50. Constitution of the RSFSR 1918

Before the adoption of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, the Soviet state issued a number of acts that had constitutional significance. The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets proclaimed the transfer of all power into the hands of the Soviets, both in the center and locally. The principle of autocracy and full power of the Soviets was established, which was then enshrined in the Constitution. This congress also adopted the decrees “On Peace” and “On Land”, the main provisions of which were subsequently included in the Constitution. On December 2, 1917, the “Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia” was published, which legislated the national policy of the Soviet government. On November 14, 1917, the Decree on Workers' Control was adopted. On December 1, 1917, the Supreme Economic Council was created. By decree of December 14, 1917, banks were nationalized. According to the Decree of January 15, 1918, the Red Army was created. So the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 was not created out of nowhere.

To strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat, law and order, legality in the country, and the successful implementation of socialist ideas, it was necessary to create a basic law - the Constitution.

For the first time, practical steps to create the first Constitution were taken by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which on January 15, 1918 instructed the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to develop the main provisions of the Constitution of the RSFSR and present them to the next Congress of Soviets. This decision was made on the initiative of the Left Social Revolutionaries. However, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was unable to fulfill the instructions of the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets due to the sharp aggravation of the international situation. As a result of the breakdown of negotiations in Brest-Litovsk, the German offensive at the front, the strengthening of the opposition of the left communists and the left Socialist Revolutionaries, all the attention of the Soviet central state apparatus, including the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, was absorbed in solving the problem of establishing peace with Germany. The IV All-Russian Congress of Soviets resolved this issue by ratifying the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty.

After the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the opportunity arose to practically begin to create a draft Constitution. On March 30, 1918, the Central Committee of the RCP(b) decided to create a commission to develop the Constitution. The implementation of this decision was entrusted to Ya.M. Sverdlov. Already on April 1, 1918, a constitutional commission began to be created. The commission included representatives of the following parties in proportion to their composition in the All-Russian Central Executive Committee: from the Bolsheviks Y.M. Sverdlov, M.N. Pokrovsky, I.V. Stalin, from the Left Social Revolutionary faction - D.A. Magerovsky and A.A. Schrader, from the Socialist-Revolutionary Maximalists A.I. Berdnikov with an advisory voice. The commission also included representatives of the following people's commissariats: nationalities, finance, military affairs, justice, internal affairs and the Supreme Economic Council. The commission was headed by Ya.M. Sverdlov, M.N. became his deputy. Pokrovsky, and secretary - V.A. Avanesov. Most of the commission members were Bolsheviks. There were disputes in the All-Russian Central Executive Committee commission on various problems of the draft Constitution. So, M.A. Reisner believed that the RSFSR should unite “labor communes”, I.V. Stalin defended the idea of ​​​​creating a federation on the national-territorial principle. The commission accepted the proposal of I.V. Stalin.

On July 10, 1918, the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted the Constitution. On July 19, 1918, from the moment of publication in Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Constitution of the RSFSR came into force.

The Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 consisted of six sections: 1. Declaration of the rights of the working and exploited people; 2. General provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; 3. Construction of Soviet power; 4. Active and passive suffrage; 5. Budget law; 6. About the coat of arms and flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

The Constitution established a political basis - the Councils of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies; dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of the Republic of Soviets (Articles 1, 9). It reflected the most important measures of the Soviet state in the field of economics: nationalization of land, banks, forests, mineral resources, waters; the introduction of workers' control and the Supreme Economic Council as the first steps towards the nationalization of factories, factories, mines, and transport; cancellation of external loans concluded before the revolution (Article 3). The Constitution reflected the federal principle of the state structure of the RSFSR (Article 11).

The Constitution established the system and relationships between government and government bodies. The construction and operation of the Soviet state apparatus was based on the principle of democratic centralism. The highest authority in the country was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and in the period between congresses - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee formed the Council of People's Commissars for the general administration of the country. The Constitution determined the competence of these bodies; they were endowed with legislative powers, which was dictated, on the one hand, by the difficult historical situation, on the other hand, by the desire to create a working state apparatus that would combine legislative and executive functions and, according to the authors’ intentions, avoid the negative phenomena inherent in bourgeois parliamentarism.

