The entry of our country into a new stage of its development - the stage of mature socialism, the completion of the process of developing the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a national state, and the formation of a new historical community of people - the Soviet people-led to a qualitative leap in the development of socialist democracy, including the expansion of individual rights and freedoms in the USSR, which was most clearly expressed in the new Constitution THE USSR. The adoption of the new Basic Law of the Soviet state on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution is not just a coincidence in time of two major events in the life of the country. "The connection between them is much deeper," said Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. - The new Constitution is, one might say, a concentrated result of the entire sixty-year development of the Soviet state. It clearly shows that the ideas proclaimed in October and Lenin's precepts are being successfully implemented. " 1 The further development of socialist democracy, the provision of genuine individual freedom and the conditions for its comprehensive development are among the most important aspects of the grandiose program of socio-economic and political development of Soviet society outlined by the XXIV and XXV Congresses of the CPSU. In this regard, the study of the historical experience of the development of individual rights and freedoms in the Soviet state is particularly relevant.

The issue of individual rights and freedoms in Soviet society is being actively developed in the legal literature at the present stage .2 Certain aspects of the history of the development of individual rights and freedoms in the USSR have been considered to one degree or another in the historical and legal literature, but, as a rule, only in passing, in connection with the study of the history of Soviet Constitutions, specific legal acts and other issues .3 There are no monographs or research papers yet.-

1 L. I. Brezhnev. On the draft Constitution (Basic Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the results of its national discussion, Moscow, 1977, p. 3.

2 See, for example, G. V. Maltsey v. Sotsialisticheskoe pravo i svoboda lichnosti (teoreticheskie voprosy) [Socialist Law and Freedom of the individual (theoretical issues)]. Moscow, 1968; A.V. Kuznetsov. Ugolovno-pravovaya okhrana interesov lichnosti v SSSR [Criminal law protection of personal interests in the USSR]. Moscow, 1969; V. A. Kuch and neky. Personality. Freedom. Right. Minsk. 1969; L. D. Voevodin. Constitutional Rights and Duties of Soviet Citizens, Moscow, 1972; N. I. Matuzov. Personality. Rights. Democracy. Saratov. 1972; V. A. Patyulin. The state and identity in the Soviet Union (legal aspects of the relationship). M. 1974, etc.

3 A. E. Kharitonova. The main stages of housing construction in the USSR. Voprosy istorii, 1965, No. 5; M. P. Kim. Historical experience of the Cultural Revolution in the USSR. Voprosy istorii, 1968, No. 1; 50 let sovetskogo zdravookhraneniya, Moscow, 1967; Vysshaya shkola za 50 let (1917-1967), Moscow, 1967; 50 let sovetskogo sotsial'nogo obespecheniya, Moscow, 1968; L. S. Rogachevskaya. Velikoe pravo [Great Law], Moscow, 1971. Liquidation of unemployment in the USSR, Moscow, 1973; A. I. Shchiglik. Voluntary societies in PE-

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research projects specifically devoted to this complex problem. Nor is it highlighted in such fundamental works as " The History of the USSR from ancient Times to the present day "(vols. VII-X. M. 1967 - 1973) and " The History of the Soviet State and Law "(books 1, 2. M. 1968), in textbooks and manuals on the history of Soviet society and history states and rights of the USSR.

Meanwhile, the importance of studying the development of individual rights and freedoms in the USSR is indisputable. First, a detailed study of this issue will greatly facilitate the study of current trends in the development of individual rights and freedoms in a socialist society. Second, the issue of human rights (as well as democracy in general) has now become the focus of a heightened ideological struggle between the forces of socialism and progress, on the one hand, and imperialist reaction, on the other. Anti-communist propaganda shamelessly distorts the history of the Soviet state. At the same time, the issue of individual rights and freedoms at the first stage of the Soviet state's existence is particularly often falsified.

In the Marxist understanding, human rights and freedoms (as a generalized category) represent the social opportunities inherent in the social and state system for each member of society to satisfy their needs with the material goods created in it, the benefits of culture, democracy, and in general all the achievements of civilization. As stipulated in the law, these social opportunities become the legal rights and freedoms of citizens of a given State. But even if they are not legally defined, these social opportunities determine the real position of a person in society .4 Naturally, in capitalist countries, where the social and state system is based on private ownership of the instruments and means of production, and the levers of economic control are in the hands of capitalist monopolies, the best social opportunities are created primarily and mainly for the development of people belonging to the ruling classes.

The achievement of genuine individual rights and freedoms is possible only through the revolutionary conquest of political supremacy by the working people under the leadership of the working class and its party, through the elimination of the oppression of capital and the exploitation of man by man, and through the construction of socialism. The rights and freedoms of the Soviet man are ultimately the embodiment of the revolutionary transformation of society, the achievements of all socialist construction.

The development of individual rights and freedoms in the Soviet State is a complex, multi-faceted and complex problem. It is organically connected with the problem of the formation and development of the socialist way of life, with the whole course of socialist construction. Its research requires the collective efforts of historians, lawyers, philosophers, and economists. This article aims to show that the principles developed by the Communist Party, which the Soviet government proclaimed immediately after the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, were consistently implemented throughout the entire history of the Soviet Union.

transition period from capitalism to socialism. "Questions of theory and history of public organizations", Moscow, 1971; G. I. Litvinova, N. V. Popova. Historical experience of solving the women's issue in the USSR. Voprosy istorii, 1975, No. 11; I. I. Petkova. Activities of local Councils of the RSFSR to protect the social rights of the working peasantry in the 1920s. "Legal regulation of public relations", Moscow, 1976; N. N. Demochkin. Great October and the birth of Soviet Socialist Democracy. Voprosy Istorii, 1977, No. 8.

4 See L. D. Voevodin for more details. The rights and freedoms of the Soviet people born of Great October and guaranteed by socialism. "Sovetskoe gosudarstvo i pravo", 1977, No. 9, pp. 132-133.

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the 60-year history of our socialist state. They were most fully embodied in the Constitution of the USSR of 1977 , the constitution of a developed socialist society.

The influence on the development of individual rights and freedoms in the USSR of such factors as the social structure of society, the correlation and alignment of class forces, the forms and severity of the class struggle, the degree of maturity of socialist relations, and the material capabilities of society was more or less taken into account in historical and historical-legal literature, although the specific mechanism of their the scope of rights and freedoms has not yet been properly investigated. The effect of certain factors (in particular, the correlation of forces of socialism and capitalism on a global scale and the forms of their confrontation in the international arena) has not always been taken into account.

Already at the first stage-the transition from capitalism to socialism (from October 1917 to the mid-1930s) - a system of individual rights and freedoms of a new, socialist type is being formed. Its foundations were laid in the decrees of October, developed in the first Soviet Constitution-the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 and the constitutions of other Soviet republics, in the first Soviet codes and other legislative acts.

