Report No. 29
31. Reasons for imposing death penalty.-It has been stated1, that the extension of the death penalty in 1961 and 1962 to various economic crimes reflects the determination of the Soviet regime to take extreme measures against those who most flagrantly violate the tenets of Communist morality. Some of the salient points that have been emphasised2 are, that Soviet law
(i) regulates all aspects of economic and social life;
(ii) remains a law of planned economy; and
(iii) remains a law whose primary function is to discipline, guide, train and educate Soviet citizens to become dedicated members of a collectivized and mobilized social order.
1. Harold Berman Soviet Law Reform, Harvard Law Review (March 1963) 929, 948.
2. Harold Berman Soviet Law Reform, Harvard Law Review (March 1963) 929, 930 and 931.
32. Minimum penalties.-An interesting feature of the Soviet Criminal Code which came into force on the 1st January, 1961, is the disappearance of minimum penalties in many cases1-2.
1. Febbrugge Soviet Criminal Law, The Last Six Years, Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science (September, 1963), p. 249, 255, righthand column.
2. For a general view, see Boris S. Nikiforov Fundamentals of Soviet Criminal Law, (1960) 23 Modern Law Review 31.
Back