The Constitution proclaimed a new, class, proletarian democracy, democracy only for working people. As a result, according to some estimates, 5 million people were deprived of their civil rights. Workers were granted the following political rights: to elect and be elected to bodies of Soviet power; freedom of speech, meetings, rallies, processions, freedom of unions. The goal was to provide workers with “complete, comprehensive and free education” (Article 17).

Equal rights were recognized “for citizens, regardless of their race and nationality,” and it was declared contrary to the fundamental laws of the country “to allow any privileges or advantages on this basis, as well as any oppression of national minorities or restriction of their equality” (Article .22).

The Constitution granted the right of political asylum to all foreigners who were persecuted for political and religious crimes (Article 21). In order to ensure true freedom of conscience for workers, the church was separated from the state and the school from the church, and freedom of religious and anti-religious propaganda was recognized for all citizens. In recent years, numerous facts have been cited of violations of this article of the Constitution and unjustified repression against believers and the clergy. The Constitution recorded only those rights, the implementation of which was guaranteed under those conditions. Therefore, there is no right to work, rest, education, etc.

It should be emphasized that political rights were granted only to workers. The exploitative elements were deprived of political rights, including voting rights. These restrictions were caused by the specific historical situation of that time in Russia, the unusually acute class struggle in the country. The deprivation of the political rights of the exploiters was a unique form of implementing under those conditions the function of suppressing the resistance of the overthrown exploiting classes. The bourgeoisie itself excluded itself from political life, actively fighting against Soviet power.

The Constitution enshrined not only rights, but also responsibilities, recognizing work as the duty of all citizens and proclaiming the slogan: “He who does not work, let him not eat.” The duty of all citizens was to defend the socialist Fatherland. Moreover, the honorable right to defend the revolution with arms in hand was granted only to the working people; non-labor elements were entrusted with other military duties.

In addition to those noted earlier, there were other features in the electoral law under the Constitution. Workers had an advantage in elections over peasants. This made it possible to consolidate the role of the working class in a small-peasant country, which was the RSFSR.

Elections to all levels of the Soviets, except for urban and rural ones, were multi-level and indirect. The right to vote and be elected to the Soviets was enjoyed by workers who had reached 18 years of age by election day, regardless of religion, nationality, gender, residence, etc.

Military personnel also enjoyed this right. Voters had the right to recall the elected deputy.

The Constitution recorded not only what existed, but also outlined the tasks for the transition period from capitalism to socialism: the destruction of the exploitation of man by man, the merciless suppression of the resistance of the exploiters, the elimination of the division of society into classes, the construction of socialism (Article 3).

The Constitution served to a certain extent as the basis for subsequent legislation. She had a great influence on the formation of the constitutions of other Soviet republics.

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And a new composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was elected, Bolshevik in composition; it was headed by Ya. M. Sverdlov. After clashes between the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in a number of places in Russia, the latter’s delegates were recalled from local and central representative bodies, and the party leadership was arrested on the eve of the V Congress of Soviets.

The basic principles of the Constitution were formulated in its six sections: I. Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People; II. General provisions of the Constitution of the RSFSR; III. The structure of Soviet power in the center and locally; IV. Active and passive suffrage; V. Budgetary law; VI. About the coat of arms and flag of the RSFSR.

The Declaration defined the social basis of the new statehood - the dictatorship of the proletariat and its political basis - the system of Soviets of workers, peasants and Red Army deputies.

The first economic transformations were legislated: nationalization of forests, land, mineral resources, transport, banks, establishment of control in industry. The duration of the Constitution was determined for the period of “transition from capitalism to socialism.”

The state structure of the RSFSR was federal in nature, the subjects of the federation were national republics. It was also envisaged to create regional unions, part of the RSFSR on a federation basis and consisting of several national regions.

The Constitution of 1918 proclaimed the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers, Red Army, Peasants and Cossack Deputies as the highest body of power.

The Congress was elected by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee responsible to it, which in turn formed the Government of the RSFSR - the Council of People's Commissars, which consisted of people's commissars who headed the sectoral people's commissariats.

Local authorities were regional, provincial, district and volost congresses of Soviets, which formed their own executive committees. City and village councils were created in cities and villages.

