Judicial Procedure

Judicial Procedure 

the procedure for the consideration of criminal cases (criminal procedure) and civil cases (civil procedure).

In the USSR, criminal procedure is defined by the Basic Principles of Criminal Procedure (1958) and the codes of criminal procedure of the Union republics. Civil procedure is defined by the Basic Principles of Civil Procedure (1961) and the codes of civil procedure of the Union republics. Soviet criminal procedure, in its full complement of norms, is aimed at the full and expeditious solution of crimes, the exposure of the guilty, and the correct application of the law—so that anyone who commits a crime receives just punishment and so that no innocent person is brought to trial and convicted. It promotes increased legality and improved crime prevention and eradication. Civil procedure ensures the proper and expeditious consideration and resolution of civil cases for the purpose of preserving the state and social order of the USSR, the socialist economy and socialist property, and the defense of the rights and legally protected interests of citizens, state institutions, enterprises, kolkhozes, and other cooperative and public organizations. Judicial procedure is founded on such principles as legality, administration of justice solely by the courts, publicity of proceedings, equal rights for all participants in the judicial process, and directness, continuity, and the oral nature of judicial examination.

Legislation on judicial procedure regulates the basic principles involved in the consideration of cases by bodies of the court, bodies of investigation, and bodies of inquiry. It also regulates the rights and duties of participants in the judicial process at the various stages of the process, the procedure for evaluating evidence and employing measures of restraint, the procedure for the court’s rendering of a sentence, ruling, or decision, the procedure for appeals and review, and the procedure for execution of the court’s sentence, ruling, or decision.