ABSTRACT
The Soviet mechanism of complaints never was very effective. The fate of the request for justice—in fact, the legal status of the citizen—depended on justifications and the author’s ability to present them correctly in the complaint. The standardization and bureaucratization of the complaint mechanism took place in the late Soviet years. The mechanism rules became uniform throughout the country, the structure of the bureaucracy that received and processed complaints reached stability, and the rules for its functioning grew more or less predictable. The Soviet and party bodies exercised full control over the media, which meant that the editorial offices were included in the general mechanism dealing with complaints to authorities. The work of local executive committees in the late Soviet period was less than effective. Despite the hierarchy of the mechanism and rigidity of the political regime, complaints in the late Soviet period facilitated a dialogue about justice between the complainants and the addressees.