The competence of the central authorities was determined as follows. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee approved the Constitution, the adoption of the RSFSR, exercised general management of foreign, domestic and economic policies, established national taxes and duties, the foundations of the organization of the armed forces, judicial system and legal proceedings, and formed national legislation. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets had the exclusive right to amend the Constitution and ratify peace treaties.

The electoral system enshrined in the Constitution of 1918 reflected the current socio-political situation in the country. The right to vote and be elected to the Soviets was enjoyed by workers who had reached 18 years of age by election day, regardless of religion, nationality, gender, residence, etc. Military personnel also enjoyed this right. Voters had the right to recall the elected deputy.

Approximately 5% of the total working population was disenfranchised. These included persons using hired labor for profit; living on unearned income; private traders and intermediaries; representatives of the clergy; former employees of the gendarmerie, police and security department.

The exclusion of “socially alien elements” from the electoral corps did not make it possible to consider suffrage as universal.

Representation from social groups that had the right to vote was not equal. Thus, during the elections to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, city councils elected one deputy from 25 thousand voters, and from rural councils one deputy was elected from 125 thousand.

City Councils had a similar advantage in elections to regional and provincial congresses of Soviets.

This tendency was strengthened by another rule not enshrined in the Constitution - workers took part in elections not only in territorial districts, they also voted in their party and trade union organizations, which was supposed to ensure their predominance in the elected representative bodies.

The Constitution established a multi-stage system of elections to the Soviets (a rule that was in effect during elections to zemstvos and the State Duma).

There were direct elections to rural and city Councils; delegates at all subsequent levels were elected at the corresponding congresses of the Councils based on the principles of representation and delegation.

The Constitution proclaimed class democracy - for the working people. In other words, it did not recognize formal equality of rights, although the class differences that existed in Tsarist Russia were abolished and a single category of citizens was established. About 5 million people were deprived of some civil rights. A separate article justified this discrimination as a temporary measure to prevent “damage to the interests of the socialist revolution.”

In Art. 21 of the 1918 Constitution provided for the provision of asylum to foreigners persecuted for political and religious crimes, and on the basis of Art. 20 all foreign workers could receive, by decision of local Soviets, “without any difficult formalities” the rights of Russian citizenship.

The Constitution was also based on the principle of equality of the sexes, the equality of women with men. Despite the fact that there was no special article about this in the text, the principle of equality was consistently applied throughout the Basic Law. The equality of women with men was especially emphasized in suffrage, where it was of particular importance.

The Constitution provided citizens with a wide range of democratic freedoms for its time: freedom of conscience (Article 13), freedom of speech and press (Article 14), freedom of assembly (Article 15), freedom of association in all kinds of unions (Article 16).

In addition to listing the rights of citizens, the most important responsibilities were also recorded in the Constitution. Yes, Art. 18 of the Basic Law of the RSFSR proclaimed the universal duty to work, and Art. 19 - universal conscription.

The Constitution outlined program tasks for the transition period from capitalism to communism: the destruction of the exploitation of man by man, the merciless suppression of the resistance of exploiters, the elimination of the division of society into antagonistic classes, the construction of socialism.

• Collection of laws of the RSFSR. 1918. No. 51. Article 582.

The revolutionary gains of the working people needed constitutional reinforcement. The order to develop a draft Basic Law of Soviet Russia was given by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Taking these wishes into account, on April 8, 1918, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee created a Constitutional Commission of 11 members chaired by I.V. Stalin and Ya.M. Sverdlov. The commission included 6 people's commissars and 5 representatives from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, representing the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries (leftists and maximalists).

At the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets, July 10, 1918. one of the 4 considered drafts of the basic law of the RSFSR was adopted. On July 19, 1918, the Constitution was published in the Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and from that moment came into force.

The Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 was the first socialist constitution in the history of mankind. Its socialist nature was determined primarily by the fact that it became the Basic Law of the world's first socialist state - the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, created as a result of the victory of the October Socialist Revolution. The Constitution legislated the formation of the first socialist state, its social essence and structure. The Constitution openly expressed the idea of ​​the dictatorship of the proletariat as the social essence of the RSFSR. The Leninist Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People, which formed the first section of the Constitution, proclaimed the following historical tasks of the dictatorship of the proletariat: the destruction of all exploitation of man by man, the complete elimination of the division of society into classes, the merciless suppression of exploiters and the establishment of a socialist organization of society.

