JPRS ID: 10419 USSR REPORT POLITICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL AFFAIRS

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• Content Type: REPORTS

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JPRS L/ 10419 _
29 March 1 ~82
USSR Re ort ~
p
POLITICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL AFFAI~S
cFOUO 1ois2~
J
~g~$ ~~REIGN BROADCl~~T INFORMATION SERVICE
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JPRS L/10419
29 March 1982
USSR REPORT
POLITICAL AND $OCIOLOGICAL AFFAIRS ~
(FOUO 10/82~ .
- CONTENTS
NAT I OATAL
New Legal Status of Autonomaus Units Discussed
(SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO, various dates) 1
Legal Status of the Autonomous Republic,
by S . G . Batyyev
. Legal Position of Autonomous Distric ts in RSFSR,
by Ye. M. Koveshnikov, M. A. Shaf ir
Legal Regulation of nemographic Processes D iscussed
(Galina I1'inichna Litvinova; PRAVO I DEMOC,RAFICHFSKIY
PROTSESSY V SSSR, 1981) 24
- - a - [III - USSR - 35 FOUO]
cno nc~~, r r rc~ nw.T v
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NATIONAL
NEW LEGAL STATUS OF AUTONOMOUS UNITS DISCUSSED
Legal Status of the Autonomous Republic
Moscow SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO in Russian No Y1, Nov 81 pp 11-20
[Article by S. G. Batyyev, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
Tatar ASSR; "Problemsof the Developmentof the LegalStatus of the Autonomous Republic")
[Text] The new Soviet constitutions~~have consolidated on tha h~:ghest legal level ~
the state policy of the comprehensive development and solidarity of all of the
nations and nationalities of the USSR for the purpose of the joint construction
of communism, and, in conformity with the conditions of mature socialism, have
substantially enriched the content of the forms of national statehood. Among them,
the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic plays an important role in the develop-
ment and strengthening of socialist statehood.
The Constitutional Development of the Leninist Principles of Autonomy
The theoretical principles of socialist autonomy were worked out by V. I. Lenin in
~ his works "Critical Notes on the Nationalities Question," "Separatists in Russia
and Separatists in Austria," "The Working Class and the Nationalities Question,"
"On 'Cultural National' Autonomy," "Letter to S. G. Shaumyan," "Is a Mandatory
State Language Needed," and many other works. Lenin's ideas on socialist autonomy
are embodied in the principles of its organization and operation.
Soviet autonomy is organized according to the national territorial principle which
means that those territorial parts of the country which are distinguishe~ tiy dis-
tinctive characterists of national make-up and life and economic system dnd by a
definite social homogeneity are recognized as auton~mous. This approach ensures
the comprehensive, including political, development of a nation. V. I. Lenin
resolutely rejected for Rassia the program of so-called "cultural national auto-
nomy which limited the nationalities question to the framework of cultural and
educational work, without connecting it with the political self-determination of
a nation. After revealing the essence of "cultural national autonomy," he
characterized it as an expression of the most subtle and most absolute and the
most completed form of nationalism. [lJ
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An important role in the development of Soviet autonomy is played by the staffing
of the apparatus and its leadership primarily with representatives of the nation
which gave its name to the republic. It is impcrtant to keep in mind here that
the population composition of many autonomous republics is multi-national. "And
it is natural," L. I. Brezhnev emphasized in the Summary Report at tl-~e 26th CPSU
Congress, "that all nations have the right to proper representation in their party
and state agencies." These points are consistently taken account of in the prac-
tice of national-state construction in the ASSR (Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic). Thus, the Supreme Soviet Tatar ASSR, Tenth Convocation, consisted of
the representatives of seven nationalities, including 125 Tatars and 109 Russians.
Th~se measures make it possible to enlist the widest strata of workers of various
nationalities in political life and in participating in the management of state
and public affairs. The equal r~ghts of nations and peoples on the common state
level manifests itself in the equal amount of rights of the single forms of
Soviet autonomy, and in their equal representation in the Soviet of Nationalities
of the USSR Supreme Soviet.
As is known, the revolutionary creativity of the popular masses created three forms
- of Soviet autonomy: the autonomous republic, the autonomous oblast, and the
autonomous district. At the present time there are 38 autonomous units in the
USSR, incluc~ing 20 autonomous republics, 8 autonomous oblasts, and 10 autonomous
districts. All of them are named ~n the Const~tutions of the LSSR and the union
_ republics, which is a constitutional guarantee of their free development. Soviet
autonomy has embraced and reflected practically all of the stages of the develop-
ment of ethnic communities, taking dialectical account of the possibilities of
moving from one form of autonomy to another. Thus, 11 of the 16 autonomous repub-
li.cs which were within the RSFSR were transformed into autonomous oblasts. Several
nations and peoples may be united within the framework of autonomy. For example,
_ more than 10 peoples are represented in the Dagestan ASSR, while the Mari and the
Mordovian ASSRs each have 2 peoples, and so forth. The nation or the people
which has given the name to the autonomy may con~prise an absolute or relative
' majority of its population, or even be in the minority; regardless of this, the
law provides equal guarantees for its national rights.
Soviet autonomy is the creation of the socialist system whose basis is made up of
genuine people's power, socialist ownership of t?~e means of production, democratic
centralism, and groletarian internationalism. Thanks to this, in their economic
- and social renaissance nati~ns and peoples based themselves not only on their own
resources, but also upon the economic might of the entire Soviet state and in an
historically brief period they reached actual equal r-ights. [2, p 375]
Strengtt~ening of the Status of the Autonomous Republic
Tt~e highest form of Soviet autonomy is the autonomous republic--a Soviet socialist
state which is a part of a union republic. There are 16 autonomous republics in
~ the RSFSR, 2 in the Georgian SSR, 1 in the Uzbek SSR, and 1 in the Azerbaijan SSR.
Reflecting the laws of developed socialism, the new Soviet Constitutions have
substantially expanded the rights of the ASSR and their guarantees, and have
_ created new possibilities for taking account of their national and other distinc-
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' tive characteristics. The status of the ASSR as a state is now fixed not only in
the Constitution of the ASSR, but for the first time directly in the Constitution
of the union republics. The USSR Constitution and the Constitutions of the union
and autonomous republics have created all of the grounds for a deeper study of the
character of the statehood of the autonomous republics. Toward this end, it is
important to examine the dynamics of the constitutional development of the legal
state attributes which are characteristic of the ASSR as a soci.alist state.
L. I. Brezhnev has noted that the Constitution of the USSR, "like the new consti-
tutions of the union and autonomous republics, reflects the most characteristic
and most stable attributes of the statehood and of the entire system of social
relations of developed socialism." [3]
_
There has been a substantial streng:~iening in the state mechanism of the ASSR of
the positi~n of the supreme agency of the autonomous republic`s state power--the
ASSR Supreme Soviet which as the expressor of the will and interests of the repub-
lic's people has the authority to deal with all of the questions which have been
put by the C~nstitution under the management of the autonomous republics. The
exceptional powers of the ASSR Supreme Soviet have been fixed not only in the ASSR
Constitution, but for the first time in the Constitutions of the USSR and of the
union republics, which represent an essential legal state guarantee of its status.
Only the Supreme Soviet adopts the Constitution and laws of the ASSR, makes
changes in its Basic Law, approves the State plans for economic and social develop-
ment, the ASBR State Budget, and the reports on their fulfillment, and forms
bodies subordinate to it.
- A stricter system of reporting to the ASSR Supreme Soviet and its Presidium by
all of their subordinate bodies has been established in the ASSR Constitution and
the laws which are issued on its basis. This statute is being consistently
- realized in practice. In 1978 a report by the republic's government was heard at
a session of the S>>preme Soviet Tatar ASSR. ~aice in recent years the Presidium
of the Supreme So~viPt has heard reports from the Supreme Court of the Tatar ASSR,
and a report by.the MI~?istry of Domestic Services for the Public of the Tatar ASSR
on the fulfillment of the assignments of the lOth Five-Year Plan.
_ The body of legal persons sub~ect to legislative initiative has been expanded in
the ASSR Supreme Soviet. Among them, the Supreme Court and the Pro~urator General
_ of the ASSR, and public organizations in the person of republic and corresponding
agencies are named for the first time :in the Constitution. By a decision of the
ASSR Supreme Court or its Presidium, draft laws and other important issues of the
. state life of thc~ autonomous republic are submitted for public discussion.
- In accordance with the USSR Constitution and that of the union revublics, the
ASSR Supreme Soviet forms tne ASSR Committee for People's Control which heads the
- autonomous republic's system of people's control agencies. These agencies control
the fulfillment of state plans and assignments, wage a struggle against violat~.ons
of stat~ discipline and manifestations of localism and of a departmental approach
to affairs, against mismanagement and extravagance, and against red-tape and
bureaucratism, and help to improve the work of the state apparatus.
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The authority of the Presidium of the SuPreme 5oviet has been eapanded and more
clearly formulated by the new constitutional legislation. For the first time
the status of the permanent commissions of the Supreme Soviet ASSR is defined on
the level of the republic's Basic Law (Articles 103, 104, and lU7 of the Consti-
tution of the Tatar ASSR). The unity of the system of the supreme and local
agencies of state power has been strengthened. The Soviets of the ASSR are
characterized as a single system of agencies of state power. In the Tatar ASSR
thi~ system includes the republic's Supreme Soviet, and 37 rayon, 18 city, 9 rayon
in cities, 22 settlement, and 802 rural Soviets of People's Deputies. The
Constitution places leadership of the local Soviets in the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet ASSR. The executive and administrative agencies of superior soviets
have been deprived of the right of stopping the fulfillment of the decisions of
lower soviets.
The highest executive and administrative agency of state power in the ASSR is the
Council of Ministers--the government of the ASSR which is formed by the ASSR
Supreme Soviet and authorized to deal with all of the questions of state manage-
ment which have been put under the disposal of the autonomous republic, insofar
as they do not enter, according to the Constitution, into the competence of the
ASSR Supreme Soviet and its Presidium. For the first time on a~onstitutional
level the possibility is envisaged of considering the distinctive characteristics
of the ASSR in the organization and activities of its government. In order for
this to happen, on the representation of the Chairmar. of the Council of Ministers,
the Supreme Soviet may include within the personnel of the Government of the ASSR,
besides the leaders of the agencies of state administration which are formed by
it, the leaders of other agencies and organizations of the republic. There is a
constitutional establishment of the coordination and control authorities of the
ASSR Council of Ministers in relation to enterprises, institutions, and organiz~-
tions of union and republic (union republic) subot;.ination for questions which
are under the management of the autonomous republic.
