An Introduction to the Soviet Legal System (1969) sets the main features of modern Soviet law against their background in Russian legal history and Marxist political thought. Important constitutional provisions are examined in detail and their value in practice considered. In the second part of the book special emphasis is given to those parts of the system most likely to interest the general reader and the non-legal specialist in Soviet affairs. Criminal Procedure and Family Law are considered in detail, as are Trade Unions and the settlement of Labour Disputes. Special features of the Soviet legal system such as the legal position of the State Bank, collective farms and the state-controlled commercial and industrial enterprises are examined. The final chapter is devoted to the work of the Soviet legal profession.

The revised Encyclopedia follows the format of the 1973 edition. It is a compilation of nearly 500 short, factual articles on Soviet domestic and international law.

This is the first treatise on Russia's new legal system, as it emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The first part of the book analyses in detail the political and economic origins of "perestroika," indispensable for understanding the basic parameters of the evolution of Russian law. In the following chapters all major legal subjects are discussed against the background of their Soviet past and as the result of the radical changes in the political, social and economic make-up of the country. The appendices include the texts of the U.S.S.R. and Russian Constitutions, the Agreement of Minsk, The Russian Federation Treaty, bibliographical sources, and extensive indices of Soviet and Russian legislation. The book has been written for legal practitioners, comparative lawyers, and students of Russian law, but will also be of interest to a wider audience of political scientists, journalists, etc.