The theoretical foundations of this system were developed in the Program of the RSDLP, adopted on the eve of the first Russian Revolution. Even then, V. I. Lenin and the party created by him put forward the slogans of ensuring individual rights and freedoms as the first demands of the revolutionary struggle of the working people against the tsarist autocracy, landlords and capitalists, for their political, social and national liberation. Thus, the struggle of workers for individual rights and freedoms was considered in the first Program of the Communist Party as one of the most important aspects of the struggle for the victory of the general democratic, and then the socialist revolution. The program demanded a democratic constitution that would guarantee to every citizen universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot; inviolability of the person and home; freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly, strikes and unions; freedom of movement and trade; abolition of social classes and equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, religion, race and religion. the right to self-determination for all nations that are part of the State; the right of every person to prosecute every official in the usual way before a jury; the separation of church from State and school from Church; free and compulsory general and vocational education for all children of both sexes up to the age of 16. The Program paid special attention to the social requirements of workers, in particular, such as the introduction of an 8-hour working day, and for teenagers aged 16-18 - 6 - hour, the establishment of weekly rest by law, the prohibition of child labor, the introduction of labor protection for women, state insurance of workers in case of old age, full or partial disability, etc. D. 5 .

However, only the victory of the socialist revolution created the conditions for the implementation of these programmatic demands of the party. The victory of the Great October Revolution, "the establishment and consolidation of Soviet power as one of the forms of the dictatorship of the proletariat," notes the CPSU Central Committee resolution "On the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution," actually ensured an unprecedented, impossible victory.

5 See "The CPSU in resolutions and decisions of Congresses, conferences and plenums of the Central Committee", ed. 8-e. t. 1, pp. 63-65.

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in no capitalist country is there freedom and democracy for the gigantic working majority. " 6
The transfer of political power into the hands of the working people and the birth of socialist democracy ensured an unprecedented expansion of political rights and freedoms for the working people, first of all the most important right - to participate in the administration of the state, to actively influence the determination of its policy, to make cardinal political and socio-economic decisions. The first acts of the Soviet government-the appeals of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets "To the Workers, Soldiers and Peasants!", "On the full power of the Soviets", "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People" - a document of constitutional significance, as well as the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, legislated the principle that all state power belongs entirely and exclusively to the state. to the working people of the city and countryside in the person of their authorized bodies - the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers 'and Peasants' Deputies. Accordingly, workers were granted the right to vote and be elected to the Soviets.

The Soviets are the most important link in the Soviet political system, the political basis of the dictatorship of the proletariat. However, the participation of workers in government was carried out not only through the Soviets, but also through other parts of the Soviet political system: trade unions and other mass public organizations of workers .7 In this regard, it was of great importance to ensure democratic rights and freedoms for workers, such as freedom of the press, association, assembly, marches and demonstrations, and freedom of conscience, which was guaranteed by the separation of Church and State, and school and church. The workers were also granted the honorable right to defend the gains of the revolution with arms in their hands.

An important aspect of the formation of a new type of individual rights and freedoms was the provision of genuine equality of workers. To this end, the Soviet government resolutely put an end to the class privileges and restrictions on Rights based on gender and nationality that existed before the revolution. The decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars "On the destruction of estates and civil ranks" of November 11, 1917 annulled the legal norms that had previously been in force in Russia, fixing the political and legal inequality of people; the former estates and civil ranks and all related privileges and restrictions were eliminated; class organizations and institutions were abolished. For the entire population, one common name was established - citizens of the Russian Republic8 .

The equality of women with men in the field of political and civil rights, proclaimed in the 1918 Constitution, was supplemented by the establishment of their equality in the family, which was enshrined in the marriage Decrees and the Code of Laws on Marriage, Family and Guardianship of 1918. 9 Legal equality between women and men has created the necessary conditions for-

6 "On the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution". Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU of January 31, 1977, Moscow, 1977, p. 5.

7 For more information, see N. N. Demochkin. Edict op.

8 SU RSFSR, 1917, N 3, Article 31.

9 Ibid., No. 11, Article 160; 1918, No. 76-77, Article 818. Of fundamental importance for the consistent implementation of equality of rights of women and men was the norm on the citizenship of spouses introduced for the first time in the 1918 code: "In case of different citizenship of those entering into marriage (if one of the parties is a Russian citizen) A change of citizenship can only follow at the special request of the bride or groom on a general basis." Under pre-revolutionary Russian laws, as well as under the laws in force in all capitalist countries at that time, the wife automatically had to accept the citizenship and residence of her husband. The principle of denying the automatic change of citizenship of the wife depending on the citizenship of the husband, under the influence of the Soviet code, was then adopted in many countries.

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in order to achieve their de facto equality, although this required even greater efforts aimed at emancipating women, improving their cultural level, professional training, etc.

The "Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia" of November 2, 1917 proclaimed the full equality of citizens, regardless of their race or nationality .10 This principle was then consistently implemented in the first Soviet Constitution. The socialist method of solving the national question presupposes the achievement of not only de jure but also de facto equality of nations and nationalities. To achieve de facto equality, it was necessary to overcome the former backwardness of the peoples of Russia and raise the level of their economic, social and cultural development. And this, in turn, was possible only on the basis of a powerful socialist economy. In other words, real, de facto equality of rights was still ahead of us, and it could only be achieved with the construction of socialism. The establishment of legal equality of citizens of all nations and nationalities was the first and extremely important step on this path.

The conquest of political power by the working people, although decisive, is not the only condition for ensuring individual rights and freedoms. Fundamental changes in the economy and the establishment of social, socialist ownership of the main means of production were also necessary. From the very first days of its existence, the Soviet government has taken decisive measures aimed at creating the foundations of a socialist economy. The nationalization of banks, large-scale industry, foreign trade, railways, merchant fleets, and means of communication, and the implementation of the Land Decree, in accordance with which land was nationalized and the peasants received it for free use, that is, the transformation of the main means of production into the national property, radically changed the situation of the workers, peasants, and workers. the role of the intelligentsia and other strata of working people in social production and distribution. Thus, the conquest of political and economic domination by the proletariat led to a radical change in the position of the working people in society, their achievement of true freedom and democracy.

The concentration of the basic means of production in the hands of the Soviet State enabled it not only to proclaim individual rights and freedoms, but also to provide them financially, politically, and organizationally. Not only the recognition of rights and freedoms, but also real guarantees of their enjoyment-this is what radically distinguished the position of the individual in Soviet society from that of the individual under capitalism. The emergence of a socialist system in the country's economy and the concentration of material resources in the hands of the Soviet state made it possible to ensure such important individual rights as the right to work, social security, education, recreation, health protection, etc.