The ASSR Council of Ministers directs the work of the ispolkoms of the local
soviets, and unifies and assigns the work of the ministries, ASSR state committees,
_ and other agencies which are subordinate to ~t. The state c.ormiittees are a new
type of ASSR state agency. In the Bashkir, Komi, Mari, Mordovian, Tatar, and
Udmurt ASSRs there are now 10 different committees in operation, in the Chuvash
ASSR--9, and in the Kalmyk and North Osetian ASSRs--7 each which perform, 3n par-
ticular, inter�branch management. It is important to emphasize that the relation-
sl~ips between the ASSR Council of Ministers and the Council of Ministers of the
union republics are not relationships of direct subordination. The government of
the union republic directs and verifies the work of the ASSR Council of Ministers,
and, within the limits of its competence, stops the execution of its acts. In
the event that the acts of the ASSR Council of Ministers do not correspond to the
law, they can be annulled only by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the union
or autonomous republic. The acts of the ministries, state committees, and other
agencies of ASSR management in whose work the distinctive features of the autono-
mous republic are taken account of also possess special juridical force. In the
event that these acts do not correspond to the laws, they can only be stopped by
, a superior union republic management agency which then makes an annulment propo-
sal to the ASSR Council of Ministers.
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In accordance with its new Constitution, the autonomous republic has a system of
its own judicial agencies. Thus, the court system of the Tatar ASSR includes the
Supreme Court Tatar ASSR--~he republic's highest judicial body--and 8 city and 38
rayon people's courts. The organization and the procedures of the courts of an
autonomous republic are defined by the constitutional laws of the USSR, the union
republic, and the autonomous republic in which the Leninist principles of socialist
justice are fired and develaped. In accordance with the Constitution,the highest
supervision over the precise and uniform execution of the laws on the~territory
of an autonomous republic is carried out by the liSSR Procurator General and the
~ Procurator of the union republic, the ASSR Procurator, and the lower procurators
- who are subordinate to him. The ASSR Constitution devotes a separate chapter to
the procurator's office. In their wo~~k the agencies of the procurator's office
interact closely with the Soviet of P~_ople's Deputies and with other ASSR agencies
and organizationsy however, they exercise their authority regardless of all
local agencies, subordinating themselves only to the U~SR Procurator General.
- Thus, the autonomous republic possesses its own state apparatus which is necessary
- for exercisin~ the republic's competence. A very important characteristic of the
autonomous republic as a state is the existence of its own Constitution which it
adopts and amends independently, without subsequent approval by the Supreme
Soviet of the union republic. At the same time, the ASSR Constitution corresponds
to the USSR Constitution and to tl:e Constitution of the union republic and takes
account of the distinctive characteristics of the autonomous republic. In 1978
all of the autonomous republics adopted their own Constitutions.
If we were to ~paak about the special features of constitutional control in the
- ASSR, then above ali ~he ASSR Constitution takes account of the specific aspects
! of their social structure. For example, Article 19 of the Constitution of the
Karakalpak ASSR establishes: "The social basis of the Karakalpak SSR consists of
- the indestructible union of workers, dekhkan.(peasants) and thP intelligentsia."
In the chapter devoted to the basic rights, freedoms, and duties of citizens, and
in the articles on the freedom of conscience of citizens there is a reflection of
~ the existence in autonomous republics of various religious institutions; for
example, the church and the mosque in the Bashkir, Dagestan, and Checheno-Ingush
ASSRs, the mosque and the church in the Tatar ASSR, and the church in the Mari
and Udmurt ASSRs.
- Account is also taken of the special features of the geographical position of the
republics and of the character of their environments. Thus, Article 18 of the
Constitution of the Yakut ASSR states that measures which are taken for the pro-
tection of and scientifically substantiated, rational use of the republic's
- natural resources are carried out with regard to the limited nature of the pro-
- tective functions of the nature of the North.
The constitutions of the ASSRs reflect the distinctive features of the administra-
tive-territ~rial organxzation of each republic. For example, in the Adzhar ASSR
_ there are 5 rayons and 1 city of republic subordination, in the Tatar ASSR--37 and
_ 10, respectively, and in the Bashkir ASSR--54 and 14, respectively. They take
- account of unique features in the organization of the single system of agencies of
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state puwer. Thus, along with settlement and rural goviets of people's Deputies,
in the Buryat ASSR there are somon soviets, in the Kabardino-Balkar and
Checheno-Ingush ASSRs--Stanitsa , in the Yakut ASSR--nasleg, and in the
Karakalpak ASSR--aul soviets. For the first time the Constitutions of the auto-
nomous republics fix the permanent numerical composition of the deputies of
the Supreme Soviets of the ASSRs: from 110 in the Adzhar to 280 in the Bashkir
ASSR. Different quantitative compositions are also established for the Presidiums
of the ASSR Supreme Soviets: from 9 to 13 deputies.
The Constitutions of the autonomous republics which are within the RSFSR and the
Azerbaijan SSR establish a minimum number of sessions per year differentiated by
the elements of the local soviets: for rayon, city, and rayon in city soviets
no less than 4 times, and for the settlement and rural soviets no less than 6
times per year. The Constitutions of the Abkhaz, Adzhar, and Karakalpak ASSRs
provide for the sessions of all of the local soviets to be called by their exe-
cutive committees no less than four times a year. The laws and other acts of the
ASSR Supreme Soviets, and also the acts of their Presidiums are published in the
languages of the autonomous and union republics and also in the Russian language.
Legal proceedings in the ASSRs are conducted in the languages of the autonomous
or union republic, or in the language of the majority of the population of a
given locality.
The ASSR Constitutions contain norms for the State Emblem and the State Flag of
the autonamous republic, and the capitals of the autonomous republics are named.
The autonomous republic has its own State Emblem and State Flag which are symbols
_ of its national statehood. The new ASSR Constitutions have brought the represen-
_ tations of the state symbols of the ASSRs into correspondence with the union re-
public symbols. Such, in comparative terms, are the distinctive features and the
differences which are contained in the Constitutions of the autonomous republics.
Basically, both in structure and in content the autonomous republic Constitutions
are similar.
_ The question of the relationship between the Constitution of the autonomous
republic and the Constitution of the union republic of which it is a unit is of
great interest. Let us take, for example, the Constitution of the Tatar ASSR and
the Constitution of the RSFSR. First of all, it has to be emphasized that the
Constitution of the Tatar ASSR corresponds to the Constitution of the USSR and the
Constitution of the RSFSR. In its Decree of 29 June 1978 the Presidium of the
RSFSR Supreme Soviet took cognizance of this. [4] The Tatar ASSR is a socialist
state which is within the RSFSR. It and the RSFSR have the same type of bases for
their social system: a political and economic system, a social basis, and others.
This explains the fact that many of the points of the RSFSR Constitution are
r.eproduced in the Constitution of the Tatar ASSR. However, they are not reproduced
mechanically, but are formulated from the point of view of the autonomous repub-
lic. Such norms in the Constitution of the Tatar ASSR make up the majority. It
stiould be noted that here already we have a reflection of the distinctive features
of the autonomous republic.
' At the same time, the Constitution of the Tatar ASSR takes account of the distinc-
tive features of the autonomous republic's statehood. Its first section does
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not contain a Chapter Four which exists in the RSFSR Constitution on foreign
- political activities and the defense of the socialist Fatherland. These functions
are carried out by the ASSR through the mediation of the top agencies of state
power and administration of the RSFSR and the USSR, participating in decisior~s on
matters which have been put under the jurisdiction ~f the union republic and USSR.
This right of principle is established and guaraiiteed for the ASSR for the f.irst
time by the Constitutions of the USSR, RSFSR, and Tatar ASSR. For e:ample, 11
- cleputies are elected from every autonomous republic to the Soviet of Nationalities
of the USSR Supreme Soviet. The Presidiums of the Supreme Soviets of Che union
republics are formed in such a way that one representative from every autonomous
republic holds the post of Deputy Chairman of the Presidium. According to estab-
lished tradition, the Chairman of the Presidium of the ASSR Supreme Soviet is this
representative. The Councils of Ministers of the Uzbek SSR, Georgian SSR, and
Azerbaijan SSR contain as members the Chairman of the Cauncils of Ministers of
their P.SSRs. In addition to this, the autonomous republic, in the person of its
supreme agency of state power, is for the first time granted the right of legis-
lative initiative in the RSFSR Supreme Soviet (Article 108 of the RSFSR Constitu-
tion). Consequently, a constitutional mechanism has been created and reliably
guaranteed for the participation by the ASSR in deciding issues under the juris-
diction of the union republic, including foreign policy issues. As for the
function of the defense of the socialist Fatherland, the Constitution of the Tatar
ASSR establishes its participation in the performance of this function in a similar
manner to the way this is done in the RSFSR Basic Law for this union republic.
The sections of the RSFSR and Tatar ASSR Constituti~ns on national-state and
administrative-territorial organization have their ~~wn special characteristics,
since the RSFSR is a federated state, while the Tatar ASSR is a unitary one.
This explains the existence in the RSFSR Constitution of Chapter VI--"The Supreme
Agencies of State Power and Administration of the Autonomous Republic"--which
does not exist in the Constitution of the Tatar ASSR. The Constitution of the
Tatar ASSR, as we see, has differences from the RSFSR Constitution which are deter-
mined by the special characteristics of the republic itself. It is important to
emphasize here that the questions which follow from these special characteristics
comprise the object of the exclusive jurisdiction of the ASSR and are dealt with
in its Supreme Soviet. The autonomous republic has and evolves its own legisla-
tion. The special characteristics of the ASSR at the current stage show up most
of all in the spheres of political and socio-cultural life and, for this reason,
it is these spheres which are covered above all by its legislative regulation. At
the same time, it should be noted that limits have not been. established to ASSR
law-making. The ASSR Supreme Soviet adopts laws on any matters which have been
put under its jurisdiction. The laws of the ASSR cannot be annulled or halted by
the supreme agencies of power of the union republic or USSR. At the same time,
the constitutional principle of the priority both of the All-Union law and of the
law of the union republic is strictly observed. The laws of the USSR and union
republic are in effect on the territory of the ASSR and must be carried out.
With the adoption of the new Constitutions the legislative activities of the ASSR
Supreme Soviet have been greatly enlivened. In accordance with plans which have
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been approved by the Presidiums of the ASSR Supreme Soviets for the organization
of work to bring the legislation of the autonomous regublics into correspondence
with the USSR Constitution and the Constitutions of the union and autonomous
republics, in the autonomous republics laws on elections to the ASSR Supreme
Soviets, Regulations of the ASSR Supreme Soviets, laws on the ASSR ('~uncils of
Ministers, and laws on elections to the local soviets have already been adopted.
In those places where these acts did not exist, work is being done to develop
legislative acts on the procedure for organizing work with the orders of voters,
general regulations on ASSR honorary titles, and others. Thus, in recent years
there has been a substantial expansion of the borders of legislative regulation
in the autonomous republics. At the same time, changes and additions are being
made in the operating ASSR legislative acts. In the Tatar ASSR, for example, there
are around 30 acts which are subject to renewal.