The Constitution proclaimed Russia a free socialist society of all working people. In accordance with it, all power within the RSFSR belonged to the entire working population of the country, united in the Soviets. Thus, for the first time, the sovereignty of the working people was consolidated and guaranteed and a socialist form of state power was established. The socialist character of the Soviets as a form of state power was explained by the fact that they were representative bodies exclusively of the working people. The Constitution stated that at the moment of the decisive struggle of the proletariat against its exploiters, the latter could not have a place in any of the government bodies. The Republic of Soviets was legally established as a state form of dictatorship of the proletariat. Having established the autocracy and full power of the representative bodies of the working people - the Soviets, the Constitution thereby secured them as the political basis of the Soviet state, although formally such a definition was absent in it.

The Constitution legislated the first steps towards creating a socialist economic basis for the Soviet state. The most important provisions in this regard were the provisions included in the Constitution on the abolition of private ownership of land and the declaration of the entire land fund as public property. Thus, state socialist ownership of land was established as the most important condition for the construction of socialism and as the most important element of the socialist economic basis of the Soviet state. All forests, mineral resources, waters of national importance, as well as all living and dead equipment, model estates and agricultural enterprises were also declared state socialist property.

As the first step towards the complete transition of factories, factories, mines, railways and other means of production and transport into the public domain, turning them into state socialist property, the Constitution enshrined the establishment of workers' control and the creation of the Supreme Council of the National Economy. In turn, this was recognized as another means of ensuring the power of workers over the exploiters. The Constitution recognized the transfer of all banks into state ownership as another condition for the liberation of workers from the yoke of capital.

In accordance with the principles of Soviet democracy, equal rights of citizens were recognized regardless of their nationality and race, and equality of the sexes.

The Constitution provided citizens with a wide range of democratic freedoms: freedom of expression, press, council, rallies, processions, association in all kinds of unions. The task of the Soviet government was to provide workers and the poorest peasants with complete, comprehensive and free education.

The equality of citizens was proclaimed regardless of gender, race or nationality. As a guarantee of the equality of citizens, regardless of their race and nationality, the Constitution declared the establishment or admission of any privileges or advantages depending on race and nationality, as well as any oppression of national minorities or restrictions on their equality, to be contrary to the fundamental laws of the Republic. Thus, the principle of socialist internationalism received its legislative codification in the constitution.

This principle was also expressed in the fact that, based on the solidarity of workers of all nations, the Constitution enshrined the granting of all political rights of Russian citizens to workers and peasants - foreigners - living on its territory for the purpose of work. At the same time, local Soviets were given the right to grant them the rights of Russian citizenship without hindrance. All foreigners persecuted for political and religious crimes were granted the right of political asylum. For the first time in the history of mankind, atheism received state recognition in the RSFSR, since the freedom of conscience proclaimed by the Constitution presupposed the recognition of the freedom of anti-religious propaganda for all citizens.

It should be noted that all democratic freedoms enshrined in the Constitution were given a new, socialist content. It was expressed in the fact that freedoms were ensured specifically for the working people, assigned specifically to them. The socialist content of democratic freedoms was also expressed in the guarantees that provided them. Thus, freedom of assembly was ensured by placing at the disposal of the working class and the poor peasants all premises suitable for public meetings with furnishings, lighting and heating. Thus, the Constitution consolidated the new, socialist content of democratic freedoms, while focusing on their guarantees and ensuring their reality.

The arming of the working people and the disarmament of the propertied classes were provided for by the Constitution as a special guarantee of the full power of the working people. According to it, the arming of the working people, the formation of the socialist Red Army of workers and peasants, and the complete disarmament of the propertied classes were decreed in the interests of ensuring full power for the working masses and eliminating any possibility of restoring the power of the exploiters.

The Constitution provided for the deprivation or limitation of certain rights and freedoms of the exploiting classes. Individuals or groups of citizens could be deprived of their rights if they were used to the detriment of the interests of the socialist revolution.

