THE CLASSIFICATION OF SOVIET STATE ORGANS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040406-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 31, 2011
• Sequence Number: 406
• Publication Date: February 19, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31
CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040406-5
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31
CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040406-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release
THE CLASSIFICATION OF SOVIET STATE ORGANS
2 FM following is a summary of the article, "On the Problem of the
Classification of Soviet State organs," by P. T. Vasilenko, published
in Vestnik moskovskogo universiteta, go 7, 1951_7
To systematize the great number of diverse organs of the Soviet state it
is necessary to select one or more essential characteristics as the basis for
classification. Such a classification is correct only if it takes as its basis
the most essential characteristics of the organs under consideration. A charac-
teristic is essential if it characterizes. the activity of an organ, separates
it from the mass of other state organs, and places it in an independent cate-
gory. It is possible to establish the essential characteristics of state or-
gans only if one is acquainted with them and can differentiate between that
which is basic and that which is of only secondary importance.
1. The Stalin Constitution as a Basis for Classification
The Soviet state has an orderly and unified system of state organs,
The basis of the division of Soviet state organs is the Stalin Constitution,
which sets up the following classification:
a. Organs of state power
b. Organs of state administration
c. Judicial organs
d. Organs of the Office of the Public Prosecutor (Prokuratura)
2. Geographical Extent of Operations as a Basis for Classification
In reference to the geographical extent of their operations Soviet
state organs may be categorized as central or local. Central organs are
those whose activities cover either all the territory of the USSR or all
the territory of a union or autonomous republic. These include supreme
soviets, presidiums of supreme soviets, councils of ministers, ministries
and special departments (vedomstva), the Supreme Court USSR, the supreme
courts of union and autonomous republics, the office of the Public Prose-
cu'or USSR, and the offices of the public prosecutor of union and autono-
mous republics. Local organs include local soviets, executive committees
of local Soviets, sections and administrations of executive committees of
local soviets, kray and oblast courts, courts of autonomous oblasts, okrug
courts, and people's courts.
3. Subordination and Responsibility as a Basis for Classification
On the basis of their subordination and responsibility, organs of
the Soviet state may be divided into four basic groups as follows:
a. Organs subordinate and responsible only to the electors.
These include the Supreme Soviet USSR and supreme Soviets of union and
autonomous republics.
b. Organs subordinate and responsible both to the electors and
to superior organs. Local soviets are of this type.
c. Organs subordinate and responsible under the so-called dual-
subordination system. These include ministries and special departments of
union republics, ministries and special departments of autonomous republics,
executive committees of local soviets, sections and administrations of execu-
tive committees, etc.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31 :
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for
STAT
d. Organs subordinate and responsible only to superior state organs.
These include presidiums of supreme soviets, councils of ministers, ministries
and special departments of the USSR, and organs of tLe Office of the Public
Prosecutor.
4. Method of Formation as a Basis of Classification
Depending on the method of their formation, Soviet state organs may
be classified as either elected or appointed.
Elected organs may be broken down further as follows:
a. All organs that are elected directly. Such are all soviets (in-
cluding the Supreme Soviet) and all people's courts.
b. Organs that are chosen by other state organs and are responsible
to the latter. These include the presii'+ffis of supreme soviets, executive com-
mittees of soviets, etc.
Depending on their internal organization, Soviet state organs may be
divided into tlxse inihich decisions are made by a colle6ium (kollegial'nyy) and
those in which decisions are made by one man (yedinolichnyy). '
In collegial organs all basic questions are decided by majority vote
of the collegium. All members of the collegium have equal rights and equal
duties. A quorum is necessary for a decision. All soviets, all court organs,
organs of state administration of general competence, and some other organs are
collegial organs. With few exceptions all collegial organs are decisive (resha-
y(ishchiy) organs and most of them are elected. Only a few collegial organs are
subsidiary. These include collegia of ministries and special departments, which
are consultative and appointed organs.
Every collegial organ is headed by a director (rukovoditel'). He has no
authority to make decisions in basic matters. He is equal to the other members
of the collegium and is concerned primarily with organizational and preparatory
problems.
With few exceptions the only problem within the competence of soviet
collegial organs that requires more than a simple majority vote for a decision
is an amendment to the Constitution.
The following are organs in which basic decisions are made by one man:
all organs of the office of the Public Prosecutor and most organs of state ad-
ministration of special competence (ministries, most special departments, sections
and alministrations of executive committees of local soviets, and operational-
managerial organs). These organs are, as a rule, appointed, and their directors
are named by higher organs. All organizational and operational problems under
the jurisdiction of these organs are decided by the director alone. He directs
the organ and exercises general supervision over lower similar organs. He alone
makes decisions an all problems for all his subordinates and for all subordinate
organs.
