Reforming the Russian Legal System
Reforming the Russian Legal System
Reforming the Russian Legal System is a comprehensive analysis of the forces that are shaping legal reform in the republics of the former USSR. Looking beneath the flow of day-to-day developments, the book examines how traditional indigenous Russian legal values, and the 74-year experience with communism and 'socialist legality' are being combined with Western concepts of justice and due process to forge a new legal consciousness in Russia today. The author provides a broad historical survey of pre-revolutionary and Soviet-era legal developments, which provides a backdrop to the reforms initiated by Gorbachev. Chapters analysing constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, the Procuracy, and the laws governing the transition to a market economy illustrate the recurring themes of the book: the interaction of crosscurrents in Russian legal culture, and variations in the pace of legal reform from republic to republic and region to region.
- The first book to look at legal reform in the Republics of the former USSR
- A vital subject in the creation of a viable democracy in the region, which depends on respect for the Rule of Law
- Based on extensive research and personal experiences of the author, a leading scholar, who has acted as adviser to the Russian government on their legal system
Reviews & endorsements
"This work should be essential reading for anyone trying to deal with Russia's legal system." Peter B. Maggs, Law & History Review
"Readers seeking an overview of the Russian leagal system will find much of interest in this book. Gordon B. Smith weaves together various literatures to create a succinct and compelling description of law and leagal culture prior to the October Revolution and during the Soviet period." Kathryn Hendley, Historian
Product details
April 2011Adobe eBook Reader
9780511883880
0 pages
0kg
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- 1. Pre-revolutionary Russian law
- 2. The Bolshevik experience
- 3. The history of legal reform
- 4. Forging a new constitution
- 5. Citizens and the state: the debate over the Procuracy
- 6. In search of a just system: the courts and judicial reform
- 7. Law and the transition to a market economy
- 8. Legal reform in the republics
- 9. Legal reform and the transition to democracy in Russia
- Appendix
- Notes
- Index.