For the first time in the history of mankind, the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 established socialist principles of government for a multinational state. The Constitution enshrined the basic principles of the Soviet Federation as a form of an honest and lasting union of the peoples of Russia. The Soviet national republics were defined as the subjects of the Russian Federation. This provision of the Constitution had important historical significance, because thereby establishing the most important basic form of realizing the right to self-determination of previously oppressed nations and at the same time Soviet National statehood. The Constitution included the entire Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People.

The Constitution legislated the socialist principles of the Soviet federation:

1) the federation was an association of only Soviet, socialist republics;

2) due to the fact that the federation was established on the basis of a free union of free nations, its basis was the freedom of nations;

3) since the subjects of the federation were Soviet national republics - Soviet national states that had a certain territory, compactly populated by one or another nationality, or characterized by a special way of life, the national-territorial principle of the Soviet Federation was established;

4) because the federation was established on the basis of a free union of free nations, on the basis of voluntariness, as a voluntary association at the will of the nations themselves, the principle of voluntariness of the Soviet Federation was affirmed;

5) the principle of equality of the subjects of the Soviet Federation was established, because free nations with equal rights created their own national Soviet states, which were part of the union as equal subjects.

Since the Constitution provided for the possibility of uniting the Councils of regions, distinguished by their special way of life and national composition, into autonomous regional unions, as well as their entry on the basis of a federation into the RSFSR, the combination of federation and autonomy in it was consolidated, as well as the autonomous nature of the states - subjects of the Russian Federation.

The establishment of new socialist principles of government structure of the multinational Soviet state, the basic principles of the Soviet socialist federation above all, also emphasized the socialist nature of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918.

The Constitution of the RSFSR consolidated the existing system of government and management bodies, which ensured the exercise of workers' power.

First of all, this system consisted of representative bodies: Soviets, congresses of Soviets and executive committees elected by them. The main principle of their organization and activities was the socialist principle of democratic centralism. According to it, all government bodies were elected and lower ones were subordinate to higher ones. This ensured the expression of the interests and will of the working people by all government bodies, the unity of the center and localities, and the implementation of a single political line.

The highest representative body according to the Constitution was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which had full power in the republic. His supremacy was ensured by the fact that only he had the right to establish, supplement and change the basic principles of the Soviet Constitution.

In the period between the Congresses, the bearer of all power and the main system of representative bodies was the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets. According to the Constitution, it was the highest legislative, administrative and supervisory body of the RSFSR. It determined the general direction of activity of the workers' and peasants' government and all bodies of Soviet power, united and coordinated legislative and administrative activities. The control activities of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee were expressed in the reports of government members and other officials to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, its requests to the Council of People's Commissars and other government bodies, as well as the activities of the temporary commissions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee for investigation and control.

In the legal nature of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the new socialist principle of merging in the representative bodies of lawmaking, management, decision-making and their execution found manifestation. The Constitution also mentioned the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, which also had executive-administrative, law-making and control functions. The working apparatus of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee consisted of its departments.

According to the socialist principle of the formation of the government directly by the highest representative body of state power, according to the Constitution, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee formed the Council of People's Commissars for the general management of the affairs of the RSFSR, and people's commissariats for the management of individual branches of government.

The Constitution established 18 people's commissariats: for foreign affairs, for military affairs, for maritime affairs, for internal affairs, justice, labor, social security, education, post and telegraph affairs, for nationalities, financial affairs, communications, agriculture, trade and industry, food, state control, Supreme Council of the National Economy, healthcare.

According to the Constitution, the people's commissariats were headed by people's commissars who were members of the Council of People's Commissars. Under the People's Commissar, under his chairmanship, a collegium was formed, the composition of which was approved by the Council of People's Commissars. People's Commissars and collegiums under the People's Commissariats were responsible in their work to the Council of People's Commissars and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

In the interests of creating a state apparatus that would operate effectively in the conditions of revolutionary transformations, the Council of People's Commissars was given the functions of a legislative body. For the same purpose, the branch departments of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee merged with the corresponding people's commissariats.

The Basic Law fixed the structure of local authorities and management, which formed the basis of the entire system of state authorities. It included provincial, district and volost congresses of Soviets, city and rural Soviets, executive committees, departments of Soviets and executive committees.

