Criminal Procedures: Signs of a Soviet Switch

To Western law experts, the most dangerous defect in Soviet legal thinking is the tacit assumption by Russian courts that a defendant has been brought to trial because he is guilty, and that courtroom testimony at best can serve only to mitigate a sentence. The Soviet attitude stems largely from the fact that the kingpin of the system is not an impartial judge but a procurator, a sort of super district attorney and Big Brother rolled into one. As the state’s No. 1 law enforcer he conducts investigations, orders arrests, serves as prosecuting attorney, keeps an eye on courts for irregularities and carries out sentences. In effect, about all that is left to the court is to decide on the severity of the sentence.

Lately, some Soviet judges and lawyers, disturbed by this one-sided setup, have stirred up a strenuous debate on the procurator’s prerogatives. Writing in Izvestia last week, the Soviet Union’s highest judge declared that a defendant should not be presumed guilty simply because the procurator says so. “Only the court can decide in the name of the state whether a person is guilty,” wrote Soviet Supreme Court President Alexander Gorkin. At least that’s what it said in Izvestia.