, freedoms and duties of Soviet citizens, the national-state and administrative-territorial structure of the Soviet Union, the system and principles of organization and activities of state bodies power and control.

The current Constitution of the USSR, adopted on October 7, 1977 at the extraordinary seventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, is an outstanding document of the modern era, a concentrated summary of 60 summer development Of the Soviet state, the great victories of our Party and the entire Soviet people. It is the world's first Fundamental Law of the socialist state of the whole people, a vivid evidence of the implementation of the ideas of the October Revolution, the great charter of developed socialism.

About one and a half million meetings of workers in enterprises, collective farms, military units and at the place of residence. In total, over 140 million people, that is, more than the adult population of the country, took part in the discussion of the draft Constitution.

The objective prerequisites for the creation of the 1977 Constitution were profound changes in the internal life of our country, which were reflected in the Basic Law. The 1977 USSR Constitution reflects the social and political unity of Soviet society, the leading force of which is the working class; characterizes our society as a society of mature socialist social relations, in which on the basis of the convergence of all classes and social strata, the legal and actual equality of all nations and nationalities, their friendship and fraternal cooperation, a new historical community has developed - the Soviet people; fixes the growth of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a nationwide one; reveals the essence of the Soviet state of the whole people, expressing the interests of workers, peasants and intelligentsia, working people of all nations and nationalities of the country, defines its main tasks - creating the material and technical basis of communism, improving socialist social relations and their transformation into communist ones, educating a new person in communist society, raising material well-being and the cultural standard of living of workers, ensuring the country's security, promoting peace and international cooperation; indicates the highest goal of the Soviet state of the whole people - the building of communism. The Basic Law of the country (Article 6), in contrast to the Constitution of 1936, provides a detailed description of the vanguard role of the Communist Party: “The leading and guiding force of Soviet society, its core, state and public organizations is the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The CPSU exists for the people and serves the people. " One of the main features of the 1977 Constitution is that it reflects the expansion and deepening of socialist democracy. Further development received democratic principles for the formation and activities of the Councils of People's Deputies. Compared to the 1936 Constitution, a complex of socio-economic rights is presented more broadly and the political rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens are more fully formulated. Special attention is paid to the further development of socialist democracy - the main direction in the development of the political system of Soviet society. The 1977 Constitution broader than the 1936 Constitution reflects the development of the economic system of the USSR, the basis of which is socialist ownership of the means of production in the form of state (public) and collective-farm cooperative ownership.

The Basic Law states that the economy of the USSR constitutes a single national economic complex, covering all links of social production, distribution and exchange on the territory of the country. The 1977 Constitution consolidated the social basis of the USSR, which is an unbreakable alliance of workers, peasants and intelligentsia. Special chapters of the Basic Law of our country are devoted to the peaceful foreign policy of the USSR and the defense of the socialist Fatherland.

Each Soviet Constitution reflects the historical stages in the development of Soviet society and the state. The 1918 Constitution of the RSFSR - the world's first Basic Law of a socialist state - summed up the struggle of the popular masses in the Great October Socialist Revolution to overthrow the yoke of exploiters, generalized and consolidated the experience of creating and consolidating Soviet power. The USSR Constitution of 1924 reflected the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, created a legal basis for further strengthening the unity, friendship and cooperation of the union republics, all nations and nationalities of the united Soviet state. The USSR Constitution of 1936 reflected an important stage in the development of our society and state - the elimination of exploiting classes and private ownership of the means of production, proclaimed the construction of the foundations of socialism in the USSR, the principles of socialist democracy, which became the basis for the subsequent creative activity of the Soviet people in solving the tasks of communist construction.

The 1977 Constitution of the USSR legally secured a new historical milestone - the building of a developed socialist society in our country. It retained the continuity of the Constitutions of 1918, 1924, 1936. When developing the Constitution of the USSR in 1977, the experience of constitutional construction of other fraternal socialist countries was taken into account. The 1977 Constitution of the USSR enshrines the main principle of democracy in the Soviet Union - the sovereignty of the people in the person of the Soviets of People's Deputies, which constitute the political basis of the USSR, expressing the fundamental principles of the Soviet system, the main features of developed socialism. It is justly called the law of life in the society of developed socialism. The 1977 USSR Constitution is legal basis Soviet legislation. Constitutions of union and autonomous republics and other laws are adopted on the basis of the Constitution of the USSR, the norms of which have the highest legal force.