A broad program of ensuring the socio-economic rights of the individual was defined by the Soviet government already in the first years of its existence. Its implementation had its own peculiarities. The political rights and freedoms of the working people were enshrined in the Constitution, since with the transfer of power to the hands of the working class, their exercise could be guaranteed literally "on the second day" of the revolution. The practical implementation of socio-economic rights required powerful funds for public consumption, and these funds were still needed for the development of social and economic rights.-

It was recognized internationally in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 by the United Nations (see the History of the Soviet State and Law for more details). Book 1, p. 587).

10 SU RSFSR, 1917, N 2, Article 18.

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The latter could only be created as the legacy of the old regime was overcome, the national economy was restored, and the foundations of socialism were built. Consequently, at the first stage of the development of the Soviet State, the socio-economic rights of citizens could not yet be guaranteed in the constitutional order. Therefore, the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 and the constitutions of other Soviet republics of that time did not contain such norms as the right to work, rest, material support in old age, in case of illness, etc. In the first Soviet Constitution, only the right to education was mentioned, but Article 17, which established it, was programmatic in nature: It stated that the Soviet state "sets itself the task of providing the workers and the poorest peasants with a full, comprehensive and free education."

Since the necessary material conditions were not yet available for the constitutional consolidation of socio-economic rights of citizens, these rights were defined in the current legislation. By the decrees of the Soviet government "On the eight-hour working day" of October 29, 1917 and "On vacations" of June 14, 191811, the implementation of the Communist Party's program guidelines in the field of labor began. In the most complete form for that time, these provisions were carried out in the first Soviet Code of Labor Laws, adopted on December 10, 191812. It fixed an 8-hour working day, and for persons under the age of 18, and in hazardous industries - 6 hours; overtime work was allowed only in the presence of exceptional circumstances directly specified in the law; annual paid holidays were established: special measures for labor protection were introduced (including special rules for labor protection women and persons under the age of 18); trade unions were given broad rights to control working conditions. The Code for the first time proclaimed "the right to work in one's specialty and for remuneration". The fact that the right to work was proclaimed as the basis of the socialist organization of the economy was of great political significance. This provision of the Code was the prototype of the article on the right to work, which was later included in the USSR Constitution of 1936. The first Soviet Labor Code was adopted when workers in the vast majority of countries around the world did not yet have an 8-hour working day and paid vacations.

Simultaneously with labor issues, the Soviet authorities also resolved the issue of the right to material support in old age, in cases of disability, illness, loss of breadwinner, etc .On November 1, 1917, the message "On Social Insurance"was published. 13 It stated that the Soviet Government would immediately proceed to issue decrees on full social insurance of workers on the basis of workers ' insurance slogans. These slogans were contained in the Lenin "insurance program" developed before the revolution, which provided for the extension of insurance to all workers without exception, as well as to the urban and rural poor; for all types of disability (illness, injury, disability, motherhood, old age, etc.), as well as in the event of unemployment; financing of social security. insurance is provided entirely at the expense of entrepreneurs; compensation for full earnings in case of disability and unemployment; full democratization of insurance management on the basis of self-government of the insured themselves 14 .

11 Ibid., No. 1, Article 10; 1918, No. 43, Article 527.

12 Ibid., 1918, N 87-88, Article 905.

13 Ibid., 1917, No. 2, Article 17.

14 See V. I. Lenin's PSS, vol. 21, pp. 146-147; see also "The CPSU in Resolutions and Decisions of Congresses, Conferences and Plenums of the Central Committee", vol. 1, pp. 337-338.

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In order to implement the program outlined in the government communication, the decrees "On Unemployment Insurance" (December 11, 1917) and "On Sickness Insurance" (December 22, 1917) were issued. The Soviet social insurance system established by these decrees was based on the principle of ensuring a normal standard of living for the worker in the event of an emergency. loss of their ability to work. Along with social insurance (the funds of which were formed at the expense of contributions from entrepreneurs), which was in the hands of the Social Insurance Council, a social security system was created (at the expense of the state budget). Social security functions were performed by a specially formed State body - the People's Commissariat of Social Security. It was intended to create "rationally delivered social assistance for the disabled and the unsecured, alien to private charity, beggarly handouts and parasitism" 15 .

On October 31, 1918, the Soviet Government adopted the Regulations on Social Security for Working People .16 It is noteworthy that for the first time (and in the form of a law) it defined the principles of the Soviet social security system, which radically distinguish it from capitalist systems. The main difference between the Soviet system was its universal, universal character: social security was supposed, first, to cover the entire working population of the country; secondly, to be comprehensive, that is, to include not only pension provision for the elderly and disabled, but also a system of sickness benefits, maternity and childhood protection, and free medical care and so on.

Such a grandiose program, due to the lack of material resources, could not be fully implemented at the first stage of the history of the Soviet state, and the "Regulations" outlined the main directions for the further development of Soviet social security, but much was done already in those years. After the civil war, material support in old age, in case of disability, etc. was provided in three main areas: first, social insurance for workers and employees of both state and private enterprises and institutions ; 17 secondly, social security (at the expense of the state budget) for military personnel and war invalids; second, social security (at the expense of the state budget) for military personnel and war invalids.- third, for the peasants through the peasant committees of public mutual assistance ( krestkomov) - mass public organizations of the working peasantry. The beginning of this organization was laid by Lenin's decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of May 14, 1921 "On improving the formulation of social security for workers, peasants and families of Red Army soldiers"18 .

In the first years of Soviet power, a health care system was also created to ensure the individual's right to health protection. The Decree "On Health Insurance" (December 22, 1917) established that workers and members of their families, regardless of whether they work in state, public or private enterprises or institutions, should be provided with medical care.

15 "Report on the activities of the People's Commissariat of Social Security from March 23 to June 19, 1918", Moscow, 1918, p. 3.

16 SU RSFSR, 1918, N 89, Article 906.

17 After the civil war and the transition to the NEP, the material support of workers and employees began to be provided at the expense of insurance funds made up of contributions from enterprises and institutions (without any payments by the workers themselves). This procedure was introduced by the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR "On social insurance of persons engaged in wage labor" of November 15, 1921 (ibid., 1921, N 76, Article 627).

18 Ibid., No. 48, Article 236; for more details, see P. A. Aleksanov. Development of social security of the Soviet peasantry. Voprosy Istorii, 1974, No. 9.

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free. With the formation of the People's Commissariat of Health in July 1918, the creation of a state network of hospitals and other health care institutions was initiated .19 Thus, the Country of Soviets was the first state in the world to take care of the health of the entire population.

