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Socialist Law

Socialist Law Tradition

Socialist law is the general type of legal system used in communist and formerly communist states, structurally based on the civil-law system with major modifications and additions from Marxist-Leninist ideology. Its theoretical foundation traces to Lenin, who treated law and the state as instruments of coercion, developed further by theoreticians Peteris Stucka, Dmitry Kursky and Nikolai Krylenko. Despite the ideological superstructure, socialist states preserved the formal criteria of the Romano-Germanic civil law, which is the crux of a live scholarly dispute over whether socialist law ever constituted a genuinely separate legal system.

Facts
Origin Year
1917 1
1917 marks the Russian Revolution and the earliest Soviet legal theorizing under Lenin; the sources give no single codification year for socialist law as a type.
Example Jurisdictions
Soviet Union, China, Cuba 1
Primary Source of Law
State-enacted codes and statute, subordinated to the authority of the supreme state organ of power 1
Classification
Legal Family
Socialist Law 1
Socialist Law
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FAQs

Which countries have used socialist law?

Communist and formerly communist states, such as the Soviet Union, China and Cuba.

Socialist law is the type of legal system used in communist and formerly communist states. The examples listed are the Soviet Union, China and Cuba, and its origin is dated to 1917.

What is the primary source of law in socialist law?

State-enacted codes and statute, subordinate to the supreme organ of state power.

The primary source is state-enacted codes and statute, subordinated to the authority of the supreme state organ of power. The system is structurally based on the civil-law system.
Connections

Associated With

The 1922 RSFSR Civil Code is a defining founding instrument of Soviet socialist law.

Source Socialist Law (Wikipedia)

Includes

Legal-system family: Socialist Law Tradition, following the CIA World Factbook and JuriGlobe comparative-law family classification.

Legal-system family: Socialist Law Tradition, following the CIA World Factbook and JuriGlobe comparative-law family classification.

Legal-system family: Socialist Law Tradition, following the CIA World Factbook and JuriGlobe comparative-law family classification.

Legal-system family: Socialist Law Tradition, following the CIA World Factbook and JuriGlobe comparative-law family classification.

Legal Family Of

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Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Socialist Law (Wikipedia)tier 2

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Socialist Law (Wikipedia)tier 2
Sources
1. Socialist Law (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Socialist law is based on the civil law system, with major modifications and additions from Marxist-Leninist ideology
  • Introduction section
  • Associated With: Civil Code of the RSFSR (1922)
Socialist law (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIn Group: Soviet Socialist Law, Introduction, sentence 1
Quote, In Group: Soviet Socialist Law, Introduction, sentence 1
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 communist and formerly communist states where the supreme state organ of power (SSOP) stands above the communist state constitution, and the supreme judicial organ and the supreme procuratorial organ work under the SSOP's leadership.
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