ABSTRACT
One of the most important tasks of perestroika and glasnost is the formation and development of an adequate legal system and the creation and safeguarding of the kind of social conditions that from time immemorial have been called the "rule of law." The sphere of justice has been perceived not as independent, but as serving, first and foremost, the interests of the party and the state. The prosecutorial bias in the administration of justice plays a pivotal role—penetrating and interconnecting inquiry, investigation, prosecution by the state, and court proceedings. The USSR Procurator General's Office intervened in the Berkhin affair, and all officials guilty of breaking the law were brought to justice. "A Speech in Defense of the People's Assessors" was the title given to an article in Ogonyok by A. Move, a lawyer and chairman of the Criminal Law and Procedure Section of the Moscow College of Advocates.