In order to ensure the right of workers to full, comprehensive and free education, as set out in the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, the Soviet State adopted a number of measures. The regulation "On the Unified Labor School", approved by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on October 16, 1918, provided for the creation of a structurally unified, free, secular school (that is, it did not allow teaching any religious beliefs or performing religious rites and was free from church control), combining general education with polytechnic 20 . To understand its fundamental novelty (from the point of view of ensuring its accessibility for working people), it is necessary to recall that before the revolution, school was paid, was under the control of the church, and there was no unified school system: there were different types of educational institutions for different social groups, the curriculum of which did not "connect", which seriously hindered the transition from an educational institution of one level to an educational institution of another, higher level, that is, it actually closed the way for workers even to secondary educational institutions. 21 The creation of a single free labor school, where the primary and secondary education programs were coordinated with each other, and the abolition of entrance exams provided access to the new school for the children of workers. In addition, despite the devastation and civil war, the network of educational institutions was significantly increased. Already in the second half of 1918, state allocations for public education increased 15-fold compared to 1917, and the number of secondary schools doubled compared to pre-revolutionary times .22
The higher school was also radically transformed. On August 2, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a decree "On the rules of admission to higher educational institutions"23 . The decree, which was drafted by Lenin, stated: "First of all, people from the proletariat and the poorest peasantry must be accepted, and they will be granted a large amount of scholarships." 24 The decree legalized free education and state financial assistance to students. Since 1918, working faculties (rabfaks) have been created en masse to speed up the preparation for admission to universities for people who did not have a secondary education. Admission exams to universities were temporarily canceled, as the working and peasant youth at that time were not always prepared for their passing. These measures have opened wide the doors of higher education institutions for workers. At the same time, a number of new universities were created in 1918-1920.-

19 Before the October Revolution, medical care for the population in Russia was provided mainly by private practitioners and zemstvo hospitals, maintained at the expense of local bodies of zemstvo and city self-government and dragging out a miserable existence. The State (represented by the Special Medical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) carried out only administrative and police sanitary supervision.

20 SU RSFSR, 1918, N 74, Article 812.

21 Before the Revolution, children of peasants, workers, and other lower strata of society who had received their primary education in parochial, zemstvo, and other schools had difficulty accessing secondary education, as those who entered the gymnasium and real schools had to pass an entrance exam that went far beyond the primary school curriculum. To prepare for the entrance exam, it was necessary to hire home teachers and tutors, which was beyond the means of the peasants, workers and other lower, and sometimes middle social strata of the city.

22 "Narodnoe prosveshchenie", 1918, N 19, p. 10.

23 SU RSFSR, 1918, N 57, Article 632.

24 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 37, p. 34.

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sitetov (Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Dnepropetrovsk, Irkutsk, Yerevan, Tbilisi, Azerbaijan, Ural and Turkestan) and 25 institutes . Already in the first years of its existence, the Soviet government carried out measures to eliminate the illiteracy of the adult population of the country. According to the decree "On the elimination of illiteracy among the population of the RSFSR" (December 26, 1919), the All-Russian Emergency Commission for the Elimination of Illiteracy (CHEKA Likbez) was established, which was entrusted with general management of the solution of this problem .26
As already noted, the main guarantee of social and economic rights of workers was public ownership of tools and means of production. But in the first years of its existence, the Soviet state was in difficult conditions: the economy destroyed during the First World War, as well as the civil war and military intervention; huge unemployment; epidemics that claimed tens of thousands of lives; low level of culture, illiteracy of the majority of the country's population. All this made it impossible to fully ensure such important socio-economic rights of the individual as the right to work, to social security, to education, etc. But with the restoration of the destroyed economy and the strengthening of Soviet power, the rights and freedoms of citizens became more and more secure. Thus, the socialist transformations, industrialization, the victory of the collective farm system, and the planned nature of the socialist economy, which excludes the possibility of crises, made it possible to eliminate unemployment in the country by the beginning of the 1930s and actually ensure one of the most important socio-economic human rights-the right to work.

The formation of socialism in the USSR took place in particularly difficult conditions. Our country was the first to win the socialist revolution. The imperialist Powers came to the aid of the internal counter-revolution and launched an intervention against the Soviet State. The particular acuteness of the class struggle is also reflected in the open class character of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the 1918 Constitution. This was reflected in the disenfranchisement of class-hostile, exploitative elements and the fact that all other political and socio-economic rights were guaranteed only to the working people. The disenfranchisement of the deposed exploiters was not a general question of the dictatorship of the proletariat, but, as Lenin emphasized, a purely Russian phenomenon; it was explained by the special conditions of the Russian revolution, by the special way in which it developed. 27
The Program of the RCP(b), adopted by the Eighth Party Congress in 1919, emphasized that the restriction of the rights of deposed exploiters is a temporary measure, and accordingly, as " the objective possibility of exploitation of man by man disappears, the need for these temporary measures will also disappear, and the party will strive to narrow them down and to completely abolish them.""28 .

The acuteness of the class struggle in Russia also affected the solution of the problem of personal rights of citizens, in particular, such as the inviolability of the person, home, and property .29 Experience of all revolutions (English

25 "Essays on the history of legal scientific institutions in the USSR", Moscow, 1976, p. 42.

26 SU RSFSR, 1919, N 67, Article 592.

27 See V. I. Lenin. PSS Vol. 37, pp. 265-266.

28 "The CPSU in resolutions and decisions of Congresses, conferences and plenums of the Central Committee", vol. 2, p. 42.

29 This refers to housing and property, the use and possession of which was permitted by the legislation of those years, in particular, property with a total value of up to 10 thousand rubles.

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Bourgeois revolutions, etc.) testifies to the fact that the overthrown ruling classes do not voluntarily give up power, and by all means, resorting to the most brutal measures, they are trying to restore their rule. And every revolutionary government had to resort to harsh measures to counter the counter-revolution. In the course of the socialist revolution in our country, it was also impossible to fully guarantee the inviolability of the individual to all citizens (that is, including class-hostile elements), neither in the first days of the revolution, nor even during the civil war, when the class struggle reached its greatest intensity, resulting in open armed conflict, because part of the citizens (class-hostile elements) actually turned into a side that is armed against the state. At that time, the Republic of Soviets, surrounded on all sides by imperialist powers that actively helped the White Guards, had to respond to the white terror with red terror, temporary isolation (until the end of the civil war) in the camps of the most dangerous class-hostile elements. It is clear that under these conditions it was impossible to guarantee the inviolability of the person, property, home, etc. to all citizens. Therefore, such guarantees were not provided for either by the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, or by the first constitutions of other Soviet republics.

Nevertheless, both during the socialist revolution and during the civil war, the Soviet government not only sought to ensure the rights and freedoms of the working people, but also ensured that even those who came from hostile classes were provided with certain legal guarantees, so that no one would be held accountable without guilt. Thus, although the procedure for judicial proceedings in revolutionary tribunals during the civil war was significantly simplified, yet I. V. Krylenko (at that time a member-speaker of the Cassation Revolutionary Tribunal of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee), explaining at the All-Russian Congress of Workers of the Revolutionary Tribunals in October 1918, the role and methods of work of these bodies, said that they were created "to strengthen the revolutionary reprisals against persons convicted of a counter-revolutionary act, but while preserving, however, the basic legal guarantees for the accused"30 .

