ABSTRACT
In the USSR a central shortcoming in the administration of justice was the absence of judicial independence. Courts in the Soviet Union were neither regarded nor treated as an institution separate from the political regime that they served. Accordingly, the Soviet state took few steps to buttress its constitutional proclamation of "the independence of judges. In the Russian context, the reliance upon the services of the Ministry of Justice, a part of the executive branch, seemed to many judges and judicial reformers an obstacle to the achievement of the self-government needed by the judicial corps to gain self-respect and independence. The creation of a Judicial Department in Moscow and subordinate departments in the subjects of the Federation is well underway, and these departments will replace the corresponding units in the Ministry of Justice.