Local Soviets and Congresses of Soviets were called upon to implement all acts of the relevant supreme authorities, take all measures to raise the given territory in cultural and economic terms, resolve all issues of significance for the given territory, and also unite all Soviet activities within its borders. The Constitution stipulated that the Councils, within the limits of their competence, are the highest authority within the boundaries of a given territory.

The consolidation by the Constitution of local representative bodies of workers as the only local bodies of state power meant the establishment of a new socialist democracy, the most complete implementation of self-government of workers - the most important achievements of the October Revolution of 1917.

It should be noted that local Soviets were considered by the Constitution of the RSFSR as permanent working bodies. It stipulated that city councils should be convened at least once a week, and rural councils at least twice a week. According to the Constitution, local Soviets, congresses of Soviets and executive committees constituted a unified system of government bodies, which from bottom to top consisted only of representative bodies, which in turn also determined the socialist nature of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918.

Bodies of Soviet power at all levels were elected. The Constitution enshrined the basic principles of the Soviet electoral system. It introduced a unified electoral qualification for both active and passive suffrage. Unlike the suffrage of bourgeois states, except for age, the Constitution did not establish any other electoral qualifications. According to it, for the first time in the history of mankind, all working people could vote and be elected upon reaching 18 years of age, regardless of religion, nationality, gender, residence, etc. Active and passive voting rights were also granted to workers who served in the Army and Navy , workers who have lost their ability to work, foreign workers and peasants living on the territory of the RSFSR who do not use hired labor.

However, the elections were not general. The socialist nature of the Soviets as the authorized representation of only the working people was ensured by the Constitution by the fact that the right to elect and be elected to the councils belonged exclusively to working people - workers and employees of all types and categories, employed in various sectors of the economy, peasants and Cossack farmers who did not use hired labor to extract arrived.

The Constitution provided for the deprivation of voting rights of exploiters, traders, people living on unearned income, clergy, former police officers, gendarmes, security agents and members of the royal family. In addition, persons deprived of this right by a court for committing crimes, as well as some other categories of citizens, were excluded from participating in elections.

Due to the significant predominance of the peasant population in Russia (up to ¾), unequal elections were established. At the same time, the vote of one worker was equal to 2 - 3 votes of peasants.

There were direct elections only to the lower Soviets. All the rest, starting from the volost congress and up to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, were formed through indirect, multi-level elections. At the same time, the elections were not indirect, since there were no electors characteristic of this institution, and lower government bodies elected their representatives to higher government bodies.

The procedure for casting votes in elections was not regulated in the Constitution. In practice, elections were in most cases open and carried out by open voting. The Constitution provided that voters could recall their deputies at any time, and also established a procedure for verifying elections.

It should be noted that in those rural areas where this could be feasible, the Constitution allowed the resolution of issues of managing the general meeting of voters of a given village directly.

Along with the above, the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 contained the norms of Budget Law, as well as provisions on the coat of arms and flag of the Soviet state.

Soviet law arose simultaneously with the Soviet state, just as it did during the breakdown of the old law.

It should be noted that there are 3 main groups of sources of Soviet law that were in force during the period under study:

1. New legislation, new regulations.

2. Old legislation (especially those norms that were of a universal nature).

3. Revolutionary legal consciousness of the working people.

Regarding the destruction of the old law and the use of pre-revolutionary legislation as a source of new Soviet law, it is necessary to cite the general fundamental provision of the Decree on the Court No. 1 of November 22, 1917, that local courts and other bodies “are guided in their decisions and sentences by the laws of the overthrown governments only insofar as they have not been abolished by the revolution and do not contradict the revolutionary conscience and revolutionary sense of justice.”

A feature of the legislation of this period is the plurality of legislative bodies. Normative acts of the highest legal force could be created by the All-Russian Congresses of Soviets, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars. This was also enshrined in the Constitution of 1918.

Law-making activities were carried out not only by legislative bodies, but also by other bodies of the Soviet state, including the People's Commissariat and local councils. Given the lack of normative material, acts of people's commissariats sometimes performed the functions of laws. Acts of trade union bodies were of great importance, especially in the field of regulation of labor relations.

Soviet law arose as all-Russian law. The emergence of autonomous republics led to the creation of legal acts and these state entities. Local councils, in their rule-making, sometimes also interfered with national spheres.