After the civil war, with the transition to peaceful socialist construction, it became possible to significantly expand the guarantees of personal inviolability (including for class-hostile elements). This was due to the defeat of the most active and organized counter-revolutionary forces and a significant change in the correlation of class forces and forms of class struggle; the expansion of the social base of Soviet power, its consolidation, and the development of Soviet democracy. The adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1922 played a huge role in strengthening the guarantees of personal inviolability and in strengthening the socialist rule of law. Criminal Code of the RSFSR 31 . They established that the grounds for criminal liability were specific actions or omissions that threatened the foundations of the Soviet system and the Soviet rule of law. All other criteria and attributes (class affiliation, past criminal record, connection with the criminal environment, etc.) could have criminal legal significance only if there was evidence of a crime in the actions of the accused. Thus, the Soviet state abandoned the deprivation of liberty that was used as an emergency measure during the civil war.

30 N. V. Krylenko. Sudostroystvo RSFSR [Judicial System of the RSFSR], Moscow, 1924, p. 94.

31 See G. V. Shve k o v for more details. The First Soviet Criminal Code, Moscow, 1971. The Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1922 was revised in 1926 and in this edition was valid until the adoption of the current Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960.

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in a preventive manner, based on social affiliation. The Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1922 consisted of General and Special parts. From the point of view of strengthening the guarantees of personal inviolability, a special Part was important, in which specific elements of crimes were defined, indicating the corresponding specific penalties depending on the severity and degree of public danger of the crime. Thus, the boundaries of criminal behavior were clearly established, that is, it was determined which actions are criminal and which are not criminal and cannot entail criminal liability, and the code also defined specific criminal legal measures to protect the life, bodily integrity, honor, dignity and property of citizens .32
The Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) of the RSFSR, also adopted in 1922,33 consistently implemented the democratic principles of transparency, verbality, directness, competitiveness, continuity of the trial, the right of its participants to speak in their native language, and guaranteed the right of the accused to defend himself .34 The Code of Criminal Procedure has strengthened the procedural guarantees of personal inviolability, obliging each prosecutor and judge to immediately release persons illegally detained. The procedural procedure established by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR in 1922 was aimed at achieving objective truth in each case investigated and considered in court and passing a lawful, objective and fair verdict. Thus, the Code of Criminal Procedure combined the interests of protecting the Soviet state and the established rule of law with the interests of the individual, with strengthening the legal guarantees of its inviolability.

The creation of the Prosecutor's Office in 1922, a special body charged with overseeing the rule of law, and the implementation of judicial reform in the same year also served to expand the legal guarantees of individual rights and freedoms. During the war, the extraordinary courts - revolutionary tribunals that operated during the civil war-were abolished, and a unified system of courts was created. Cases of counter-revolutionary and State crimes that had previously been tried in the revolutionary Tribunals were referred to the general courts. If we take into account that during the civil war, the revolutionary Tribunals used a simplified procedure of legal proceedings (although it also provided guarantees of the right of the accused to defense), and in general courts, legal proceedings are now regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code, it becomes clear how much the judicial reform expanded the guarantees of personal inviolability.

At the same time, the system of correctional labor institutions is being reformed. First, the forced labor camps that had been established in April 1919, at the height of the civil war, and which contained mainly class-hostile elements, were abolished and now transferred to general places of detention. Secondly, the tasks and methods of correctional labor policy have changed: the center of gravity has shifted from the suppression and isolation of class-hostile elements to the re-education of convicts. In the Correctional Labor Code (STC)

32 It is characteristic that after the adoption of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR in 1922, the activity of courts in combating crimes against the person significantly intensified (see Weekly of Soviet Justice, 1923, N 51-52, p. 1190).

33 The Code of Criminal Procedure was adopted in May and entered into force on August 1, 1922, but then, due to the judicial reform carried out in November 1922, it was revised, and its new version entered into force on February 15, 1923. In this version, the Code of Criminal Procedure was in effect until the early 60s.

34 Democratic principles of judicial procedure and the right of the accused to defend themselves were proclaimed by Decree No. 1 of November 1917 on the Court. During the first five years of Soviet power, various forms of organizing judicial protection were tried, which turned out to be insufficiently successful. It was only with the establishment of the bar in 1922 that the most effective form of exercising the right of the accused to defense was found.

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The RSFSR of 192435 and similar codes of other union republics formulated the tasks and methods of correctional labor policy in conditions of peaceful socialist construction. The Code was imbued with the idea of socialist humanism. Combining elements of punishment and education, he pursued the goals of preventing crime, protecting society from criminals, re-educating them and returning to working life. It proclaimed that detention in a correctional labor institution "must be expedient and must not have the purpose of causing physical suffering and degrading human dignity" (Article 6). The Code proclaimed that the basis of re-education was an expedient regime in combination with mandatory socially useful work and cultural and educational work. Labor was paid, and its conditions (labor protection, working hours, etc.) were regulated by the Labor Code. Supervision of the legality of the work of correctional labor institutions was entrusted to the Prosecutor's Office. Thus, the Soviet State also saw those convicted of crimes as citizens whose rights and legitimate interests were protected by law .36
The codification of civil, land, and labor law was aimed at legally consolidating and expanding the civil rights of individuals. The Land Code of 1922 strengthened the guarantees of the right of labor land use. The Civil Code of 1922 established property rights, in particular the right of personal ownership of labor income, household items, non-municipal housing, etc., the right of inheritance, the right to enter into legal transactions and enjoy court protection, copyright, the right to invent, etc. At the same time, in order to protect the rights of workers, it provided for the right of the State to cancel (in court) transactions that are clearly bonded and aimed at direct damage to the proletarian state. The Labor Code of 1922 expanded the labor rights of individuals (in addition to what was already enshrined in the 1918 Code), including the right to freely choose a profession, place of work and occupation. The administrative legislation of the 1920s and 1930s regulated the actual exercise of the rights and freedoms granted to citizens by the Constitution, such as freedom of conscience, the press, unions, assembly, etc. The Soviet government abandoned a number of restrictions in this area, introduced during the civil war. Private publishing houses were even allowed to operate (there were 337 in Moscow in 1922 and 83 in Petrograd) .37
Counter-revolutionary elements tried to use the expansion of legal guarantees to intensify the struggle against Soviet power. In this regard, legislative measures have been introduced to monitor the exercise of political rights in order to protect the internal environment.-

35 SU RSFSR, 1924, N 86, Article 870.

36 See for more details "Problems of the history of the State, Law and political doctrines", Moscow, 1974, pp. 93-102. In the 1920s, the number of convicts significantly decreased, and their composition also changed. After the civil war, mass amnesties were carried out, during which many categories of prisoners were released, for example, those convicted of non-fulfillment of various duties during the war, former soldiers and officers of the White armies who did not stain themselves with bloody crimes, etc.). The cases of the remaining convicts were reviewed in 1923 by the Central Executive Committee commission, which released up to 60% of the total number of prisoners remaining after the amnesty (see V. M. Kuritsyn. Transition to NEP and Revolutionary legality, Moscow, 1972, p. 86). If during the civil war the main contingent of prisoners (especially in forced labor camps) If it consisted of class - hostile elements convicted of counterrevolutionary acts, then from 1922 to 1923 it consisted of criminal criminals; those convicted of counterrevolution formed an insignificant minority (see Administrative Bulletin, No. 1, p. 39, 1928).