The autonomous republic as a state has its own territory which, according to the
new Constitutions, cannot be changed without its agreement. In the past this
principle was recorded only in the ASSR Constitutions. Now guarantees of terri-
torial command and of the strengthened independence of the autonomous republic
have been increased and their norms are recorded in the iJSSR Constitution and in
the Constitution of the union republic. The new Constitution of the Tatar ASSR
contains a substantially fuller entry on the citizenship of the autonomous repub-
lic which is placed in a separate chapter. Citizens of the USSR who are per-
manent residents on its territory are citizens of the ASSR; in accordance with
the single union citizenship which is established in the USSR, every ASSR citizen
is a citizen of the union republic and the USSR. The grounds for,and�procedure
of acquiring and losing Soviet citizenship are defined by the L~aw on USSR
Citizenship. Citizens of the RSFSR and other union republics enjoy equal rights
on the territory of an ASSR with the citizens of that ASSR. Citizens of an ASSR
abroad enjoy the protection and patronage of the USSR.
In the USSR Constitution and the Constitutions of the union republics there is
the definition that the ASSR, outside of the limits of the rights of the USSR and
union republic, independently deals with issues put under its jur~sdiction. The
range of these issues is established in the Constitution of the autonomous
republic itself. Moreover, the list of these issues in the new ASSR Constitutions
is not exhaustive, as it had been before, but is concluded with the statement on
- "the handling of other issues of republican significance" (Article 66 of the Con-
stitution of the Tatar ASSR). Consequently, any question of republican (ASSR)
significance is dealt with and is supposed to be dealt with by the a.utonomous
republic. This regulation procedure was not provided for in the previous Consti-
tutions.
In the sphere of state construction, as has already been noted, the autonnmous
republic independently adopts its own Constitution, makes changes in it, and
exercises control over its execution. The limits of its law-making powers have
been expanded. It ensures the protection of state order and of the rights and
freedoms of citizens. The Basic Laws of the ASSR consolidate the existing prac-
tice of the establishment by the ASSR itself, in accordance with the laws of the
.
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' USSR and the union republic, of the procedure for the organization and the
activities of the replblic and local agencies of state power and administration.
The ASSR defines its own rayon division and resolves other questions of the
republic's administrative-tErritorial organization in accordance with the laws of
the union republic.
In accordance with their Constitutions, in the spheres or economic and social
and cultural construction for the first time the ASSR has had assigned to it::
jurisdiction the issues of the pursuit of a single social and economic polic:y,
the leadership of the republic's economy, the ensuring of scientific and techno-
logi~al progress and tt~e carrying out of ineasures for the rational use and pro-
tection of natural resource~, and the issues of the protection of historical and
cultural monuments and of the environment.
The autonomous republic provides for overall economic and social development on its
territory. Toward this end, for issues which are under its jurisdiction it coordi-
nates and controls the activities of enterprises, institutions, and organizations
of union and union-republic subordination. An important instrument for the
realizati:;:~ of this authority is the current and long-term state plans for the
economic and social development of the ASSR in which, in order to achieve the
above-mentioned goals in accordanr_e with the ASSR Constitution, the basic indi-
cators of the plans of enterprises, institutions, and orga~iizations of superior
subordination which are located on the territory of the autonomous r~public are
included. The fulfillment of the state plan of the ASSR is provided for by the
republic's state budget which is adopted, as is the plan, by its Supreme Soviet.
The economy of the ASSR is a complex economic mechanism which is a component part
of the economy of the union republic. Suffice it to say, that there are in opera-
tion on the territory of Tatariya 13t~ industrial enterprises and associations of
_ union subordination, 214 of union-republic subordination, and 59 in dual (RSFSR
- and Tatar ASSR) subordination.; The work of these enterprises and associations is
organically connected with the life of the republic. It involves the accommodating
of people, the construct~on nf housing, schools, hospitals, children's preschool
institutions, food ~spplies, and so forth. As is known, large industrial pro-
duction requires an efficiEntly organized service industry. For ex~mple, in the
suburbs of Naberezhnyye Chelny alone with a papulation of more than 35U,000 peopl.e
there are 30 specialized sovkhozes.
The basic principles for ensuring overall economic and social development on the
territory of the ASSR are fixed constitutionally. It should be emphasized that
the Constitutions, when they speak about the fact that the direction of the
economy is carried out on the basis of state plans for economic and social devel-
opment, point to a consideration of the branch and territorial principles in
managment with a combination of centralized management and the economic indepen-
dence and initiative of enterprises and other organizations. The leadership of
the s~viets in dealing with the questions of overall development on their terri-
tory has aiso been strengthened. However, the legal and, in particular, methodo-
logical regulation of the procedure for considering and making decisions on these
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- matters is still weak. The 19 March 1981 Decree of the CC CPSU, Presidium of the
USSR Supreme Soviet, and USSR Council of Ministers, "On a Further Increase in the
Role of the Soviets of People`s Deputies in Economic Construction" makes an
important contribution to the solution of the problems connected with this. With
regard to the ASSR it is stipulated in it, in particular, that associations, enter-
prises, and organizations of union and union-republic subordination, before the
presentation to superior agencies of drafts of five-year and annual plans and of
proposals on changing these plans, have to send for consideration to the ASSR
Council of Ministers those of them which concern land use, environmental prote~~-
tion, construction, the use of labor resources, the production of consumer goods,
and social and cultural, domestic, and other services for the public. The
government of the autonomous republic reports to these enterprises, and, in
necessary case~, also to their superior agencies, on the results of its considera-
tion of the above draft plans and proposals on changing approved plans. The
_ USSR and union republic ministries and departments have to take account of these
proposals.
It has been found to be expedient for associations and enterprises whose output
is used primarily for satisfying the needs of the populations of autonomous
republics to be transferred, as a rule, to republican (ASSR) subordination.
Associations, enterprises, and organizations of superior subordination have been
charged with coordinating with the ASSR Council of Ministers an increase in the
number of workers and employees envisaged by them in their draft five-year and
_ annual plans, and for enterprises being newly commissioned--the need for labor
power.
At the same time, many problems are still unsolved. It is necessary to settle
such questions as the dates for the development, approval, a:id correction of plans
and for their presentation for the agreement of ASSR state agencies, and to define
the procedure by which associations, enterprises, and organizations, and a."lso
ministries and departments take account of the criticisms and proposals o~ ASSR
agencies, and also the procedure for resolving controversies. It would be useful
to establish the responsibility of the administration of enterpr~ses and ministries
and departments for violations of planning discipline, and for the failure to ful-
- fill their territorial commitments. Today the above agencies may accept the pro-
posals of an ASSR, and they may without any legal consequences also decline them,
not carry them out.
As experience shows, despite all of its virtues, branch management also has negative
aspects and, particularly, an underestimation of the interests of a territory.
But the overall development of territories--this, as is known, is a general state
task. The ministries and departments concern themselves above all with purely
production interests, understanding that the local agencies of power will be con-
cerned about the rest. Here departmental barriers are still especially visible.
We believe that in order to overcome them it is necessary to introduce amendments
~ into the regulations on the socialist state production enterprise, on production
and industrial associations, and on union and union-republic ministries and depart-
ments, stipulating the duties of the latter with regard to the agencies of state
- power on whose territory they are located.
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The planning agencies of the autonomous republics are also in need of organiza-
tional and legal strengthening. Their structures and the qualifications of planning
workers have not yet been adapted to the accomplishment of the new tasks, which,
of course, is reflected in the effectiveness of implementing the constitutional
- statutes on hhe coordination and control of enterprises and organizations of
' superior subordination.
It is also important to improve the work on the composition and ratification of
the summary five-year and annual plans for the production of local construction
materials, and the production of consumer goods, plans for municipal housing and
cultural and domestic construction, and also supervision of their fulfillment.
Ir~ accordance with the 12 July 1979 Decree of the CC CPSU and USSR Council of
Ministers "On Improving Planning and Strengthening the Influence of the Economic
- Mechanism on Increasing Production Efficiency and Improving the Quality of Work;"
this work has been made the responsibility of the ASSR Councils of Ministers. [5]
As has already been noted, the economy of the autonomous republic is a component
� part of the economy of the union republic which, in turn, is a part of a single
national economic complex that embraces all of the elements of social production,
distribution, and exchange on the territory of the USSR. Basing themselves on
the fraternal friendship and disinterested mutual assistance of the Soviet peoples
and, above all, of the great Russian people, and on the latter's advanced material
and spiritual culture, during the years of Soviet power the autonomous republics
under the leadership of the cammunist party have traversed a path which is equal
to centuries and have attained considerable heights in their economic and social
development.
Take, for example, the Tatar ASSR which relatively recently celebrated its 60th
anniversary. During that time it has accomplished a gigantic leap forward from
handicraft cottage productions to industrial giants,from the wooden plow to
advanced machinery equipment, from the medrese to academic centers, and from
_ the kubyz to a national opera. The contemporary industrial make-up of Tatariya
is determined by such leading branches of technological progress as machine
building and metal working, instrument making and electronics, the chemical,
petroleum, and petro-chemical industries, and electric and thermal power
engineering. More than 100 branches of the republic's industry are organically
interwoven into the fabric of the single national econamic complex of the USSR.
The scope of the growth of the economy of Tatarstan is vividly testified to by
the fact that in 1980 its industry produced 814 times more output than in 1913,
and 60 times more than in 1940. Industry has developed at especially rapid rates
during the last decade. During this period 20 billion rubles were invested in
the republic's economy, which is almost twice as much ds during all of the
- preceding years of Soviet power. The Tatar ASSR takes an active part in the
general union division of labor and, along with the other republics, in the
development and strengthening of the co~on economic potential of the USSR. It
supplies the country's economy with more than 30 percent of its polyethylene and
synthetic rubbers, and around 50 percent of its photographic movie materials.
Machinery and instruments produced in Tatariya are exported to $0 countries of
the world.
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The creation of a national working class and of a national engineering and
technical intelligentsia is one of the most important social and political gains
of the iast 60 years. Whereas before the revolution Tatar specialists were
isolated individuals, at the present time they make up more than 36 percent of
all of the specialists employed in social production. Tatars represent around
40 percent of the industrial workers, and almost half of the workers in the
petroleum industry. Large successes have also been achieved in the field of
spiritu3l life. Tatariya has become a republic not onl}~ ~f complete, but also
of high literacy. There are now more than 70,000 studeni~ studying in its 13
vuzes and 4 institute branches, including more than 32,000 people of the indige-
nous nationality. Science is developing successfully in the Kazan' granch of
the USSR Academy of Sciences, and there is a scientific research institute of
language, literature, and history. Whereas before the revolution in all of Kazan'
- province there were only 11 clubs and 1 theater, there are now 2,570 palaces and
houses of culture and clubs, 9 theaters, a state conservatory and state philhar-
minic, a symphony orchestra, 10 museums, a film studio, and a far-flung network
of movie houses. The republic has its own publishing house. Every year 340-350
new titles are published, and every year around 2.5 million newspapers and
periodicals are issued, including in the Tatar language.
