ABSTRACT
In the Soviet Union, the measure of restraint applied to the suspect for the duration of the investigation was at the discretion of the investigatory organs themselves. Aleksandr Iakovlev pointed out that investigators and prosecutors were more inclined to choose custody, as "the suspect is more pliant, and the investigation goes more quickly." Iakovlev further suggested that a lawyer be involved in his client's case from the onset of the investigation. Iakovlev's proposed reforms were in part reminiscent of those introduced in the eighteen-sixties by Tsar Alexander II, and in part approximated models existing in the West. Such reforms appeared designed to protect citizens against those crimes against justice committed by judicial officials in pursuance of their own career interests. In the course of the campaign against corruption, the press began to reveal other aspects of "telephone justice".
