The Procurator General of the USSR () was the highest functionary of the Office of the Public Procurator of the USSR, responsible for the whole system of offices of

public procurator A public procurator () is an officer of a state charged with both the investigation and prosecution of crime. The office is a feature of a civil law inquisitorial rather than common law adversarial system. Countries such as Japan, China, Russia, ...

s and supervision of their activities on the territory of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

History

The office of procurator had its historical roots in

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

, and under Soviet law ''public procurators'' had wide-ranging responsibilities including, but not limited to, those of public

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

s found in other

legal systems The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four major legal traditions: civil law (legal system), civil law, common law, customary law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country i ...

. Offices of

Public Procurator A public procurator () is an officer of a state charged with both the investigation and prosecution of crime. The office is a feature of a civil law inquisitorial rather than common law adversarial system. Countries such as Japan, China, Russia, ...

s were and are still used in other countries adhering to the doctrine of

socialist law Socialist law or Soviet law are terms used in comparative legal studies for the general type of legal system which has been (and continues to be) used in socialist and formerly socialist states. It is based on the civil law system, with majo ...

. The Office of Public Procurator of the USSR was created in 1936, and its head was called Public Procurator of the USSR until 1946, when it was changed to Procurator General of the USSR. According to the

1936 Soviet Constitution The 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union, also known as the Stalin Constitution, was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 5 December 1936. The 1936 Constitution was the second constitution of the Soviet Union and replaced the 1924 ...

, the Procurator General exercised the highest degree of direct or indirect (through subordinate public procurators) control over the accurate execution of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

s by all

ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, departments, their subordinate establishments and

enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

s, executive and administrative bodies of local

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

organizations, officials (including judges in court proceedings), and citizens on behalf of the state. The Procurator General was appointed by the

Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the S ...

for a 7-year term and given a class rank of the Active state counselor of justice. His deputies and Procurator General of the Armed Forces were appointed by the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...

of the USSR on recommendation from Procurator General. The Procurator General appointed public procurators of the Soviet republics and, on their recommendation, public procurators of

autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Ma ...

krai A krai or kray (; , , ''kraya'') is one of the types of federal subjects of modern Russia, and was a type of geographical administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. Etymologically, the word is related to the verb "" ...

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

s and

autonomous oblast An autonomous oblast is an autonomous entity within the state which is on the ''oblast'' (province) level of the overall administrative subdivision. There were autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union and later some federal subjects of Russia w ...

s. He also issued orders and instructions for all of the offices of public procurators, instructed on differentiation of their

competence Broad concept article: *Competence (polyseme), capacity or ability to perform effectively Competence or competency may also refer to: *Competence (human resources), ability of a person to do a job properly **Competence-based management, performa ...

, etc. The Procurator General had the right to present his issues to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet that needed to be solved in the

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

manner or demanded interpretation of the law. The Procurator General's participation in the

plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference or deliberative assembly in which all parties or members are present. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily r ...

s of the Supreme Court of the USSR was mandatory. He had the right to obtain on demand any case from any court for checking purposes, voice his protest over a law, verdict, decree, or definition, which had already come into force, of any court and to suspend them until the matter was resolved.

History

Procurators General

See also