Soviet Legislation, Institute of
Soviet Legislation, Institute of
(full name, All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Soviet Legislation), a scientific research institution of the Ministry of Justice of the USSR, whose main concern is the improvement and practical application of Soviet legislation.
The Institute of Soviet Legislation was founded—pursuant to a decision of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR of Oct. 1, 1925—as the State Institute for the Study of Crime and Criminals; it was under the jurisdiction of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the RSFSR. In 1933 it was renamed the Institute of Criminal and Correctional-Labor Policy. By a decision of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR of Dec. 30, 1936, it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the People’s Commissariat for Justice of the USSR and renamed the All-Union Institute of Juridical Science. In May 1963 it was renamed the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Soviet Legislation.
The institute has varied responsibilities. It helps frame all-Union and republic legislative acts, and it keeps account of proposals for amendments and supplements to existing legislation. It deals with problems of legal codification and systemization, and it studies and synthesizes the legislation of foreign countries. In addition, the institute publishes monographs and collections of scholarly works, commentaries on laws and on practices in the courts and in arbitration, and information on foreign legislation. The Institute of Soviet Legislation has been awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor (1975).