37 " All-Russian Conference of the RCP (Bolsheviks) (4-7 August 1922)", Moscow, 1922. Bulletin No. 2, p. 80.

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security of the Soviet state and public order. A decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of June 6, 1922, established the Main Directorate for Literature and Publishing (Glavlit), whose task was to supervise the press, protect state and military secrets, and prevent counterrevolutionary propaganda and pornography. 38 A number of decrees were issued on congresses, societies and unions, etc . They laid down the general principle that political rights should be used in accordance with the objectives of the Soviet Constitution and in the interests of socialist construction. Clear legislative regulation of the rights and freedoms of citizens, narrowing the scope of administrative discretion (especially local authorities and officials) in this area contributed to strengthening the protection of rights and freedoms, and the development of socialist democracy. Speaking about the legislation of the 1920s, it is impossible not to mention the decree of the Central Executive Committee of 1922 on the prohibition of administrative eviction of citizens from their residential premises .40 By establishing a judicial procedure for eviction, the Central Executive Committee thereby created legal guarantees of citizens ' rights to housing. Subsequently, this norm was developed in the Civil Code and served as a prototype of the constitutional right of citizens to housing, enshrined in the new Constitution of the USSR of 1977.

Lenin attached particular importance to the protection of individual rights and freedoms through letters, statements, and complaints from workers. He stressed that the fight against bureaucracy, bribery, and red tape can be successful "only if the masses themselves help"41, and that citizens themselves play a huge role in strengthening the rule of law, defending their rights and legitimate interests. Lenin demanded that workers be helped to use the laws to protect their rights, and that they be taught to "fight for their rights in accordance with all the rules of the legal war for rights in the RSFSR.42 The right of a citizen to appeal against the actions of officials and institutions was legally established in the resolution of the VI All-Russian Congress of Soviets "On the exact observance of laws" 43 . In the future, the right of complaint was expanded, including in a number of categories of cases (labor, housing, administrative decisions on the imposition of a fine, etc.), and an appeal against illegal actions of the administration was introduced in court.

All of this shows that already at the first stage of the Soviet state's development, which was in transition from capitalism to socialism, a system of individual rights and freedoms of the socialist type was being formed. The core of this system is the rights enshrined in the Constitution. But the actual scope of individual rights and freedoms was already much broader at that time, since many civil, labor, and personal rights and freedoms (for example, personal inviolability, etc.) were enshrined in codes and other legislative acts.

The formation of the USSR was a major event that played an outstanding role in strengthening political and socio-economic guarantees of individual rights and freedoms in our country. This was one of the "decisive factors that provided favorable conditions for the reconstruction of society on a socialist basis, the economic and cultural development of all Soviet republics, and the strengthening of the defense power and international positions of the multinational state of workers." 44 Creation of a single, according to the general plan, regulated on the -

38 SU RSFSR, 1922, Up to 40, Article 461.

39 Ibid., Articles 477; No. 49, Articles 622-624; 1923, No. 14, Article 177.

40 Ibid., 1922, No. 30, Article 365.

41 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 44, p. 171.

42 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 53, p. 149.

43 SU RSFSR, 1918, N 90, Article 908.

44 "On preparations for the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU of February 21, 1972, Moscow, 1972, p. 4

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It helped to strengthen the material guarantees of individual rights; it made it possible, through the redistribution of funds, to overcome at an accelerated pace the former economic and cultural backwardness of a number of peoples of our country and thereby achieve not only formal, but also real equality of citizens, regardless of race and nationality. Finally, the most important factor that contributed to strengthening the guarantees of equal rights of citizens of our country, the unity of their rights and duties, was the consolidation of a single all-Union citizenship in the Constitution of the USSR of 1924. Article 7 read: "A single union citizenship is established for citizens of the Union republics."

The peculiarity of this period in the history of socialist democracy in our country was that the issue of fundamental rights and duties of citizens after the formation of the USSR was regulated not in the Constitution of the USSR, but in the new constitutions of the Union republics adopted after the formation of the USSR. They retain the same principles governing the fundamental rights and obligations of citizens as in the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918.

The mid-1930s marked the beginning of a new stage in the history of the Soviet state. The building of the foundations of socialism as a result of the industrialization of the country, the collectivization of agriculture, the cultural revolution, the elimination of the last exploiting class, the kulaks, and the radical transformation of the social structure of society, which now consisted of friendly classes: the working class and the collective-farm peasantry, as well as the working intelligentsia - all this meant the entry of the USSR into a new stage to significantly expand the democratic rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens.

The Constitution of the USSR of 1936 established common rights and freedoms for all Soviet citizens, in particular the right to vote and be elected to government bodies. Whereas in the Constitution of 1918 this right was granted only to working people, now it is universal, equal and direct, with a secret ballot .45 Freedom of speech, the press, unions, assemblies, marches and demonstrations; inviolability of the person, home, and correspondence; the right to work, rest, education, and material security in old age and in the event of disability, etc .were also granted to all citizens. 46 The 1936 Constitution also established the right to personal property. Thus, a number of individual rights and freedoms that were previously regulated by codes and current legislation, now, with the creation of the necessary conditions for this, have been elevated to the rank of constitutional norms.

The USSR Constitution of 1936 also imposed duties on all citizens equally. Thus, the defense of the Motherland with weapons in hand was declared a sacred duty of every citizen. This constitutional provision formed the basis of the Law on Universal Conscription of September 1, 1939. Previously an honorary right of protection-

45 Accordingly, the current legislation also abolished other restrictions on class-based rights that had previously taken place, in particular when applying to higher education institutions.

46 In this regard, the right to dispose of personal property, in particular the right to inherit, has been expanded. Previously, only children, a surviving spouse, and disabled parents were recognized as heirs. In the absence of such heirs, the property was recognized as extortionate and passed to the state. The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 14, 1945 "On heirs by law and by will" expanded the circle of heirs, recognizing as such also able-bodied parents, brothers and sisters. At the same time, the decree established that property can be bequeathed to a state or public organization, and in the absence of heirs by law, to any person. Earlier, restrictions on the size of inherited property were lifted.