The first period of the history of Soviet law was characterized by the publication of laws on individual problems and the absence of systematized acts. In general, it can be stated that during the period under study only the foundations of Soviet law were laid.

The first, simplest form of systematization was the publication of the Collection of Legislation and Orders of the Workers' and Peasants' Government (SU RSFSR).

Civil law.

In the field of civil law, the most important circumstance was the emergence and development of the institution of socialist property.

Its formation was based on the liquidation of private ownership of land, forests, mineral resources and water; nationalization of factories, mines, transport, banks, communications, etc. Nationalization was a new way of the emergence of property - state, socialist property. Objects of state property were withdrawn from civil circulation.

State socialist property was also formed through succession to pre-revolutionary state property.

Private capitalist turnover and regulation of economic life occurred during this period under the influence of administrative and legal regulation of property relations. Real estate transactions were prohibited, first in the city and then in the countryside.

The state also regulated purchase and sale relations by establishing fixed prices for bread and other essential products. Special committees were created to regulate prices and exercise control over them.

A new order of inheritance was established. By the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of April 14, 1918, the inheritance of capitalist property by law and will was abolished. Along with this, the donation of private property was abolished.

Land law.

The legislative consolidation of state socialist ownership of land by the Decree on Land meant that all previous categories of land ownership were abolished. The right to dispose of land was not granted to either organizations or individuals, but was concentrated in the hands of the state itself, which allocated land to various organizations and individuals on a right of use.

Marriage and family law

On December 18, 1917, the Decree “On civil marriage, on children and on the introduction of civil status books” was adopted. Church marriage, as a mandatory form, was abolished and civil marriage was established, registered with the relevant government bodies. Spouses were recognized as having equal rights. Children born in and out of wedlock were also given equal rights.

On December 19, 1917, the Decree “On Divorce” was adopted, which abolished the previously established obstacles to this.

Activities to implement the above-mentioned decrees were regulated by the Instruction of the People's Commissariat of Justice “On the organization of departments for registering marriages and births” dated January 4, 1918.

Labor law

The first Soviet decree on labor was the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of October 29, 1917 “On the eight-hour working day.” According to it, the length of the working week should not exceed 48 hours. Overtime work was permitted only in exceptional cases by the relevant workers' organizations. Children under 14 years of age were not allowed to work at all. A six-hour working day was established for minors. Women and minors were not allowed to do overtime or heavy work.

In June 1918, for the first time in the world, vacations with pay were established for workers and employees. Trade unions took the lead in regulating wages. The wage rates they developed were approved by the People's Commissariat of Labor. At the same time, measures were taken to equalize wages for men and women.

On November 1, 1917, the government message “On Social Insurance” was published. This began to apply to all workers and employees. Decrees adopted in December 1917 on certain types of social insurance covered cases of loss of ability to work, as well as unemployment. Insurance funds were formed from funds received from enterprises.

Intermediary offices for hiring labor were abolished and labor exchanges were created, which kept accurate records of labor and ensured its systematic distribution. To transform all citizens into workers in a socialist society, universal labor conscription was introduced. It found its legislative codification in the Declaration of the Rights of Working and Exploited People.

To ensure order, accounting and control in production, measures were taken to establish labor discipline. In May 1918, the old factory inspection was replaced by a new labor inspection, which was under the authority of the People's Commissariat of Labor and its local bodies.

Criminal law

The first acts of Soviet criminal legislation outlined only the general and main directions of the policy of the Soviet state in the field of combating crime.

First of all, the norms of criminal law were consolidated, aimed at resisting the overthrown classes and strengthening the dictatorship of the proletariat. Particular attention was paid to the fight against counter-revolutionary and military crimes.

In particular, during the period under study, the most dangerous counter-revolutionary crimes such as insurrection, rebellion, conspiracy, an attempt to usurp state power by a counter-revolutionary organization, a terrorist act, espionage, sabotage, sabotage, sabotage, counter-revolutionary agitation and propaganda were regulated. A number of political parties were declared organizations of enemies of the people. Thus, in November 1917, according to the decree “On the arrest of the leaders of the civil war against the revolution,” the Cadets were declared a party of enemies of the people, to whom the Council of People’s Commissars was charged with uniting all the counter-revolutionary forces of the country and leading the outbreak of the civil war.

