Soviet Constitution of 1977

The October 7th 1977, the Supreme Soviet unanimously adopted the fourth and last Soviet Constitution, also called constitution " Brejnev ". The official name of the constitution was " Constitution (fundamental law) of the Union of Répuliques Socialites Soviétiques" (Russian : Конститу́ция (Основно́йЗако́н) Сою́заСове́тскихСоциалисти́ческихРеспу́блик)

The preamble indicated that " the goals of the Dictatorship of the proletariat having been reached, the Soviet state became the state of the entire people. " Compared with the constitutions which preceded it, the Brejnev constitution extended the borders of the constitutional regulation of the company. The first chapter defined the directing role of the Communist party and established the principles of the management of the state and the government. The article 1 defined the role of the USSR as a socialist state, like had made the preceding constitutions: " The Union of Répuliques Socialites Soviet is a socialist state for the whole of the people, which express the will and the interests of the workers, peasants and of intelligentsia, the workers of all the nations and nationalities of the pays". The principal difference is that the government does not represent any more the only workers and peasants. The following chapters establish the principles of economic management and the cultural relations.

The constitution of 1977 long and was detailed, with twenty-eight articles moreover than the Soviet Constitution of 1936. The constitution explicitly defined the division of the responsibilities between the governments for the republics and the central government. For example, the constitution placed the regulation of the borders and divisions administrative under the responsibility of the republics. However, of the provisions the rules established according to which the republics could carry out changes. Thus, the constitution concentrated on the whole of the operation of the governmental system.

Process of amendment

The adoption of the constitution was an legislative act of the Supreme Soviet, just as the possible amendments with this constitution. The amendments required approval with a majority of two thirds of the deputies of the congress and could be proposed by:

the congress itself;
Supreme Soviet, through its commissions and committees;
the Presidium or the president of the Supreme Soviet;
the committee of constitutional control;
the Council of Ministers;
the Committee of Control of the People;
Supreme court;
Procurauté;
and with the arbitration of the Head of the State.

Moreover, the directing members of the official organizations and even the Academy of Science could propose amendments and other legislations.

The Soviet constitutions were frequently amended and were modified more often than in the Western countries. Nevertheless, the constitution of 1977 tried to avoid frequent amendments by establishing separate entities of regulation of the government, having as much authority, thus allowing the legislation like the Loi of the Council of Ministers of the July 5th 1978. Other legislations included a law on the citizenship, a law on the election of the Supreme Soviet, a law on the statute of the deputies of the Supreme Soviet, a resolution on the commissions, of the regulations of the local governments, and the laws on the Supreme court and Procurauté. They allowed the change of the specific operational rules for these governmental bodies.

Constitutional laws

As a democratic constitution, the Soviet constitution included a series of civic rights and political, among which the Freedom of expression, the Freedom of the press, the Right to meet and the Freedom of worship. Moreover, the constitution allowed the freedom of artistic creation, the protection of the family, the inviolability of the person and her residence, and the right to the private life. In conformity with the ideology Marxist-Leninist of the government, the constitution gave also social rights and economic which were not covered by the capitalist constitutions of the democracies. Among those, the freedom of work, rest and of leisure, the protection of health, the care with the elderly and patients, the right to housing, education and the cultural benefits.

Contrary to the Western constitutions, the Soviet constitution instituted limitations on the political rights, whereas these same limitations in the Western countries are left with the care of the systems legislative or legal, or with the constitutions of state and their apparatuses executive, legislative or legal respective. Article 6 removed any opposition organized to the government by giving to the Communist party Soviet Union the capacity to lead and direct the company. Article 39 authorized the government to prohibit any activity prejudicial while ruling that " the pleasure of the rights and freedoms of the citizen should not be done with the detriment of the interests of the company or the état". Article 59 obliged the citizens to obey the laws and to conform to the standards of the socialist company as determined by the Party. The government did not treat like inalienable the political and socio-economic rights that the constitution gave the people: the citizens profited from these rights only insofar as they did not interfere with the interests of the Socialisme, and only the PCUS had the capacity and the authority to determine the policy of the government and the company. Thus, the right to freedom of expression envisaged by article 52 could be suspended if the exercise of this freedom were not in agreement with the policy of the Party. Until the time of the Glasnost, freedom of expression did not include/understand the right to criticize the government. The government had the capacity to prohibit the meetings of the not recognized religious groups, and the violations of the laws limiting religious freedom of expression were severely punished according to the penal codes of the republics.

The constitution also failed to install political and legal mechanisms for the protection of the rights; it missed explicit guarantees, and populates it did not have any means of calling some with a higher authority if it considered that its rights had been violated. Actually, Supreme Soviet forever introduced amendments aiming at guaranteeing the protection of the individual rights specifically. The Supreme court did not have any capacity to make sure that the constitutional law was respected by the legislation in progress or the government. Although the Soviet Union had signed the Final Act of the Conference on Safety and Co-operation in Europe (Accords of Helsinki), which provided that the internationally recognized Human rights are respected in the countries signatories, no authority external to the Soviet Union could not ensure the rights and freedoms of the citizens, gouverment generally did not follow the provisions of this agreement. At the end of the Eighties, however, a public debate was launched on the realignment of the constitutional and national laws with international engagements on the human rights.

Role of the citizen

Article 59 of the constitution provided that the exercise by the citizens of their rights was inseparable from the realization of their duties. Articles 60 to 69 defined these duties: the citizens were obliged to work and observe a discipline of work. The code of the laws arranged the escape from work under the " term; parasitism " and envisaged the associated punishments. The constitution obliged also the citizens to protect the socialist property and to be opposed to corruption. All the citizens were to make their military service to protect and " to increase the capacity and the prestige of the State soviétique". The failure with this duty was regarded as a treason with the most serious motherland and of the crimes. Lastly, the constitution obliged the parents to educate their children for a socially useful work, and to raise them like members of value of the socialist company.

The constitution and the other legislations protected and reinforced the Soviet Citoyenneté. The legislation on the citizenship gave rights equal to the natives of the countries as to naturalized. The laws also specified that the citizens could not freely give up their citizenship. The citizens who wished to make it were to request the permission of it from the Præsidium of the Supreme Soviet, which could refuse the application if the applicant had not finished his military service, if it had police records, or were responsible members for his family. Moreover, Presidum could refuse the request to protect the national security. However, the Presidium could cancel the citizenship in the event of slandering of the Soviet Union or acts attacking the prestige or with the safety of the State.

External bonds

Russian Text of the constitution of 1977 of the USSR
Translation in English

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