Political and Legal Features of the First Constitution of the USSR

The paper carries out a historical and legal analysis of the features of the first Soviet Constitution, adopted by the 2nd Congress of Soviets of the USSR on 21 January 1924. The 1924 Constitution is considered as the fundamental legal document of the new socialist State. The first Constitution of the USSR would become the political and legal foundation for the institutionalization of Soviet government bodies. The author analyzes the chapters of the Constitution of the USSR that regulated the activities of the main political institutions of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities of the USSR. Particular attention is paid to describing the competencies of the Congress of Soviets of the USSR, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR and the Supreme Court of the USSR. After conducting a historical and legal analysis, the author demonstrates the inconsistency of political practices with the provisions of the 1924 Constitution on the accountability of executive bodies to the institutions of the legislative branch. It is emphasized that the CPSU (b) had a significant role in public administration, but was not mentioned in the 1924 Constitution. It is noted that, despite the peculiarities of the implementation of constitutional norms in practice, the importance of the 1924 Constitution in the field of assigning competencies to the branches of government of the USSR is recognized. The first Soviet Constitution delimited jurisdictions of the executive, legislative and judicial authorities. The delimitation of competencies of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR and the Supreme Court of the USSR was declared in the Constitution of 1924, despite the fact that its developers were opponents of the political and legal theory of the separation of powers. The author concludes that the adoption of the first Soviet Constitution would contribute to the consolidation of competencies for state authorities and accelerate the process of international recognition of the USSR.

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