40 years of the "Brezhnev" Constitution
40 years ago, on October 7, 1977, the last Constitution of the USSR - "Brezhnev" - was adopted. On October 8, the new Constitution of the USSR was published in all the newspapers of the country.
The first Constitution in Russia was adopted in 1918 in connection with the formation of the RSFSR (Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic). After the establishment of the Soviet system, control functions, in accordance with the principle "All power to the Soviets!", were concentrated in the highest body of Soviet power. The Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 established that the supreme authority in the country is the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and in the period between congresses - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). It differed in that, while granting civil liberties to the working class and the peasantry, it deprived the freedoms of all persons who had unearned income or used wage labor. In fact, the dictatorship of the proletariat was consolidated by the basic law of the state, strengthening the positions of the Bolshevik Party in the class struggle.
The second Constitution (the first in the USSR) was adopted in its final version by the II Congress of Soviets of the USSR on January 31, 1924 in connection with the formation of the Soviet Union. The Congress of Soviets of the USSR became the supreme body of state power, in the period between congresses - the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the USSR, and in the period between sessions of the CEC of the USSR - the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR. The Central Executive Committee of the USSR had the right to cancel and suspend acts of any authorities on the territory of the USSR (with the exception of the higher - the Congress of Soviets). The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee had the right to suspend and cancel the decisions of the Council of People's Commissars and individual people's commissariats of the USSR, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the Union republics.
On December 5, 1936, the second Constitution of the USSR was adopted in the USSR, which became part of history under the name "Stalin". As in the Constitution of the USSR of 1924, it was said here that the existence of the state is the merit of the working class and the result of the achievements of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The document pointed to the dominance of state property, and also recognized the existence of cooperative-collective farm property. However, this did not mean, however, that the state denied the existence of private property. The existence of small private farming in the countryside and handicraft activities was allowed, but without the use of hired labor. The right of citizens to personal property, as well as its inheritance, was protected by the state. Unlike the previous basic law, now the rights and freedoms became equal for all citizens of the country, regardless of belonging to a particular social class, and also regardless of what rights and freedoms are in question. The period of intense struggle was over.
At the 1961nd Congress of the CPSU in 7, it was noted that the Soviet state had grown from a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a nationwide one, and proletarian democracy had become a nationwide one. The congress considered it necessary to consolidate the new qualitative state of Soviet society and the state in the Basic Law. On October 1977, 21, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR unanimously approved the Constitution of the USSR. It was divided into a preamble, 9 chapters, 174 sections and contained XNUMX articles.
For the first time in Soviet constitutional history, the preamble became an integral part of the Basic Law. It traced the historical path of Soviet society, as a result of which the construction of a developed socialist state was considered. The preamble gave a description of the main features of this society. In Art. 1 spoke of the Soviet state as a socialist state of the whole people, expressing the will and interests of the workers, peasants and intelligentsia; working people of all nations and nationalities of the country. The Soviets of People's Deputies were fixed as a political basis.
The economic basis was socialist ownership of the means of production in the form of state (national) and collective-farm cooperative property. The Constitution provided for the personal property of citizens, which could contain household items, personal consumption, conveniences and auxiliary households, a residential building and labor savings. In the use of citizens could be plots of land provided for farming, horticulture and horticulture, as well as for individual housing construction.
The Constitution details the political system of the Soviet Union. The supreme legislative body was the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which consisted of two chambers: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities. Chambers were equal (Article 109), consisted of an equal number of deputies. The Council of the Union was elected by electoral districts, the Council of Nationalities was elected according to the norm: 32 deputies from each union republic, 11 from an autonomous, 5 from an autonomous region, and one deputy from an autonomous district (Article 110). Sessions of the Supreme Council were convened twice a year. A law was considered adopted if in each of the chambers a majority of the total number of deputies of the chamber voted for it (Article 114). The highest executive and administrative body was the Council of Ministers of the USSR, which was formed by the Supreme Council. The supreme judicial power belonged to the Supreme Court, which was also elected by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
The strength of the "Brezhnev" Constitution was the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens. Indeed, the time of L. I. Brezhnev was in some respects the "golden age" of the Soviet Union. This is a time of breakthroughs in space and military affairs, respect for the Soviet superpower in the international arena, stable development of the national economy, security that all Soviet citizens felt, consistent improvement in the lives of the majority of the population, etc. True, most residents of the Soviet Union understood this only after the collapse THE USSR. When they felt all the delights of “early capitalism”, and in some places neo-feudalism and other archaism (especially in the republics of Central Asia).
The 1977 Constitution significantly expanded the rights and freedoms of citizens. To the previously established rights were now added the right to health protection, housing, the use of cultural heritage, the right to participate in the management of state and public affairs, to make proposals to state bodies, to criticize shortcomings in their work. For the first time, the right of citizens to appeal against the actions of any officials in court was envisaged (Article 58). However, the mechanism for the implementation of this right was not established, which could not but affect the reality of its implementation. The constitution has fixed new forms of direct democracy: popular discussion and referendum (item 5).
The following duties of citizens received a detailed interpretation: to observe the Constitution and laws; respect the rules of socialist community life; bear with dignity the high title of a citizen of the USSR; work conscientiously and observe labor discipline; preserve and strengthen socialist property; protect the interests of the Soviet state and contribute to the strengthening of its power, protect the socialist Fatherland; fight waste and promote public order.
Thus, the Constitution of the USSR of 1977 consolidated the victory of developed socialism and significantly expanded the rights of citizens. Many of its foundations would be useful in modern Russia, which needs to restore social justice.
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