6. Character and Scope of Competence as a Basis for Classification
Depending on the character and scope of their competence, Soviet
state organs may he divided into organs of general competence and organs of
special competence.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31 :
CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040406-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31 :
STAT
Organs of general competence exercise general supervision over the
activities of state organs of special competence. They deal with many phases
of state activity in the territory subordinate to them. They include supreme
soviets, councils of ministers, local soviets, and executive committees of lo-
cal soviets.
Organs of special competence deal with certain more narrow problems
of state activity. They are, as a rule, subordinate to corresponding organs
of general competence. They include ministries, special departments under
councils of ministers, sections, administrations, and commissions of executive
committees, special courts of the USSR, special offices of the Public Prosecu-
tor, etc.
Depending on the legal basis of their formation, organs of the Soviet
state may be divided into two basic categories as follows:
a. organs provided for in the Constitution and created as stipulated
therein. It is obligatory that these organs be set up.
b. organs not directly provided for by the Constitution but created
by special decree of the organ authorized to take such action.
The majority of Soviet state organs are directly provided for in the
USSR Constitution or in the constitutions of union or autonomous republics.
Organs not directly provided for include euch organs as city courts
(Moscow and Leningrad), the majority of special departments under councils of
ministers, managerial-operational and other intermediate and lower organs of
state administration. To this group belong all extraordinary organs, set up
by special decree of higher organs of the Soviet state. In most cases the
Constitution authorizes the establishment of these organs if the need arises.
A. De Jure and De Facto Organs
All state organs are de jure and de facto organs with the exception
of the Council of Elders (Soviet stareyshin). It is not formed on the basis
of an act of the Soviet parliament, but by agreement among the deputies of the
Supreme Soviet.
9. Extraordinary State Organs as a Separate Class
In case of exceptional conditions such as war or natural calamity, it
becomes necessary to set up extraordinary organs that operate along with the
normall functioning system of state organs. The Soviet state, in both its
first 917 - 19367 and second ffter the 1936 Constitution7 phases, has wit-
nessed the functioning of extraordinary state organs. In case of serious con-
ditions in the country, these extraordinary state organs serve as one of the
most important means of strengthening the dictatorship of the working class.
These extraordinary organs are characterized by the following:
a. They are set up on the basis of an extraordinary situation and
are not provided for by the Constitution.
b. They are organs of special and exclusive state importance and
are called upon to solve tasks upon which depends the victory of the Great
October Socialist Revolution.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31 :
CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040406-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for
c. They are nested with extraordinary powers, the most important of
which is usually the power of direct coercion.
d. Extraordinary organs are short lived and are set up to execute
particular tasks. Upon carrying out their tasks they give way to the regular
organs of the state or are simply liquidated.
During the first years of the Revolution a number of such organs were
set up. Such were the VChK (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission. for the
Struggle Against the Counterrevolution, Sabotage, and Speculation), the ZhChK
(Railroad Extraordinary Commission), and the Council of Workers' and Peasants'
Defense (later, the Council of Labor and Defense).
On 30 June 1941, by decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
USSR, the TsK VKP(b), and the Council of People's Commissars, an extraordinary
wartime organ -- the State Defense Committee -- was established. All state au-
thority was concentrated in this extraordinary organ. It possessed extraordi-
nary powers, based on socialist law and in correspondence to the principles of
Soviet democracy.
Local organs of the State Defense Committee carried out its functions
at the lower levels. These were the authorized representatives of the State
Defense Committee in republics and oblasts?,and local defense committees set up
by the State Defense Committee in cities and rayons. For example, city defense
committees were established in Leningrad, OdAssa, Stalingrad, Sevastopol', Tula,
Astrakhan', and, after liberation, in Mozhaysk, Klin, Kaluga, and other cities.
The formation of these committees in n% way limited or weakened the ac-
tivity of the regular organs of state power and brgens of state administration.
During the war they functioned along with the extraordinary organs.
The State Defense Committee was the embodiment of the unity of the en-
tire system of the dictatorship of the working cl4ss in the Soviet Union. It
did not destroy the priority of the legislative power of the Supreme Soviet, or
the competence of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, but exercised supreme
authority in matters relating to defense. In all its activities it was subor-
dinate to and controlled by the supreme organs of state power -- the Supreme
Soviet and the Presidium.
Extraordinary organs may be created in case of natural disasters. For
example, a special Governmental Commission was set up by the Council of Minis-
ters to aid those suffering from the Ashkhabad earthquake of 6 October 1948.
Depending on the length of their terms, state organs can be divided
into permanent and temporary.
Permanent organs include all state organs set up by the Constitution
and many organs created by special decree of authorizes: organs for the per-
manent supervision of state activities.