The Soviet Constitution is fully consistent with the position expressed by V. I. Lenin that it “concentrates what has already given life, and will be corrected and supplemented by its practical application in life” (vol. 37, p. 21). The adoption of the Constitution of the USSR became important milestone in the history of our state, as a powerful stimulus in the international struggle of the working people of the whole world for freedom, democracy, social progress of mankind and lasting peace.

On October 7, 1977, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a new constitution, which turned out to be the fourth and last in the history of the Soviet country. This Basic Law, proudly called the "Constitution of Developed Socialism", ceased to be effective in 1991 as soon as the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist.

The start to the constitutional process in the new Soviet state was given by the First Constitution, which was adopted in 1918 in connection with the formation of the RSFSR. It reflected the urgent call “All power to the Soviets!” At that time, which turned from a simple slogan into a fundamental principle of building a new state. In this connection, the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 established that the supreme body of power in the country is the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and in the period between congresses - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK).

The second Constitution (the first Constitution of the USSR) was adopted in its final version by the II Congress of Soviets of the USSR on January 31, 1924 in connection with the formation of the USSR. The supreme organ of state power was the Congress of Soviets of the USSR, in the period between congresses - the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the USSR, and in the period between sessions of the CEC of the USSR - the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR. The Central Executive Committee of the USSR had the right to cancel and suspend the acts of any authorities on the territory of the USSR (with the exception of the higher-level Congress of Soviets). The Presidium of the CEC had the right to suspend and cancel the decisions of the Council of People's Commissars and individual people's commissariats of the USSR, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the Union republics.

After industrialization, collectivization and the actual cardinal reform of power, which was the result of J.V. Stalin's victory in a fierce internal party struggle, the principle "All power to the Soviets", although it continued to exist formally, but completely lost its real meaning. This circumstance required an appropriate legislative form, as a result of which the Third Constitution appeared - the Constitution of the USSR from 1936, which was popularly dubbed "Stalinist". From this very nickname it followed that the leader's sole power was now constitutionally supported, as was the primacy of party structures over state structures. And in addition, the new Basic Law finally consolidated the priority of the union legislation over the republican legislation, thus approving the rigid (almost tsarist) centralization of power.

The last Constitution of the USSR ("Brezhnev's") was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on October 7, 1977. Although it did not make significant changes in the state system, its general spirit brought some liberalization into domestic political practice, as if emphasizing the final end of the Stalinist era. One of the moments of such liberalization was the introduction of a new concept - “labor collective”, which was included in the list of legal public organizations and was endowed with the formal right of legislative initiative and the right to nominate candidates for government bodies. That, although purely nominally, equalized labor collectives in rights with the CPSU, Komsomol, All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions and other legal organizations.

This semblance of "reliance on the working people" so impressed the country's leadership that the legislative framework for the activities of labor collectives was constantly expanding. This resulted in the emergence in 1983 of a special law "On labor collectives and increasing their role in the management of enterprises, institutions, organizations."

Brezhnev's constitution introduced a number of purely cosmetic changes. For example, councils of workers' deputies were renamed into councils of people's deputies, and their term of office was extended to 2.5 years (the term of office of the Supreme Soviet was extended to 5 years). It was also important that this constitution legislatively consolidated the one-party political system (Article 6), which actually existed anyway. This last Basic Law in the history of the USSR went down in history as the "constitution of developed socialism."

Over the entire period of the last Constitution of the USSR, amendments to its text were made six times and mainly concerned articles on the activities of government bodies. And the formal end of its action came along with the cessation of the existence of the very country for which it was written. It happened on December 8, 1991 in Viskuli near Brest (Republic of Belarus). On this day, the presidents of the RSFSR and Ukraine Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kravchuk, as well as the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus Stanislav Shushkevich signed the "Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States" (known as the Belovezhskaya agreement). The document, which consisted of the Preamble and 14 articles, stated that the USSR ceased to exist as a subject international law and geopolitical reality.