Internationalism has become an inalienable law of Soviet reality. Its beneficial
influence is felt in all of the spheres of social life. In Tatariya the flagshig
of domestic machine building--the KAMaz--has become the personification of thz
international fraternity of Soviet people and of their labor valor and heroism.
Emissaries from all of the oblasts, krays, and republics of the country and the
representatives of dozens of nationalities took part in building this enterprise.
Orders from the motor vehicle giant have been filled by 1500 enterprises, more
than 100 scientific research and c~esigning institutions, and hundreds of cities.
Today the KAMaz is confidently picking up speed. Dozens of years of the success-
ful functioning of the existing forms of statehood have confirmed their vitality
and expediency. L. I. Brezhnev has emphasized: "Experience has shown that the
basic features of the federated organ:ization of the USSR have completely justified
thFmselves. For this reason, there is no need to make any principal changes in
the forms of Soviet socialist federation." [2, pp382-383] The above can with
complete justice be applied also to federation founded on autonomy.
The new Constitutions, and also the laws which have been adopted to develop them,
}~ave improved the fundamental features of the different forms of autonomy, and have
strengthened their possibilities for fulfilling common state tasks, in the inter-
national education of people, and their active participation in the objective pro-
c:ess of the coming together of nations. At the current stage the autonomous re-
publics and the other forms of autonomy have broad and bright prospects for free
development. In the harmonious family of Soviet peoples, carrying out their
constitutional authority, they are achieving new successes in accomplishing the
tasks put forward by the 26th CPSU Congress, and great heights in communist con-
struction have been attained.
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I
I
i
~ BIBLIOGRAPHY
' 1. V. I. Lenin, "Critical Notes on the Nationalities Question," "Complete Works,"
Vo1 24 p 131. ~
! 2. L. I. Brezhnev, "Following Lenin's Course. Speeches and Articles," Moscow,
- 1978, Vol 6.
3. L. I. Brezhnev, "Following Lenin's Course. Speeches, Greetings, Articles,
Memoirs," Moscow, 1979, Vol 7, p 616.
4. "Bulletin of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet," No 28, 1978, p 754.
5. "USSR Collection of Government Regulations and Decrees," No 18, 1978, p 118.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Nauka", "Sovetskoye gosudarstvo i pravo", 1981
2959 ~
CSO: 1800/295
Legal Position of Autonomous Disrrict9 in RSFSR
Moscow SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO in Russian No 12, Dec 81 pp 11-19
[Article by Ye. M. Koveshnikov, Candida-te in Juridical Science, and M. A. Shafir,
Senior Scientific Associate at the Institute of ~tate and Law of the USSR Academy
of Sciences, Doctor of Juridical Sciences]
[Textj In the 1977 USSR Constitution a developed socialist society is character-
ized as a society of mature socialist social relations in which both the juridical
and the actual equality of all nations and peoples has been achieved and their
- fraternal cooperation has become firmly established. "The unity of the Soviet
nations," it is emphasized in the report by L. I. Brezhnev at the 2oth CPSU Con-
gress, "is strong today as never before. This does not mear, of.course,
that all of the problems in the sphere of national relations have already been
solved. The dynamics of the development of such a large multi-national state as
. ours engenders quite a few problems which require the sensitive attention of the
party." For this reason, an improvement of national relations and their correct
and timely regulation is always in the field of vision of the communist party of
the Soviet state. The measures which are being carried out to develop the peoples
of the Far North and Far East of the RSFSR, and to solve the problems connected
with the position of autonomous districts and with the adoption of new legisla-
tion concerning them are, as was noted at the 26th CPSU Congress, a vivid exam-
ple of this attention to the problems and tasks of the comprehensive development
of nations and national relations under present-day conditions.
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1'he Constitutional Status of the Autonomous Districts
. In the early 1930s, in order to bring about the economic and cultural development
of the small peoples of the Far North and Far East of the RSFSR, national districts
- which have played an important role in the fu~ndamental transformation of the
socio-economic and cultural life of these peoples were created. However, consti-
tutionally, the position of the national districts was not regulated with suffi-
cient fullness and concreteness. The 1936 USSR Constitution and the 1938 RSFSR
Constitution did not contain any special norm~ on the legal position of the
national districts. Only in one case in the 1936 L'SSR Constitution, namely, in
- Article 35 which established the procedure for electing the Soviet of Nationalities
of the USSR Supreme Soviet it was stated that one deputy from~each national dis-
trict is elected to this chamber. The Basic I.aws of the USSR and RSFSR spoke in
general terms, outside of any connection with the n~tional districts, about the
districts, distric~t soviets, district courts, and distri~ct procurators. As for
the Regula~:ion on the National Districts, during the periad c,f the effect of the
1938 RSFSR Constitution it was not adopted. Let us note that this circumstance
_ at ~ne time provided the grounds for a number oz writers to air,ogether deny the
autonomous character of these di:�tricts which were regardtid by them as ordinary
- administrative-territorial units. There was alsc another position--on the ex-
pediency o.f removing a district from the body of a kray or oblast in order for
them to enter dir~:ctly into the RSFSR and for their direction to be carried out
by the supreme agencies of sLate Y~ower and administration of the RSFSR.
The adoption of the 1977 USSR Constitution, an~3 also of the 1978 R~SFSR Constitu-
tion marked a serious step in the definition of the legal position of the above
districts, and s~i,~nified an expansion (and not only of the amount, '~ut above all ~
of the significlnc:e and content) of the constitutional regulation in this field
_ of national-sta~e construction. In this way the necessary constitutional pre-
conditions were created for the successful development in conformity wYth the
conditions of a developed socialist sociPty for such a form of Soviet autonomy as
the autonomous district; and by means of the adoption of the app-ropriate acLS of
current legislation and a streng~hening of the daily organizational work of state
agencies provisi.on is made for state, economic, and social and cultural construc-
_ tion in the districts, and for the realization in these regions of the socio-
economic program worked out by the CPSU and concretely expressed in the Basic
Directions of the Economic and Social Development of the USSR for the Years
1981-1985 and for ti?e Period until 1990 which were approvecl by the 26th Parey
Congress.
It i.s importan~ to emphasize that the constitutional norms concerning the auto-
- nomous districts are not only of essential state-legal importance, but also of
great theoretical importance, insofar as they provide a full basis for a compre-
hensive characterization and elucidation of the distinctive featur~s of the legal
position of autonomous districts in the system of Soviet national state organiza-
tion. First of all, it has to be observed that the 1977 USSR Constitution ex-
~ tablished a new designation for the districts--they began to be called not
"national districts," as had been the case earlier, but "autonomous districts,"
which are discussed in the section "National-State Organizat9.on of the USSR" and
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r
in the special chapter "The Autonomous Qblast and the Autonomous District." There
is a similar chapter in the RSFSR Cor~stitution, in the section "The National-State
and Administrative Territorial Organization of the RSFSR." These constitutional
reg~lations define the place and importance of the autonomous distri~ts in our
single union multi-national state--the USSR--which personifies the state unity of
the Soviet people and of all of its nations and peoples.
It should be noted that in the begim~;.c;g of the 1930s the populations of the
national districts which were created at that ti.me consisted basically of small
peoples of the North, and the name "national district" emphasized that autonoiny
was being gran~ed precisely to these peoples which for the first time in their
- hi;~tory had received the possibility of creating their own national state forma-
tions. ^~bsequently, during the process of th. accelerated industrialization of
ti:ese areas, the more rapid rates of the development of the northern territories,
and the influx of population from other regions of the country there occurred a
substant::.31 population movement. The districts became multi-national i~ their
popula~ion composi*=on. And although the indigenous population grew numerically,
_ its pronortion in the total population decreased. Thus, in the Evenk National
District the Evenks and Yakuts comprxsed 78.3 percent of the population in 1932,
while in 1976 the figure was 32 percent. The increasingly intensive transforma-
- tion of the North which possesses enormous and unique natural resources and which
has been playing an increasing role in the economy of the Russian Federation and
of the entire USSR became now a genuine affair of the entire people and a vivid
display of tae friendship and mutual assistance of the Soviet peoples. [2] Nor
must one forget to take account of the importance of the unif~cation of terminology
for the existing forms of national autonomy which was perforsed in the Constitu-
tion (autonomous republic, autonomous oblast, autonomous district). Thus, on
the basis of the experience of national-state construction the USSR Constitution
estabJ.ished the proposition that under developed socialism the organizing role of
auto~aomous districts in state construction is strengthened, since the di.mensions
of ~ommnnist construction and the tasks of developing the northern territories
grow iu~measurably.
With the intensive processes of internationalization which are taking place and
with :he growth of population migr. .ion (which, incidentally, is characteristic
not only of the autonomous districts), the national basi:s of statehood in the
autoiiomous districts is being maintained. And altt?ough today the indigenous
natic~nalities make sp the absolu~P majority of the population only in two districts,
' the vast majority of the districts have as their residents the largest ~hare of
the corresponding peoples. From this there follows the important conclusion that
the entire existence of the autonomous districts is inseparably bound up with
praviding the most favorable conditions for the free development of the workers
of all of the natior?alities living on their territory.* It would seem that all
of the concrete questions which concern the organization, composition, and
activities of the districts' agencies of power and administration have to be con-
sidered with regard to this circumstance.
* For more details on the functions of national statehood compare [3].
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The constitutional norm to the effect that the autonomous districts are a part
of a kray or oblast is of fundamental importance. This is a result of the need
to provide the autonomous districts today also with constant and effective assis-
- tance in the accomplishment of the tasks of economic and cultural construction
given their substantial remoteness from the center, and also the necessity of
strengthening the alliance between the working class and the laboring peasantry
and intelligentsia, and of ensuring the friendship and cooperation of all of the
_ nations and peoples living on the territory of t'-e districts. The circumstance
that the inclusion of the districts in the corresponding krays and oblasts is
a result of their close economic relations is also important: Usually this is
an economically integral region with definite distinctive f~atures in its indus-
trial and agricultural development. The experience of the relationships between
the autonomous districts and the krays and oblasts within which they exist tes-
tifies to the close cooperation and mutual assistance between them and to the
equal rights of all nations and peoples.
_ The constitutional norm on the entry of the autonomous districts into a kray or
oblast increases the responsibility of the kray and oblast age~~.:ies for the
successful realization of major measures provided for the CC CPSU and USSR Council
of Ministers for the development of areas in which the peoples of the North live.
