ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the path of Soviet legal history from its nihilist origins to the contemporary acceptance of the broad concept of a pravovoe gosudarstvo. The ending of the Great Terror in December 1938 opened briefly the first window for law reform. In the mid-1970s, the call for the adoption of a new constitution, the first since 1936, opened another important window of law reform in the Brezhnev era. In general, the adoption of a constitution is a radical exercise, both in terms of the issues raised and the follow-on requirements for recodification in light of new constitutional principles. Traditionally, secretaries, department heads, and instructors in the Communist Party apparatus closely supervised the activities of the courts and government legal institutions. The Soviet Union must train and nurture professional legal personnel who can work effectively and impartially in a sovereign state with clear jurisdictional responsibilities.