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only workers were allowed to leave their homeland with weapons in their hands, and non-labor elements were assigned other duties of military service, in the performance of which weapons were not required.

Strengthening the state-legal unity of the USSR and expanding the competence of all-Union bodies under the USSR Constitution of 1936 led to the transition to regulating the rights and freedoms of citizens by the all-Union Constitution and legislation, whereas previously such regulation was mainly carried out by the constitutions and legislation of the union republics.

The victory of socialism in the U.S.S.R., reflected in the adoption of the U.S.S.R. Constitution of 1936, marked the beginning of the process of transformation of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a national state. Due to the peculiarities of our country's development, this process has lasted for a quarter of a century.

The development of individual rights and freedoms in the 1930s and 1940s was seriously influenced by such factors as the growing military danger, the Great Patriotic War, and the enormous destruction caused to our country by the Nazi invaders. In the name of defending the freedom and independence of their socialist Homeland, saving humanity from the threat of fascist enslavement, the Soviet people had to make great sacrifices. >In the early 1940s, due to the need to prepare the country for defense and strengthen its military and economic potential, the Soviet state was forced to take measures to somewhat increase working hours .47 During the Great Patriotic War, the length of working hours was increased, labor service was introduced, vacations were canceled (with payment of monetary compensation for unused vacation after the war), freedom of movement was restricted (permission from the military command or police was required to move from one locality to another) , etc. after the war, they were immediately canceled.

The huge damage caused by the war to the country's economy has affected the ability to provide material support for citizens ' rights. The "cold war" and the arms race unleashed by international imperialism after the end of World War II also significantly affected the material guarantees of rights. The need to strengthen the country's defense required significant funds, which otherwise could have been used to increase the welfare of workers. The situation of external danger contributed to the emergence of some subjective moments, which also affected the rights and freedoms of citizens. Speaking about this, L. I. Brezhnev noted at the May 1977 Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee: "We know, comrades, that some years after the adoption of the current Constitution (1936 - V. K.) were marred by illegal repressions, violations of the principles of socialist democracy, Leninist norms of party and state life. This was done contrary to the constitutional provisions. The party has strongly condemned this practice, and it should never be repeated. " 48 The above-mentioned circumstances, although they hindered to a certain extent the further expansion of the rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens, could not, however, stop the progressive development of socialist democracy.

47 By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 26 June 1940, the transition was made from a 7-hour to an 8-hour working day, from a five-day working week to a six-day one. At the same time, the Decree prohibited unauthorized (without the consent of the administration) dismissal from work.

48 L. I. Brezhnev. On the draft Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Report at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU on May 24, 1977, Moscow, 1977, p. 10.

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For more than 40 years that have elapsed since the adoption of the USSR Constitution in 1936, the face of our country, its international position, and the balance of power on the world stage have changed beyond recognition. Socialism has become a world system, a powerful socialist community of countries has been formed, and the colonial system of imperialism has been abolished. The construction of a mature socialist society and the transformation of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a national state ensured an unprecedented expansion of the rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens, which were legally enshrined in the new Constitution of our country adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on October 7, 1977. In the political sphere, this is primarily due to a significant increase in the role of the representative bodies of the people, the Soviets, and the strengthening of socialist legality.

This process was reflected in a number of legislative acts on the work of Soviets, in the Law on the Status of Deputies, and, finally, in the new Constitution of the USSR, which significantly expanded the powers of the Soviets. In all these documents, the tendency to increase the role of Councils as elected bodies of representative democracy and to strengthen their control over the activities of the executive bodies subordinate to them was expressed. In capitalist States, on the contrary, there is a tendency to reduce the role and importance of parliaments and strengthen the power of executive bodies. Lenin, noting precisely this tendency, wrote that in bourgeois parliaments they only talk to deceive the masses, and the real work of government goes on in the quiet of ministerial offices, in various committees, commissions, and staffs .49 This trend means an increase in the omnipotence of the police and bureaucratic machine and the reduction to zero of the real possibility of ordinary citizens to participate in the development of the most important decisions that determine the country's policy.

In the USSR, the involvement of the entire working population in social production, the growth of general and professional culture, and increased awareness of the broad masses of the people (in particular, through the maximum use of new technical media) lead to a significant increase in the labor and political activity of the masses, and the expansion of various social forms of involving workers in the management of This includes the work of deputies in Councils, people's assessors in court, and the activities of people's controllers, vigilantes, etc. An important factor is the increasing role of public organizations in the political system of a socialist society. This role is expressed in the new Constitution of the U.S.S.R. granting the governing bodies of mass workers ' organizations the right of legislative initiative.

In recent years, the practice of public discussion of the most important political and socio-economic draft laws has become widespread. It is enough to recall the discussions of draft laws on labor, on marriage and family, on health care, on nature protection, etc. As a result of the discussion of the tenth five-year plan, which was attended by more than 92 million people, more than 1 million proposals were made .50 A vivid expression of the political activity of the workers was the nationwide discussion of the draft new Constitution of the USSR. As L. I. Brezhnev reported in his report at the session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on October 4, 1977, more than 140 million people took part in the discussion, more than 4/5 of the adult population of the USSR 51 ', Our country has not yet known such a scale of popular activity,

49 See V. I. Lenin, PSS. Vol. 33, p. 46.58 Izvestiya, 15. VII. 1977.

51 See L. I. Brezhnev. On the draft Constitution (Basic Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the results of its national discussion, p. 4.

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The practice of public discussion of the most important draft laws was legally consolidated in the new Constitution of the USSR. It granted the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR the right to submit some of them to a popular vote (referendum). This means increasing the influence of the masses on the elaboration and adoption of the most important political decisions, and strengthening mass control over the activities of the executive apparatus of the Soviet State. In other words, we are talking about a significant expansion of the real scope of political rights of citizens.

The new Constitution of the USSR guarantees the inviolability of the person and home. It emphasizes that the personal life of citizens, the secrecy of correspondence, telephone and telegraph messages are protected by law. The Soviet Constitution guarantees citizens freedom of speech, press, assembly, meetings, street processions and demonstrations, and the right to form public organizations. At the same time, the Constitution assumes that the exercise of rights and freedoms by citizens should not prejudice the interests of society and the State, as well as the rights of other citizens, and that political freedoms are granted to citizens in accordance with the interests of working people and for the purpose of building communism and strengthening the socialist State.

Exposing bourgeois "critics", Leonid Brezhnev said at the seventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR that the provisions of the draft Constitution fully comply with the most important international documents, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN, which states that " everyone has duties to society, in which only the free and full development of his personality is possible."", and that the exercise of the rights and freedoms of citizens requires "due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and the just demands of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society" 52 .