In addition, the RSFSR Constitution contains a list of all of the autonomous
districts (Article 71). This means that the small peoples wh~ch populate the
districts are assigned their ethnic territories whose borders are established in
accordance with their will. Here, of course, account is taken of economic ex-
_ pediency and of the integralness of a territory, the national cornposition of the
population, and the necessity of bringing the agencies of state power and adminis-
tration as close as possible to the population and of creating the most favorable
conditions for the active participation by the workers in the management of the
affairs of society and the state. This also means that any changes in the com-
position of the autonomous districts can only be made as changes in the Constitu-
tion itself. It is clear that insofar as this involves autonomous formations in
which the basic part of the peoples living in them is concentrated, such changes
- on the basis of an expression of the will of the peoples t~emselves requires the
adoption by the RSFSR Supreme Soviet of the corresponding law and the making of
changes in Article 71 of the RSFSR Constitution.
~ In accordance with the constitutional norms on the autonomous districts, a de-
- tailed regulation of their legal position is provided for by a special law on the
autunomous districts which is adopted by the Supreme Sovie~ of the union republic
(Article 88 USSR Constitution and Article 84 RSFSR Constitution). Thus, the
; definitive role in the legal establishment of the position of the autonomous dis�-
tricts belongs to the RSFSR Supreme Soviet, which emphasizes the importance of
these questions which are decided by the republic's supreme agency of state power.
The issuance of theRSFSR Law on the Autonomous Districts which is stipulated by
the USSR Constitution and the RSFSR Constitution ensures an optimal correlation
between constitutional and current legislation with respect to the given form of
Soviet autonomy.
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~ Apart from the norms which are contained in the section "National-State Organiza-
tion of the USSR," the USSR Constitution contains a large number of regulations
on the autonomous districts which are placed in the sections that define the
organization and activities of the agencies of the Soviet State. In particular,
Article 110 establishes the instituti~.. af the autonomous district's representa-
tion in the Soviet of Nationalities of the USSR Supreme Soviet. This representa-
- tion exists beginning with the moment that the national, now autonomous districts
are formed. It ensures a con~ideration of the natinnal interests of small peoples
in the work of the supreme agency of USSR state power, and the active and direct
participation by their representatives in deciding upon questions of general state
importance. The chairman of the ispolkom of one of the Soviets of People's
- Deputies of the autonomous districts is usually elected to the Presidium of the
USSR Supreme Soviet. In accordance with the USSR Constituti~~n and the RSFSR Con-
s;:itution, the Soviets of People's Deputies of the autonomous districts are a
part of the single system of agencies cf state power, being one of their elements.
They decide upon all issues of loca'_ sign~ficance, proceeding from general state
interests and the interests of the cit~.zens livj.ng on tne territory of the soviet,
and with regard to the distinctive faatures of the national composition of the
districts' population.
_ The courts of the autonomous districts are stated to be among the agencies of
justice which are in operation in the USSR. It is established that court pro-
ceedings are conducted in the language of the autonomous district or in the lan-
guage of the majority of the population of a given locality (Article 151 and 159
of the USSR Constitution, and 163 and 171 of trie RSFSR Constitution). According
to the Constitution, the procurators of the autonomous districts are appointed by
the procurator of the union republic and approved by the USSR General Procurator
(Article 166 of the USSR Constitution and Article 177 of the RSFSR Constitution).
We have, in this way, a substantial expansion of the limits of the constitutional
regulation of the status of autonomous districts and, moreover, it is performed
on the level of the USSR and on the level of the RSFSR. Here aspects which are
common to both of these leve~s can be singled out with absolute definiteness,
as well as issues whose regulation is performed only on the level of the USSR or
only on a republic level (in the Constitution of the RSFSR), which is determined
by the special characteristics of the RSFSR as a sovereign socialist state which
- is a part of the USSR, and by the limits of its jurisdiction.
The Law on the Autonomous Districts of the RSFSR
The adoption by the USSR Supreme Soviet on 20 November 1980 of the Law on the
_ Autonomous Districts of the RSFSR was an event of great importance. [4] This
kin~ of. law has been adopted for the first time in the history of Soviet state
construction. As is known, the 20 April 1932 Decree of the All-Russian Central
Executive Committee and the RSFSR Council of People's Commissars ratified the
Regulation on th~ District Congresses of Soviets and the District Executive
- Committees of the National Districts of the Northern Outlying Areas of the RSFSR.
[5] It defined the procedure for the formation of national districts, the forma-
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tion of their jurisdiction, and their structure. Almost 50 years have passed since
the adoption of this document. It is natural that many of~its norms have become
obsolete and do not meet contemporary requirements. The activities of the agen-
cies of power and administration in the autonomous districts were for this reason
regulated by individual normative acts which were adopted for various issues.
The new law was worked out on the basis of the existing legal position of the
autonomous districts, the relationships which had developed between the district,
oblast, kray, republic, and union agencies of state power and administration, and
with regard to the positive experience that had been gained. Its basis is made
up of the norms of the USSR Constitution, the RSFSR Constitution, and the USSR
Law on the basic authority of the kray, oblast, and district Soviets of People's
Deputies. Deputies from the RSFSR Supreme Soviet and from the kray, oblast, and
district soviets, specialists from various branches of the economy, and represen-
tatives of scientific institutions took part in the preparation of the Law on the
Autonomous Districts of the RSFSR. Taking into account the content and importance
of this law whose adoption is stipulated by the USSR and RSFSR Constitutions, it
seems to us that it can be classified among the constitutional laws whose useful-
ness for special treatment had already been pointed out in the literature. [6]
The Law on the autonomous districts of the RSFSR defines the legal status of the
autonomous districts, establishes the basic principles of the organization and
activities of the district soviets and other state agencies, and is uniform for
all 10 autoncmous districts of the RSFSR. The chapter "General Regulations" is
of. great importance. It contains the norms which define the distinctive charac-
teristics of this form of Soviet autonomy, and concretizes the constitutional
norms on the autonomous districts. Article I contains the regulation on the
autonomous district as a form of Soviet autonomy, establishes that in accordance
with the USSR and RSFSR Constitutions the autonomous districts are a part of an
RSFSR kray or oblast, and specifies of which krays and oblasts the various auto-
nomous districts are members.
Article III is devoted to the questions of the administrative territorial organi-
_ zation of the autonomous district. Here it is important to note the point to
the effect that these issues have to be decided with regard to the opinion of the
appropriate state agencies of the autonomous district. The formation, abolition,
and alteration of the borders of an autonomous district, the formation and
abolition in it of rayons, cities, workers' settlements, and rural soviets, the
establishment of the subordination of cities, and also the solution of other
problems of the administrative territorial organization of an autonomous district
is performed in a procedure which is defined by the laws of the USSR and the RSFSR. ,
- In addition, any changes connected with the formation or abolition of autonomous
districts are adopted in the procedure which has been established for changing
the RSFSR Constitution, since they are connected with making alterations in
Article 71 of the RSFSR Constitution which established the list of autonomous
districts. Other questions of the administrative territorial organization of
autonomous districts are decided by the Presidium of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet on
the hasis of the normative acts which exist in the Russian Federation regarding
the classification of populated points and the procedure for deeiiiing upon ques-
tions of administrative territorial organization.
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In accordance with constitutional principles, the Law on the autonomous districts
of the RSFSR establishes that Soviet citizens who are residents of an autonomous
_ district, regardless of their origin, social and property position, racial and
national membership, sex, education, language, attitude toward reiigion, the type
- and character of their employment, and other circumstances, are ensured equal
rights in all fields of economic, political, social, and cultural life, and also
the possibility of using their native language and the languages of the other
- peoples of the USSR. It is established in the Law that citizens living in an
autonomous district participate in elections to the USSR Supreme~Soviet, RSFSR
_ Supreme Soviet, and local Soviets of People`s Deputies. The details of the holding
of elections are defined in the corresponding laws on election to the soviets.
The Law on the autonomous districts of the RSFSR devotes special articles to a
district's economic and social development plan and to its budget. It is stated
- that the district's economic and social development plan is a component part of
the economic and social development plan of a kray or oblast. The district's plan
' has the goal of ensuring the overall development of the territory of the autonomous
district. The district's budget unites the district budget and the budgets of the
rayons and cities of district subordination and is a component part of the budget
of a kray or oblast. It is connected, on the one hand, with the local economy and
by means of it monetary resources are redisltributed among the economic branches
of local subordination and financial control is carried out, and, on the other,
with the economy of republic and union subordination whose enterprises and organi-
zations are sited on the territory of the autonomous district. The Law estab-
lishes that the budget of the autonomous district is given some of the profits of
the enterprises and economic organizations of republic subordination which are
located on the territory of the district soviet, and that the enterprises and
' economic organizations of union subordination participate in the formation of the
income of the autonomous district's budget.
The point of view which has been expressed in the literature regarding the e~:-
pediency of including special sections on planning and financial indicators and
the funds which correspond to them for each autonomous district in the laws on the
, RSFSR state budget and the RSFSR state economic and social development plan would
appear to merit consideration. [7] '
Of great importance are the regulations of zhe Law on the autonomous districts of
the RSFSR regarding the interaction between the Soviets of People`s Deputies of the
autonomous district and the kray or oblast soviet in deciding questions of state,
economic, and social and cultural construction, and the fact that the district
soviet is ensured representation in the kray or oblast agencies of state power
and administration. However, the law does not contain norms on the forms of this
representation. In practice, very often the chairman of the ispolkoms of the
district soviets are elected to the ispolkoms of the corresponding kray or oblast
soviets. This practice is entirely justified and merits dissemination.
The questions regarding the interaction between the district soviet and the kray
or oblast soviets are also decided in the Law on the kray, oblast 6oviet of pople's
Deputies of the RSFSR. In Article 9 of this law it is stated, in particular, that
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the agencies of state power and administration of the kray or oblast of which the
autonomous district is a part show thorough concern for raising the level of the
economy and the culture in an autonomous district and that the kray or oblast
~oviet takes account in its activities of the national and other distinctive
characteristics of the autonomous district and ensures the participation of the
- district soviet in the discussion of issues of kray or oblast significance. [8]
Chapter II of the Law on the autonomous districts of the RSFSR is devoted to the
Soviet of People's Deputies of the autonomous district. In accordance with the
USSR Constitution and the RSFSR Constitution, it establishes the proposition that
- the Soviet of People's Deputies is the agency of state power in the district.
The Soviets of the North have traversed a long road--from clan Saviets to Soviets
of People's Deputies. All of the classes and social groups of the population are
widely represented in them. Representatives of all of the peoples of the North
- are elected to the local soviets of the districts. They are also in the soviets
of the krays and oblasts in which there are autonomous districts. There are
also representatives of the peoples of the North among the deputies to the USSR
Supreme Soviet and the RSFSR Supreme Soviet. In view of the multi-national
composition of the population of the districts, the quite full representation in
the soviets of all of the nationalities living on the territory of an autonomous
district is of importance. As is stated in the Summary Report of the CC CPSU to
the 25th CPSU Congress, all nations have the right to their proper representation
in state agencies. In this way, the composition of the soviets of the districts
is a vivid manifestation of the democracy of the Soviet system and of the equal
rights of all citizens, regardless of their national and racial membership.
