The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

All-Russian Central Executive Committee

(All-Russian CEC), from 1917 to 1937 the supreme legislative, administrative, and controlling body of the RSFSR between meetings of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets.

The All-Russian CEC, which was elected by the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets on Oct. 25-27 (Nov. 7-9), 1917, included 62 Bolsheviks, 29 Left Socialist Revolutionaries (SR’s), six members of the Internationalist faction of the Social Democratic Party, three Ukrainian Socialists, and one Maximalist SR. Under the constitutions of the RSFSR of 1918 and 1925 the All-Russian CEC was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, was responsible to it, and accounted to it for its work. The jurisdiction of the All-Russian CEC included issuing codes, edicts, and decrees on its own legislative initiative. All important edicts and decrees as well as the budget of the RSFSR were subject to mandatory examination and confirmation by the Ail-Russian CEC. It supervised the implementation of the Constitution of the RSFSR and the decrees of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. It elected the Presidium-the supreme legislative, administrative, and controlling body of the power of the RSFSR. Between sessions of the Presidium, the Ail-Russian CEC formed the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR and the people’s commissariats, and determined the general direction of the work of the Council of People’s Commissars and all the bodies of Soviet rule in the RSFSR. The All-Russian CEC had the right to nullify and suspend edicts of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR, which was responsible to it.

The All-Russian CEC met once every two months. Regular sessions were called by the Presidium of the All-Russian CEC; extraordinary sessions were called on the initiative of the Presidium or by a proposal of the Council of People’s Commissars. They could also be called at the request of one-third of the members of the All-Russian CEC or at the request of the central executive committees of at least six autonomous republics (from 1925) or the executive committees of at least six krais or oblasts (from 1929). According to the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1937, the highest body of state power is the Supreme Soviet and its Presidium.

G. N. VASIL’EVA

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