Citizens of the U.S.S.R. are recognized as having freedom of conscience; incitement to hostility and hatred in connection with religious beliefs is prohibited. The family, according to the new Constitution, is protected by the state. The Constitution guarantees the protection of personal property of citizens and the right to inherit it, but property that is in the personal ownership or use of citizens should not be used to extract unearned income, or used to the detriment of public interests.

The Constitution (Article 57) emphasizes that " respect for the individual, protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens is the duty of all State bodies, public organizations and officials." In accordance with this, the Constitution provides ample opportunities for the protection of these rights and freedoms. Citizens have the right to judicial protection against encroachments on their life and health, property and personal freedom, on their honor and dignity 53 . These rights are protected by the organs of the Soviet state-the court, the police, and the prosecutor's office. Citizens can apply to State bodies and public organizations with complaints about the actions of officials. The procedure and terms of consideration of such complaints are firmly established by law. Actions of officials committed in violation of the law, exceeding their authority, infringing on the rights of citizens, may be appealed in court in accordance with the established procedure. The Constitution also provides for the right of citizens to compensation for damage caused by illegal actions of the State.-

52 See ibid., p. 18.

53 In accordance with Article 7 of the Fundamentals of the Civil Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics, every citizen may demand in court a refutation of information discrediting him.

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state institutions and public organizations, as well as officials in the performance of their official duties.

The growing economic power of the Soviet state made it possible to achieve major successes in ensuring the socio-economic rights of citizens - successes that raised these rights to a qualitatively new, much higher level.

The new Constitution of the USSR further developed and specified the guarantees of the right to work. It is now defined as the right to secure a guaranteed job with remuneration in accordance with its quantity and quality, including the right to choose a profession, occupation and work in accordance with vocation, abilities, professional training, education and social needs .54 Constitutional guarantees of the right to work in the USSR look particularly impressive against the backdrop of rising unemployment in the capital countries.

The right to education was further developed in the USSR. Article 45 of the new Constitution of the USSR states that all types of education are free of charge, that universal compulsory secondary education is implemented, that the network of higher education institutions is widely developed, and that a number of benefits are provided to students. If on the eve of the war 909 thousand specialists with higher education worked in the national economy, then only in the ninth five-year plan did the country's universities graduate 3.4 million specialists. At present, the USSR employs 1/4 of all scientific workers available in the world. Such rapid growth in the level of education and culture has made it particularly relevant to include in the new Constitution the right to freedom of scientific, technical and artistic creativity.

New content has been added to the right to rest. Now only under the jurisdiction of the Soviet trade unions there are 2,150 sanatoriums-dispensaries, more than 1 thousand sanatoriums and rest homes, more than 950 tourist bases 55 . The Constitution guarantees Soviet citizens the right to health protection. This right is guaranteed by the unified national system of health authorities. Its scale is eloquently evidenced by the figures: in the USSR, almost 20% of the world's doctors work, while the population of our country is only 4% of the world's population.

In the new Constitution of the USSR, the right to housing is recorded for the first time. Ensuring this right was made possible by the consistent implementation of the Communist Party's ambitious housing construction program.

The right to financial support in old age and in case of loss of the breadwinner has also acquired qualitatively new aspects. In the USSR, the creation of a single universal pension system has been completed. Under the State Pensions Act (1956), the number of persons entitled to a pension was significantly expanded, uniform rules for assigning pensions to workers and employees were introduced, and their size was significantly increased. With the adoption of the Law on Pensions and Allowances for Collective Farmers in 1964, the pension system became universal. By the decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 26, 1967 "On further improvement of pension provision" and of June 3, 1971 "On measures to further improve the pension provision of collective farmers", collective farmers were equated with workers and employees in terms of the age for assigning old-age pensions and the procedure for calculating them. In 1972-1977, a number of new measures were taken to improve pension provision for all categories of the population.

54 An example of strengthening the legal guarantees of citizens ' labor rights is the introduction of a special chapter "On crimes against the political and Labor rights of citizens" in the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960 (and the Criminal Code of other Union Republics), which provides for criminal liability for a number of violations of citizens ' rights.

55 Izvestia, 15. VII. 1977.

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Describing the problem of individual rights and freedoms in the USSR, it is necessary to note such an important aspect as equal rights of citizens, regardless of gender, nationality, etc. Women currently make up about 51% of all workers and employees. In many industries, their share is much higher. All of them receive the same pay as men for their work. Thus, de facto equality of women and men has been achieved in the USSR, which remains an unattainable dream for women in many developed capitalist countries. In England, for example, Parliament recently postponed again indefinitely the discussion of a bill to introduce equal pay for women for work on an equal basis with men. The national question inherited by the Soviet government from the old system has also been resolved in the USSR. Not only legal, but also de facto equality of citizens, regardless of race, nationality and skin color, has long been achieved. Our achievements in this area are well-known 56 .

The constitutional rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens are supplemented and specified in the All - Union Fundamentals of criminal legislation and criminal proceedings, civil legislation and civil proceedings, labor, marriage, family, correctional labor legislation and the corresponding codes of the Union republics, all-Union laws on education, health care, nature protection, etc. adopted in recent years. An important step is the preparation of the Code of Laws of the USSR in accordance with the decisions of the XXV Congress of the CPSU.

The new Constitution of the USSR once again emphasizes that the exercise of the rights and freedoms of citizens is inseparable from the performance of their duties by a citizen. One of the first duties of Soviet citizens is to work conscientiously for the benefit of society, for all the wealth of the country is created by social labor. Citizens of the U.S.S.R. are obliged to observe the Constitution and Soviet laws, protect socialist property, protect the interests of the Soviet State, and help strengthen its power and authority; take care of the upbringing of children, preserve nature, and protect its riches; take care of the preservation of historical monuments and cultural riches; promote friendship and cooperation with other peoples, and maintain and strengthen universal peace. It is the sacred duty of every citizen of the U.S.S.R. to protect the socialist Fatherland.

Socialist democracy is the unity of rights and duties, true freedom and civic responsibility, and a harmonious combination of the interests of society, the collective and the individual. The new Constitution of the USSR, L. I. Brezhnev emphasized in his report "The Great October Revolution and the progress of mankind" at a joint solemn meeting of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, "once again convincingly showed that the concepts of freedom, human rights, democracy and social justice are filled with real content only in conditions of socialism"57 .

The new Constitution of the U.S.S.R. - the Basic Law of the world's first nation - wide state-retains in its ideas and principles a continuity with the first three Soviet constitutions. It reflects and further develops all the rights and freedoms of citizens of socialist society that were proclaimed at the dawn of Soviet power. It also enshrines many new rights and freedoms that were developed in the practice of socialist construction and became a reality in the conditions of mature socialism.

56 For more information, see "The Soviet people - a new historical community of people". Moscow: 1976.

57 Pravda, 3. XI. 1977.

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