The USSR Law on the basic authorities of the kray, oblast, and district soviets
directly stipulates that the authorities of the Soviet of an Autonomous District
are determined by the Law on autonomous districts (Article 2).
It is important to emphasize that the Law on the autonomous districts of the
RSFSR makes special mention of the necessity of taking account of the national
and other distinctive features of an autonomous district. We are speaking about ~
Article 9 in which it is stated that the district Soviet decides all questions of
local importance on the basis of general state interests and the interests of the
citizens living on the territory of the Soviet and with regard to the national
and other distinctive features of the autonomous district, puts the decisions of
superior agencies into practice, directs the activities of lower soviets, parti-
cipates in the discussion of questions of oblast, kray, republic, and all-union
importance, and makes proposals on these questions. A number of articles in the
Law call atte~tion to the importance of taking account of local distinctive
features which are connected with the development of the traditional branches of
agriculture, and also with the character of cultural construction (Point 3
Article 22, Point 3 Article 29). In their work the deputies to the soviets are
guided by general state interests, and they take account of the interests of
the population of their election district, and also of the economic, cultural,
national and other distinctive features of the autonomous district.
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The Law defines the basic direc~tions of the activities of the district Soviets in
the following fields: planning, material and technical supplies, accounting, and
statistics; budgetary and financial work; prices; industry; construction;
agriculture, handicrafts, and procurements; environment3l protection and the
rational use of natural resources; road work; transportation and communicat�ions;
housing, municipal services, and beautification; trade and public catering;
domestic services for the public; public education and science; cultural and
educational work and art; health care; physical culture and sports; labor,
the use of labor resources, and the training of cadres; social security; socia-
list legality, the protection of state and public order and the rights of citi-
zens, the performance of people's control; defense work; the organization of
elections; and the awarding of state awards.
The CPSU is consistently following a course aimed at increasing the role of the
Soviets in economic and social and cul.tural construction. It is very important,
L. I. Brezhnev has emphasized, for local agencies of power to be even more per-
sistent in ensuring a tie between economic and social development and to better
coordinate and control the activities of all of the organizations located on
their territory. [1] And the new law grants the district s~viets broad authority
for carrying out these functions. In particular, the s~viets of the autonomous
districts have been given the responsibility of ensuring overall economic and
social development on their territories, exercising control over compliance with
the law by enterprises, institutions, and organizations of superior subordination
which are located on their territories, and coordinating and controlling their
activities in the fields of land use, environmental protection, construction,
the use of labor resources, the production of consumer goods, and social and
cultural, domestic, and other services �or the public. The district soviet
listens to reports by the leaders of enterprises, institutions, and organizations
on these issues, adopts decisions on them and, in the event of necessity, makes
its own proposals to the appropriate superior agencies. The proposals of the
soviet are subject to mandatory examination, and its results have to be communi-
cated to the soviet no later than within a month.
The law contains the important regulation that USSR and RSFSR ministries, state
committees, and departments ensure the presentation by their subordinate enter-
prises, associations, and organizations of the control figures and basic indi-
cators of their draft plans and approved plans to the district Soviets, and take
account of the conclusions of these soviets in developing and approving plans,
and also development schemes and the siting on their territories of economic and
industrial branches.
Thus, the Law on the autonomous districts of the RSFSR has granted the soviets
broad possibilities for deciding questions of state, economic, and social and
cultural construction on the territory of a district. Of especial importance
under. contemporary conditions are the increased role of the district Soviets and
their agencies in economic construction, the ensuring of the overall economic
and social development of the autonomous districts, rayons, and cities, the ex- ~
pansion of the coordination and control functions of the Soviets, and the
strengthening of their influence on increasing the work efficiency of the associa-
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tions, enterprises, and organizations located on their territories and on improving
the living and working conditions of Soviet people. ihis is all the more im-
portant in that the accelerated industrial development of the areas outside Siberia,
the Far East, and the North on the territories of the autonomo~ss districts is
creating numerous enterprises and organizations of union and republic subordi-
natiion.
The Law contains the basic regulations on the organization of the work of the
district soviets and their agencies, and on its forms and metho3s. In particular,
it establishes the procedure for preparing and holding sessions of the soviets,
and defines the range of questions which may be decided exclusively at them, the
procedure for the formation and the authority of the ispolkoms, their sections
and administrations, and permanent artd other commissions, and also the basic
principles of the work of the deputies and of the participation of the population
in the work of the district Soviets. In addition, it is stipulated that decisions
of a district soviet, in the event that they do not correspond to the legislation,
may be annulled by the kray and oblast soviet. The district soviet and also the
ispolkom of the kray or oblast soviet has the right to annul the decisions and
orders of the ispolkom of the district soviet.
As the Chairman of the Presidium of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet M. A. Yasnov said
in his report at a session of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation in
November 1980, the success of the work of the soviets of the autonomous dis-
tricts depends to a substantial degree upon how fully their authorities will be
used and upon how actively the soviets themselves and their executive and adminis-
trative agencies, Fermanent commissions, and deputies will perforrn. All of the
activities of the soviets and all of their concerns are now dire~ted toward the
organization of the fulfillment of the plans for economic and social development
and toward activating production reserves and making wide use of all local
resources. ~
Chapter III of the Law on the autonomous districts of the RSFSR is devoted to the
other state agencies of the district. It is stated in it that in accordance with
the RSFSR Constitution, a district's Soviet of People's Deputies E~].ects the
district`s court. In accordance with the Principlesof the Legislation of the
USSR and union republics regarding the organizatiori of courts in the USSR, the
court of an autonomous district belongs to the courts of the union republic. It
consists of a chairman, a deputy chairman, court members, and people's assessors
and operates with the court presidium, with the entire court for civil cases,
and with the entire court for criminal cases. The RSFSR Supreme Soviet has the
rc~~,.,nsibility for supervising their judicial activities. The RSFSR Ministry of
Jiistice exercises organizational direction over them. Court proceedings in the
autonomous district are conducted in the~Russian language, or in the language of
the autonomous district, or in the language of the majority of the population
of the giveci locality. Persons participating in a case who do not have the lan-
g~~age in which the court proceedings are being conducted are ensured the right
of becoming fully acquainted with the materials of the case, of participating in
court operati,~ns through a translator, and of speaking in court in their native
language. The procurator of an autonomous district is appointed by the RSFSR
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Procurator and is approved by the USSR General Procurator. The concrete questions
of the organization, structure, and activities of an autonomous district's pro-
curator's office are defined by the Law on the procurator's office of the USSR.
Having overcome their age-old backwardness with the disinterested help of all of
the Soviet p2oples and, in the first place, the Russian people, the indigenous
peoples have achieved enormous successes in economic and cultural development.
The once backward and ignorant outlying districts of Russia whose population
under Tsarism was doomed to extinction have turned into industrially developed
areas with a modern agriculture. In a brief period of time the autonomous dis-
tricts have seen the growth of qualified cadres of workers and of agricultural,
cultural, scientific, and educational specialists from the indigenous population.
The achievements of the workers of the autonomous districts have become one of
the c~nvincing proofs of the vitality of Lenin's nationalities policy.
Consolidating the successes of the workers of the autonomous districts, the USSR
Constitution, the RSFSR Constitution, and the Law on the autonomous districts of
the RSFSR are opening up new prospects for their further successful development
in the single fraternal family of the peoples of the USSR.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
l. VEDOMOSTI VERKHOVNOGO SOVETA SSSR, No 47, 1980, p 1023.
Z. "Important Problems of National Relations in the Light of the USSR Constitu-
tion," Moscow, 1981, pp 258-270.
3. N. I. Kulichenko, "The Flourishing and Coming Together of Nations in the
USSR," Moscow, 1981, pp 75-76.
4. VEDOMOSTI VERKHOVNOGO SOVETA RSFSR, No 48, 1980, p 1594.
5. "Collection of Laws of the RSFSR," No 39, 1932, p 176.
6. L. A. Morozova, "The Constitutional Regulation of Social Relations in the
- USSR," SOV. GOS. I PRAVO, No 7, 1980, pp 21-30.
7. A. I. Potapov, "The Autonomous District in the System of Uhe National-State
Organization of the RSFSR." In the book: "Theoretical Problems of Soviet
State Law Under the Conditions of the Latest Constitutional Legislation,"
Sverdlovsk, 1979, p 71.
8. VEDOMOSTI VERKHOVNOGO SOVETA RSFSR, No 48, 1980, p 15y3.
COPYRIGHT; Izdatel'stvo "Nauka", "Sovetskoye gosudarstvo i pravo", 1981
2959
CSO: 1�i00/295
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NATIONAL ~
LEGAL REGULATION OF DEMOGRt1PHIC PROCESSES DISCUSSED
Moscow PRAVO I D~MOGRAFICHESKIY PROTSESSY V SSSR in Russian 1981 pp 1, 200,
30-35, 40-41, 48-49, 62-63, 65-67, 114-114
[Title page, table of contents, and selected passages from book "Law and Demo-
graphic Processes in the USSR" by Galina I1'inichna Litvinova, Izdatel'stvo
"Nauka", 3,100 copies, 200 pages]
[Text] Pravo i Demograficheskiye Protsessy v SSSR (Law and Demographic
- Processes in the USSR)
Signed to press: 25 August 1981
Number of copies: 3,100
Pages: 200
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 1. Law and Demographic Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1. The Origin and Development of Ideas on Controlling Population 7
2. Methods of State and Legal Influence on ~emographic Processes 14
3. Demographic Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Chapter 2. State and Legal Inf luence on the Birth Rate 37
_ 1. Controlling the Level of the Birth Rate: the Historical Aspect 37
2. Causes and Consequences of the Decline in the Birth Rate ~+3
3. Legal Influence on the Birth Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4. Social-Legal Status of Women and the Birth Rate 81
Chapter 3. The Role of the State and Law in Increasing Longevity and
Reducing the Mortality Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
l. The Right to Preservation of Health and Social Security 103
2. The Human Right to a Healthy Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Chapter 4. Migration and Labor Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
1. Control of Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
2. Legal Influence on Labor Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
- Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18~
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Refinement of legislation, which developed liroadly in connection with adop-
tion of the new constitutions of the USSR and tlie repub.lics, cannor tie done
without rigorous consic'eration of the demogXaphic situation that has come about
in both the USSR as a whole and in each parttcular Union and autonomous republic,
oblast, and kray. Many legal norms that affect demographic processes were
adopted 30-40 years ago wfien the demographic situation in tlie country was dif-
ferent, and they now need to be updated. Demographic correlations have not yet
been fu~.ly reflected tn legislation. Specifically, the relationships discovered
by researchers between the level of the birthrate and satisfaction with housing
conditions is still not fully considered by housing legislation.