Temporary organs include all those that are created by authorized
organs only for a limited time and for the execution of a definite state task.
-A11 extraordinary state organs. are temporary. Investigation and inspection
commissions of supreme soviets and the Conciliation Commission of the Supreme
Soviet are also temporary organs.
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31
CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040406-5
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for
CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040406-5
11. The Role of Organs in a Given System as a Basis for Classification
Depending on the role they play in the activities of a giver system
of state organs, all organs of the Soviet state may be divided into iecisive
( syusbchiye) and Subsidiary (vspomogatellnyye).
Decisive organs are the baaic organs of the state and have the right
to operate within the limits of the authority granted them. They have the au-
thority to make final decisions on any question within their competence inde-
pendently of any other organ. They include the majority of organs of the So-
viet state: supreme soviets, presidiums of supreme soviets, councils of min-
isters, ministries and special departments, local soviets and their executive
committees, sections and administrations of executive committees, judicial
organs, and organs of the Office of the Public Prosecutor.
Subsidiary organs have no power to make basic decisions. For the
most part, they assist in the activities of decisive organs. The majority
of them are not provided for in the Constitution, but are created, as a
rule, by a decree of a decisive organ. Any basic decisions that are made
by subsidiary organs are subject to the approval of the corresponding de-
cisive organ. In ger .1, they do not have the .right to make decisions
that would have the i ce of law. They can consider a variety of problems
but can make no final decisions. Such organs can further be broken down ac-
cording to the type of assistance they render decisive organs, as follows:
a. Preparatory organs
b. Consultative organs
c. Informational organs
d. :xecutive organs
Preparatory subsidiary organs are primarily concerned with the col-
lection and preparation of material necessary to decisive organs in the mak-
ing of basic decisions. Many preparatory organs carry on the secretarial work
of their decisive organ.
Consultative subsidiary organs are concerned with the preliminary dis-
cussion of projected decisions and present these projects for final adoption by
the decisive organ. They include permanent commissions (budget, legislative, for-
eign affairs) of supreme soviets, collegia of ministries, etc. Such organs are
usually collegial organs.
Informational subsidiary organs keep their corresponding decisive or-
gans informed on definite probleme. Such are the credentials commissions of
supreme soviets and local soviets.
Executive subsidiary organs carry out decisions made by their corr.,
sponding decisive organs. Such organs are court executors, finance inspectors,
etc.
Many subsidiary organs are part of the apparatus of their c rrespond-
ing decisive organs; scuue are not.
12. Simple and Ccr::plax Organs
This division primarily effects higher organs and judicial organs, as
all organs of state administration, local soviets, and organs of the Office of
the Public Prosecutor are simple organs.
The Supreme Soviet USSR consists of two equal chambers that are inde-
pendent organs. A law passed by one of these chambers does not go into effect
until passed by the other. A proposal becomes law only if it is adopted by a
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31 :
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for
majority of the members of both houses of the Supreme Soviet. In other words,
the 3upreme Soviet is a complex state organ consisting of two equal houses --
the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Rationalities. Supreme soviets of
union and autonomous republics do not have two chambers and therefore are
simple organs.
All higher judicial organs are complex, consisting of two -- in the
Supreme Court USSR, five -- judicial collegia, which make up the judicial or-
gan. But this complexness is limited only to the organization and does not af-
fect the methrd of making decisions, as each judicial collegium is concerned
with reviewing cases independently, and has the final voice in a given case.
Cie. Rudolph Schlesinger points out in his article, "Court Cases as Informa-
tion on Soviet Society" (The American Slavic and East European Review, Vol X,
No 3, Oct 1951), that "Uniformity of legal concepts is, thus, guaranteed mainly
at the top, and corrections o3 decisions of the various Chambers (collegia) of
the Supreme Court by the Plenum composed of ell judges of all Chambers are
quite frequent." Another source (Sovetskoye gosudarstvennoye pravo, Moscow,
1948, p 472) states: "The Plenum of the Supreme Court USSR, in its capacity
of court of highest instance, reviews protests of the Public Prosecutor USSR
and the chairman of the Supreme Court USSR concerning sentences, decrees, and
decisions of the collegia of the Supreme Court USSR."7
Thus, complex state organs consist of separate independent parts
which, in their totality, make up the single state organ.
13. Source of Finance and Method of Handling Property as a Basis for
Classification
Depending on their source of finance and method of handling property
within their jurisdiction, Soviet state organs may be divided into the : wo
categories of state budget organs and cost-accounting organs.
Managerial-operational and some other organs of administration be-
long to the root-accounting category. All remaining organs of the Soviet
state operate on the state budget.
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/10/31
CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040406-5