Cadet leaders were subject to arrest and trial by a revolutionary tribunal, and rank-and-file members were to be under the supervision of local Soviets. Thus, the Bolsheviks set a course for armed force suppression of their political opponents. At the same time, all members of opposition political parties were subject to criminal repression, not for specific and proven crimes, but only for the fact of membership in them.

The most dangerous common crimes were banditry, theft, speculation and bribery.

The fight against crime was carried out by combining coercion with persuasion. One of the first acts that most fully listed the types of punishments was the Instruction of the People's Commissariat of Justice of December 19, 1917 on the revolutionary tribunal. As punishments, it provided for a fine, imprisonment, removal from the capital, certain localities or borders of Russia, public censure, declaring an enemy of the people, deprivation of political rights, confiscation of property, and compulsory community service. On June 16, 1918, the People's Commissariat of Justice adopted a special resolution, according to which the revolutionary tribunals were authorized to use execution for counter-revolutionary crimes.

Local courts also applied new types of punishment, not regulated by law, which were a form of education: public reprimand in the presence of the court, deprivation of public trust, prohibition to speak at meetings.

During the period under study, conditional sentencing began to take shape as a measure of punishment. It should be noted that when choosing a punishment, a class approach was used, which involved mitigating it for workers' representatives.

Court and process.

The creation of new, Soviet judicial bodies was accompanied by the establishment of a new democratic procedure for the consideration of cases. Soviet legal proceedings were distinguished by their accusatory-adversarial nature, oral nature, publicity and immediacy. The court was not constrained by any formalities regarding evidence and limitation periods. The evidence was assessed according to the judges' internal convictions.

During the period under study, legal proceedings were allowed on the basis of the Statutes of Civil and Criminal Proceedings of 1864, to the extent that they were not abolished by the Soviet government and did not contradict the socialist legal consciousness.

The oath, which was used as evidence before the revolution, was replaced by a warning for giving false testimony.

Consideration of particularly important cases in the Revolutionary Tribunal under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was carried out without the participation of people's assessors. The decisions of the tribunal could be appealed in cassation to the People's Commissariat of Justice, which was given the right to appeal to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee for a final resolution of the issue.

They were recorded in the Basic Law of the RSFSR, adopted in July 1918. First Soviet Constitution summarized the (albeit very small) experience of state building.

The projects of the commission of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the People's Commissariat of Justice were considered by a special commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). At the meeting of the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets on July 4, 1918, a commission was formed to consider the draft Constitution, which, with some amendments and additions, was adopted by the congress on July 10, 1918. On July 19, 1918, the Basic Law was published in Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and from there came into force immediately.

The Constitution enshrined that the Russian Republic is a free socialist society of all working people of Russia. Power in it belongs to the entire working population of the country, united in the Soviets.

The Constitution allowed the deprivation of exploiters of any rights if they are used to the detriment of workers. Persons who resort to hired labor for the purpose of making a profit, living on unearned income, private traders, trade and commercial intermediaries were deprived of voting rights; Their rights to military service were limited, and they were entrusted with military transport and military construction duties.

The constitution established equal rights for citizens regardless of their race or nationality, and provided for the provision of asylum to foreigners persecuted for political and religious crimes. The principle of equality of the sexes, the equality of women and men, was indirectly established. A wide range of democratic freedoms were provided: freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association in all kinds of unions.

The Constitution reflected compliance of citizens' rights with their responsibilities. Major Responsibilities a universal duty to work and a universal military duty were established.

The Constitution enshrined the basic principles of the Soviet federation. So, The Constitution enshrined the possibility of uniting into autonomous regional unions regions that differ in their special way of life and national composition. The national-territorial principle of the formation of the Russian Federation was consolidated: membership in the federation was based on the allocation of a certain territory compactly populated by people of one or another nationality.

The competence of the highest authorities of the RSFSR was determined. The highest bodies of power and general administration were the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars. The Constitution also mentioned the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, but did not disclose the legal status. According to the Constitution, the bodies of sectoral management were the people's commissariats.

The structure of local authorities and management was also recorded, and the relationship between the central government and regional unions was touched upon.

Since bodies of Soviet power at all levels were elected, the Constitution enshrined the basic principles of Soviet