Legal support for demographic policy presupposes the following:
- determination of the place of law in the system of other
(nonlegal) measures to influence the demographic behavior
of citizens; interdependence of legal methods of influence
and others (economic, psychological, and the like);
adequate reflection in the law of~the requirements of op-
timal influence on demographic processes;
- a well-founded selection of concrete forms of legal enact-
ments to influence particular demographic processes;
- the elimination of "gaps" in legal influence on specific
demographic processes;
- as much as possible, giving nondemographic legal norms a
demographic character;
- refining the forms of legal regulation (passing laws in-
stead of adopting decrees an~ so on).
Consideration of these criteria by Soviet legislation will promote efficient
demographic policy.
It should be kept in mind that the potential for legal (just as economic,
medical, and the like) influence on demographic processes is not unlimited,
For example, with respect to influencing the birth rate the law is not all-
powerful, and this is even more true of the mortality rate. In the first
stage, it appears, we can only speak of prEVenting a trend toward decline in the
birttirate in certain regions and the growth of the mortality rate in certain
age groups.
Legal influence on demographic processes may be either direct and planned (for
example, banning abortions by law influences the level of the birth rate, while
legislation opening up new regions to development and giving privileges to
' settlers ttiere influence the direction and vigor of migratory streams) and in-
direct, mediated by nonlegal relationships, for example economic, psychological,
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and moral relationships.* It must b.e considered that this is, an ar~iitrary di-
vision and that the realization and degree of effectiveness of legal norms
depend on the level of sophistication, the extent of female labor, fiistorical,
_ ethnic, and moral factors, and the like. Sometimes these factors can nullify
the impact of particular legal norms on the demographic behavior of the citi-
zens, especially with respect to mtgration processes and the birth rate. There-
fore, tfie degree of influence of a particular legal norm on a concrete demo-
graphic process cannot always be estatilished with sufficient accuracy.
The effect of various legal norms on demographic processes is an interdependent
and interrela[ed phenomenon, just as the demographic processes themselves are
interdependenC and interrelated. A change in the course of one process i5 usu-
ally reflected in the course of others, and steps aimed at improving certain
_ demographic characteristics can have a negative effect on others. Thus, the
active migratory flows of young pzople from the rural regions of the RSFSR to
the cities help supply labor resources to fast-developing industry, and at the
- same time led to an "erosion" of the reproductive strata of the rural population.
It has been established that there are conflicts not only between the trend
toward population concentration in large cities and changes in the age structure
of the rural population, but also between other processes, in particular between
the tendency toward maximum invol"vement of women in public production and the
bix�th rate. The no~s of constitutional, labor, and.other fields of law which
envision a guaranteed, equal right to labor and wages for men and women, pro-
tection of female labor with due regard for the distinctive characteristics of
the female organism, labor and pension advantages for women, and the like helped
draw women into public production and promoted comprehensive development of the
individual woman. But the level of employment of women in the child-bearing
ages in public production has an inverse effect on the level of the birth rate.
The existence of conflicts between trends in the development of demographic
processes demands that any legal enactment intended to stimulate (or discourage)
a particular demographic process be adopted with due regard for the goals and
general lines of demographic policy of the Soviet State, so that the influence
on the particular process promotes optimal development of the aggregate of all
demographic processes.
T}ie growing importance of demographic problems made it essential to work out a
plan for population development as a constituent part of the plan of social
development.
This pattern is reflected in the developmental trend of legislation on planning:
in the transition from plans for development of the national economy to plans
* For example, the major advantages in tax policy and state purchases prices and
the faster rates of economic, cultural, and material development that the
Soviet State gave to certain Union republics to make the peoples more even in
_ development were one of the reasons for the extremely low rate of migration
of the rural population in these regions and caused a surplus of labor in
the countryside while it was scarce in the cities.
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, for economic and social development. "Under conditions of mature socialism,"
L. I. Brezhnev emphasizes in the Accounta~iility Report to the 26th Congress of
the CPSU, "the interdependence of economic progress wttTi.society~s social-
political and cultural progress is becoming closer and closer."i+e
The problem of working out criteria for evaluating social and demographic de-
velopment and devising ways to insure coordination and balance in the plan of
demographic development of a republic as a part of the plans for economic and
- social development of the USSR is becoming a timely iasue.
Working out the basic directions of demographic development and fixing them in
law demands a clear orientation to the ftnal impact: establishment of a commu-
nist type of population development. As D. I. Valentey observes, this concept
covers many components, each of which must have optimal characteristics from
the standpoint of the long-term interests of society.4 9
Working out and implementing comprehensive, scientifically founded demographic
policy presupposes taking interrelated steps at all levels of the state and
social organism, and this cannot be done without resolving a number of organi-
zational questions.
Thus, tfie questions of labor resources, including migration, are under the
- authority of the USSR State Committee for Labor and Social Problems and tfie
labor committees of.the Union republics; the questions of improving the status of
women are in the jurisdiction of the standing cor.~nissior~s on questions of labor
and everyday conditions for women of the Soviets of Peoples Deputies. The
family divisions which have now been established in the executive committees of
certain city Soviets are expected to play an important part in strengthening
the family. Their working experience deserves generalization and broad dissemi-
nation. Public organizations can give more help in solving demographic problems;
_ the potential of these organizations has not been fully used yet. The activities
of all these organizations must be coordinated and subordinated to attaining
basic demographic objectives.
'ihe ministries and departments that manage economic development in their ac-
tivities sometimes not only fail to consider the interests of demographic de-
velopment, but act in conflict with them. For example, it is common knowledge
that enterprises and departments whose activities are ultimately evaluated by
volume of output produced do not have an interest in female employees who have
three or more children, because this makes it more difficult to fulfill plan
assignments since women with many children are absent from work for reasons of
illness and child care more often than women with no children or one child. But
tt:e state and society as a wliole, as already mentioned, do have an interest in
wide distribution of families with three children.
There must be a single fully empowered state body to manage the development of
a comprehensive demographic program and the conduct of demographic policy and
- to coordinate the work of all ministries, departments, and organizations that
- have any influence on demographic processes. Most countries today have such
governmental bodies. They also exist in the socialist countries. It would seem
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wise:to establisli such a USSR-republic hody at the USSR Council of Ministers
and in the Councils Ministers of the Union republics, with.a definition of .
- its otijectives, tasks, ~urisdiction, and authority.. This body could insvre
the development of the basic lines of demographic policy and its implementa-
tion and work out steps to bring the demographic characteristics of the popula~
tion of different repulilics closer together, which would help strengthen the
unity of tfie Soviet people.
The fact that the factors which influence particular demographi~ processes have
not been adequately studied and the fact that they exist on many different levels
and are interdependent require special caution and prudence in adopting legal
norms that influence change in demographic processes. In this respect, the
demographic legislation of the European socialist countries, especially laws
adopted in the late 1960's and early 1970's to encourage a higher birth rate
is of great theoretical and practical interest. During this time the birth rate
in most oL the European socialist countries rose. But we should realize that
with a clearly defined trend toward decline in the birth rate even a stabiliza-
tion of the level of birth can be viewed as a positive result.
Needless to say, the demographic legislation of the European socialist ~ountries
cannot be mechanically transferred to the USSR with its enormous population
which differs sharply by demographic characteristics both on the regional and
on the ethnic ievels. At the same time, we must not overlook the existence of
many common features in the nature and course of demographic processes, above
all in the area of'increasing the economy of population reproduction: because
of the sharp decline in the mortality rate, natural population growth occurs
with a lower birth rate. The existence of common features not only in the
course of demographic processes in the USSR and the other European soci~list
countries but also in the effect of a number of factors whic:h have caused par-
ticular changes in the demographic characteristics of the populations of these
countries enhances the signifi,=:zce of the experience of demographic legisla-
tion in the European socialist countries and broadens the opportunities for
using it with benefits in our country.
The precepts of Islamic law (the Shariat), which determine the family law of
most of ttie Eastern countries and until the October Revolution also prevailed
in the territory of Central Asia and parts of the Volga region, Caucasus, and
Crimea, aim at maximum encouragement of large families. According to Islamic
- law women without children are the most important reason for divorce and for
taking a second wife. Abortions and any limitations on birth are strictly pro-
hibited. In its operation through the centuries Islamic law, by encouraging
the birth of children, reinforced the tradition of large families which were
supported by the belief that Allah himself takes care of children, who have come
into the world by his will, and will provide them with food.
Aut Islamic law also contains rules that can lower the birth rate. This refers
above all to polygamy. The Shariat permits Islamic men to have as many as
four legal wives, and this does not count slave-concubines. Rich Islamic men
liave had dozens and even hundreds of concubines. Although the woman in a
polygamist family has less work, which has a positive effect on her health and
may be beneficial for reproduction, polygamy in general has a negative effect
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on the birth rate. The number of wt.ves in a polygamous family usually in--
creases as the hustiand grows older and his socioeconomi.c status improves.
! But men of middle and advanced age.are less sexually active.* It sfiould be
observed that polygamy is not the predominant form of marriage in tfie Islamic
; countries. In Iran at the beginntng of t~ie 20th Century, for example, five
percent of the population lived in polygamous families.8 Polygamy today is
prohitiited or restricted by special laws in many Islamic countries such as
Pakistan and Turkey and exists chiefly in concealed form.
Islamic law has cerCain precepts which can restrict the birth rate even though
they are not directly intended to do so. One of these is "Kaitarma," the
right of parents to keep a married daughter in their own home until the bride-
money for her has been fully paid. The "Kaitarma" period may be quita long.
Polyandry (having many husbands) as a form of marriage is much more unusual
than polygamy. It was found in Tibet, chiefly among the impoverished strata
of the population, and in the Himalayas and Southern Zndia. The effect of
polyandry on reproductive rate has not been carefully studied. In any case,
there is no data which showed that the birth rate in regions where polyandry
is found is higher than in neighboring regions. At the present time polyandry
has given way to monogamy almost everywhere. In large part this was fostered
by the institution of legal bans on destroying newborn daughters, which miti-
gated the existing disproportion between the sexes.
The widespread belief that the main reason for the decline in the birth rate
the remote consequences of World War II is doubtfu1.21 This explanation for
the decline in the birth rate is illogical, if for no other reason, because the
birth rate in the last 20 years has become lower and lower, and if we were to
tie its decline to the remote consequences of the war we would have to assume
that the negative consequences of the war ~a'~�e becoming stronger with each
decade of peace. Is there any need to show that this proposition is wrong?
The hypothesis that the consequences of the war are the most important reason
for the decline in the birth rate can divert attention from thz search for the
true causes of this phenomenon and eliminating or mitigating tl:eir effect.