Adoption of the first Constitution of the USSR - 1924

Adoption of the second ("Stalinist") Constitution of the USSR - 1936

Adoption of the third ("Brezhnev") Constitution of the USSR - 1977

USSR Constitution 1924

It was approved by the 2nd Congress of Soviets of the USSR and became the basic law in the USSR. The decision of the congress to develop an all-union document formed the basis for the creation of the Constitution of the USSR.

The USSR Constitution included 2 sections:

  • The Declaration on the Formation of the USSR - included the principles of unification and directed towards one of the main goals at that time - the struggle against world capitalism;
  • Treaty on the formation of the USSR, consisting of 11 chapters.

The main features of the 1924 Constitution:

  • The Congress of Soviets of the USSR was considered the main governing body, without whose knowledge it was impossible to make any changes to the document;
  • the union republic had the right to withdraw from the USSR at any time, but change the territory only with its approval; a single union citizenship was established;
  • The CEC of the USSR was considered the supreme body of power in the intervals between congresses, and in the intervals between sessions of the CEC, the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR was the main body of legislative power;
  • The Central Executive Committee of the USSR established the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, which is the main executive and administrative body, which included the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, his deputies and 10 people's commissars.

Thanks to the Constitution, the union republics during the formation of the USSR became part of the federal union.

USSR Constitution 1936

Also known as "Stalinist" and "The Constitution of Developed Socialism." It was adopted by the 8th Extraordinary Congress of the USSR Council on December 5. Its task was to express an important stage in the history of the state - the building of socialism.

Historian O.V. Khlevnyuk said that this Constitution, in comparison with the Constitution of the USSR of 1924, is more democratic in nature, since he wants to gain sympathy for the Soviet Union from international society for a joint struggle against the growing fascism.

Bukharin also took an active part in creating the text of the Constitution. It was officially published on December 6.

The 1936 Constitution consisted of 13 chapters and 146 articles. The social structure of the USSR was approved in 12 articles of the 1st chapter. Consider the content of the Constitution:

  • the basis of the economy is planned socialist system farms and socialist ownership of tools and means of production;
  • for the first time, all citizens of the Soviet state had equal rights:
    • universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot;
    • the right to work and rest, material security in old age and in case of illness, the right to free education;
  • freedom of speech, conscience, press, assembly and rallies, personal inviolability and privacy of correspondence were declared;
  • communications, transport, land, water and many other things were declared public property; the land occupied by the collective farms was given to them for eternal use;
  • the Bolshevik Party was declared the main representative of all public and state organizations;
  • The Supreme Soviet of the USSR was proclaimed the highest legislative body of power, in the intervals between sessions these functions were performed by its Presidium;
  • The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (later the Council of Ministers) was considered the highest executive body.

February 27, 1947 was approved a new version Constitutions as amended. In 1962, in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a commission headed by was established, which was engaged in the creation of a draft of a new Constitution of the USSR. At the end of 1964 he headed this commission.

On October 7, 1977, a new ("Brezhnev") Constitution of the USSR was adopted. December 5 was declared the Constitution Day - an official state holiday.

USSR Constitution 1977

It operated from October 7, 1977 until (1991), becoming the last Constitution of the Soviet Union. At the time of adoption, it included 9 sections, 21 chapters and 174 articles. Consider summary Constitution:

  • the introductory part - contained a description of Soviet society, retained the principles of the previous constitutions. Its text was much larger than the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993;
  • political system - this section included the general principles of the socialist system and the basis of a developed socialist society;
  • the economic system - its basis was the state and collective-farm-cooperative socialist ownership of production assets, the principle of a planned economy was in effect;
  • authorities - the term of government for the supreme and local Soviets has increased; from the previously adopted Constitution of the USSR, the right of a referendum remained for citizens;
  • state structure - no significant changes. The republics of the Union retained the right to the opportunity to secede from the USSR at any time, which they used during the collapse of the USSR.

During the period of this Constitution of the USSR, various changes were made to it, the most significant of which was the abolition of the 6th article. The one-party system was abolished, the CPSU was removed from its leadership position, and the post of President of the USSR was introduced.