Moreover, if we analyze the impact of the remote consequences of the war on the
- level of the birth rate,their effect today is more beneficial than negative.
In fact, during the 1970's the generation born in the so-called compensatory
postwar period,**the period of the peak birth rate after the war, entered the
child-bearing ages, in fact the ages of highest fertility (20-35 years). In
other words, the most numerous generation was in the age of greatest fertility
in the 1970's, which should Itave led to a growth in the birth rate. Considering
- this factor, the current level of the birth rate must be recognized as alarming.
* In certain cases polygamy can raise the birth rate ~y increasing the per-
centage of married women. Heavy losses of inen as the result of war in some
casesforces European peoples to resort to polygamy. In 1650, for example,
after the Thirty Years' War in which many men died, the District Council of
Nuremburg adopted a resolution permitting men to have two wives. See E.
Westermark, "The History of Human Marriage," London, 1925, Vol 3, p 25.
It has been observed that the birth rate rises sharply after all major wars,
which is the so-called compensatory period in which population is restored.
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This does not mean that we can deny the negative cons.equences of tfie war.
They are enormous, b ut we should not today see them as the main cause of
the complicated demographic situation.
The marriage rate, and through it the birth rate,depend on the ratio of inen
and women living in a particular region. The law is capable of effecting an
improvement in this ratio. It has already been pointed out in the literature
that demographic requirements are often disregarded in planning industrial
enterprises. There appear "cities of girls" where female labor predominates
at the enterprises and "cities of boys," with enterprises using chiefly male
iabor.* It would be desirable for legislation on the fundamentals of planning
to provide for this aspect and for the law to contain a requirement of an op-
timal ratio between male and female labor in the community, city, or region.
The 12 September 1974 decree of the CPSU Central Committee and USSR Council of
Ministers entitled "Further Increasin~ Material Assistance to Poorly Supported
Families with Childreni46 envisioned a monthly grant of 12 rubles a month per
child to families where total per capita income was less than 50 rubles. This
will unquestionably bring the material situation of large and small families
closer together, play a large part in improving conditions for raising children,
and possibly foster a rise in birth rate in certain families. But this applies
_ r~iainly to large families.
Let us recall that the average wages of workers and employees in the USSR are
_ more than 160 rubles a month.47 The average wages in a family where the husband
and wife work (almost all able-bodied women in childless and small families
work) are 300 rubles a month. Therefore, a family which has one, two, or even
three children will not receive a grant under this decree. Thus, this decree
mainly improves the position of large fami.lies and will stimulate a further
rise in the birth rate in precisely such families.**
In other words, existing legislation is in fact aimed at encouraging the maxi-
mum number of children in certain families, whereas the demographic situation
in the country for a long time has dictated the need to direct it to insuring
an optimal number of children in most families. Achievement of this goal will
- be promoted by carrying out the resolutions of the 26th Congress of the CPSU
on institution of an o utright grant for the first and second children and a
significant increase in the grant for the third child. The amount of the grant,
100 rubles for the second and third children, is larger than the grants for
other children in the order of birth.`'8
In ttie contemparary world large families can hardly be the standard or even the
norm encouraged by the state. In the opinion of demographers, with the decline
* Disproportions in the employed population by sex are especially pronounced
in small and medium-sized cities. In the RSFSR, for example, there are 70
small and medium-sized cities with very high percentages of inen in the labor
force. See A. E. Kotlyar and S. Ya. Turchanova, "Zanyatost' Zhenshchin v
Proizvodstve" [Employment of Women in ProductionJ, Moscow, 1975, p 120.
The first year of operation of this decree showed that most of the money
spent under it went to regions with high birth rates.
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i in the mortality rate, especially for chi.ldren, in th~ USSR and society's orien-
tation toward full development of productive forces and comprehensive develop-
! ment of the fiuman individual, the large family is becoming an outdated demo-
grapfiic type wfiose continuance cannot fie. successful and could Tiardly Tie desir-
able.49 A woman burdened by 7-10 children cannot tiecome actively involyed in
~ socialist production.* Raising children and caring for tfiem demands a great
deal of time. It is difficult to give children in a too-large family the
opportunity for comprehensive development and upbringing. But the state is in-
terested not ~ust in the number of citizens, but also in their quality. The
~ state does care about the kind of populatton growth and growth in labor force
under discussion, whether the people are highly trained or not, highly mobile,
and numerous other circumstances (including traditions of large families and
language barriers) linked to a certain region.50 ,
Beginning from the tasks of optimizing demographic processes in the world in
order to avert an ecological crisis and considering that too frequent births
- are harmful to the health of both the mother and child,51 in 1975 the U. N.
Human Rights Committee adopted a resolution to add to the Declaration of Human
Rights a restriction on human rights to reproduction because "the right of a
baby to be born physically and mentally healthy outweighs the right of parents
to reproduction."52
� The arguments and studies of demographers which have been cited illustrate once
again the wisdom of using legal, economic, and other levers to encourage the
optimal family with two or~three children. It is precisely the birth of the
- second child, and especially the third child, that should be encouraged by maxi-
mum benefits and ~rants.
Because the birth rate in families with high incomes is frequently (but not al-
ways) lower than in families with low incomes, made demographers believe that
raising family income by paying grants for children is hardly ltkely to raise
the birth rate. But such arguments often confuse cause and effect. One fre-
quently meets families today which put off having children or decide not to
- have another child in order to avoid a worsening of their material situation.
Steps which bring the material situation of families with two and three children
closer to those of families with no children or one child will unquestionably
promote a rise in the birth rate in small families. The effectiveness of such
legislation has been tested and confirmed by the experience of other countries,
above all the European socialist countries.
- Wlien we are discussing giving material aid to families to raise children, of
course, we must not overlook the fact that the Soviet state as a whole spends
more than many other countries in the world to protect mother and cfiild. The
, * It appears that A. G. Vishnevskiy is correct when he writes: "How can a
woman be free and equal when she is forced (objectively forced!) to devote
20 years of conscious life to pregnancies, birth, breast-feeding, and the
like? The demographic revoluti.on radically changes the entire life cycle
of the woman, and thus creates the key material conditions for her complete
' and final social liberation." (See A. G. Vishnevskiy, "Demograficheskaya
Revolyutsiya" [The Demographic Revolution], p 233).
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decree of the CPSU Central Committee and USSR Council of Ministers entitled
- "Steps to Strengtfien State Aid to Families with Children'~ envisioned insuring
- allout development of the system of nursery schools, daycare centers, extended-
day schools and groups, Pioneer camps, and other summer instttutions in the
llth and 12tfi five-year plans. The Soviet State assumes virtually all ex-
penditures for construction and maintenance of children's prescfiool instttu-
tions, sanitariums for children, and Pioneer and other health camps for
children. But as has been correctly noted in the ltterature, the question
should be raised of reszoring its paramount position in direct material aid to
the family for ma~atenance of children. "This is not just a question of the
prestige of the world's first socialist state," writes N. G. Yurkevich. "It
is also a question of simple necessity, and at the same time fairness.i53 An
increase in expenditures for public forms of family service is certainly
necessary, but considering that public upbringing must be coa~bined with family
upbringing, expenditures by society should be increased in both directions,
harmoniously complementing one another.
The strength of marriage and the reproductiue goals of the family also depend
significantly on provision with housing. The lack of housing and poorly or-
ganized housing create difficulties for the young.family which many spouses
did not experience before entering marriage. Fear of tfiese difficulties is
often a reason for refusing to marry, and the encounter with them often leads
to disintegration of the family.
Housing conditions are important not only for deciding whether to get married,
but also for deciding whether to have children. Sociological studies show
that the paramount reason compelling spouses to decide not to have children or
to postpone them is dissatisfaction w~th housing conditions. A study done in
Moscow illustrates the relationship between the level of the birth rate and pro-
vision with housing. It showed that there are 29.7 children per 100 women of
child-bearing age living in communal apartments; for women of the same age
living in separate apartments there are 32.1 children per 100. In new resi-
dential areas of Moscow where most families live in separate apartments, there
are 839 children per 1,000 families; in old residential areas where most of
the families do not have separate apartments tliere are 476 children per 1,000
families.4
Injuries, including fatal injuries, are often the result of intoxication by
alcohol. Improving legal steps to combat alcoholism are another possible
way to influence the rate of decline in the martality rate. Medical scien-
tists believe that abuse of alcohol shortens life by 20 years. One out of
three deaths from cardiovascular illness is caused by abuse of alcoho1,15
Alcoholism leads to moral and social degradation of the individual. Drunken-
ness and the scandals that go with it are one of the main reasons that mar-
riages break up. Practically all cases to terminate parental rights are occa-
sioned by the drunkenness of the parents.l6
In view of ali these factors the state devotes great attention to measures to
combat alcoholism, including legal measures. The Fundamentals of Legislation
of the USSR and the Union republics envision the possi6ility of mandatory
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treatment of chronic alcoholics (Article 3b~. This. rule of USSR law has been
' included concretely in republtc legislation. For example, a 1 Marc~i 1974
Ukase of tfie RSFSR Supreme Soviet entitled "Mandatory Treatment of Alcofiolics"
provides a procedure for mandatory~treatment of persons wFio a~use alcoholic
beverages.l~ The Councils of Minteters of the USSR and tfie Union Republics
have issued decrees that enviston conditions for and the possi~~ility of
employing mandatory treatment of chronic alcoholics and procedures for sending
them to preventive health tnstituttons for treatment and labor indoctrination.
Article 62 of the RSFSR Criminal Code and the corresponding articles of the
criminal codes of other Union republics give courts the rigfit to assign persons
who aliuse alcohol to mandatory treatment.
On 7 Decemher 1974 the Plenum af the USSR Supreme Soviet adopted a decree which
urged the courts to make full use of the opportunities given them by law to
combat drunkenness and alcoholism.18 It seems that it would be wise to
~ modify the procedures for examination of persons suspected of abuse of alcohol,
not restricting them to persons who have been in a medical sobering-up institu-
tion two or three times within a year.
One cannot di.sagree with V. N. Kudryavtsev and other participants in the round-
table meeting of the journal SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO devoted to the
social and legal problems of combatting drunkenness and alcoholism. They be-
lieve that we need a program of ineasures figured for the medium and long run
to combat drunkenness and alcoholism with the emphasis on preventing these phe-
nomena, especiallyamong young people. According to data from medical exami-
nations, 95 percent of the persons who abuse alcohol began drinking before the
age of 15. It has been proposed that the Society to Combat Drunkenness and
Alcoholism, which existed in our country in the 1920's, should be re-established.
It could be very useful today as well, as the experience of Bulgaria and other
socialist countries illustrates. It is possible to adopt local legal norms
wfiich institute "dry laws" in certain territories.19
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Nauka", 1981
11,176
CSO: 1800/320 FND
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