How the Soviet Courts Worked - Cold War DOCUMENTARY

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Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on how the Soviet courts worked as we give the summary of the soviet court system.
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[@TheColdWarTV]

Want FREE tickets to Japan? Use my code: COLDWAR10 and link: bit.ly/3cO86HS to get 10% off your Bokksu subscription and automatically be entered in their giveaway! Anyone who subscribes before December 31st, even as a gift, will be eligible to win ✈️ 🥳 Subscribe to our new Fantasy/Sci-fi channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHq2hJaAdt6fa9U Witcher, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, much more on the way!

[@antifacho9294]

Do a vídeo about marijuana in the Soviet Union

[@midge_gender_solek3314]

My grandmother worked as a people's assessor (народный заседатель) in a people's court many times. They were elected by workers' collectives and had to go through basic legal training. They actually had power to make decisions along with judges.

[@ibfreely8952]

This is a feature of many legal systems even nowadays, look up magistrates courts in the UK for example.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

Its almost a Monty Python skit "Where am I to be tried Comrade?" "You are to be tried in the highest court-" "You mean!?" "Yes, the People's Supreme Soviet Rail Court!"

[@Chikanuk]

As people who briefly live in USSR and who talk a lot with ones who live whole lifes in USSR i must say - comrade courts was a great tool to prevent and punish minor offencives. Without bothering real penal system or ruin someone life with prison time.

[@mbpaintballa]

but the problem is speaking out against the government was an offence...

[@ufodeath]

@@mbpaintballa You could speak out against different policies and people - what was considered a legal offense was speaking out against the entire socialist project and promoting notions of dismantling the system.

[@mbpaintballa]

@@ufodeath so still an offence, and lets not forget how people were constantly imprisoned/murdered for speaking out against policies and people in the government regardless on how the system was supposed to work. on paper.

[@ufodeath]

@@mbpaintballa The same rule technically applies in most countries around the world though. If you speak of wanting to dismantle the global capitalist system or the US government for example, you can be labelled a terrorist, and in the case of the US, disappear into a Black Site indefinitely without any legal due process, due to the PATRIOT act. I have found it disingenuous how the Soviet Legal System gets railed against in particular when it comes to holding people criminally liable for seeking to destroy the entire system, when the same thing happens with people in western countries, by being labelled as "terrorist organizations" and tried or made to "disappear" on those grounds.

[@lordquad4604]

@@mbpaintballa reminder usa punishes people on these things as well. You just dont hear your own country being unbiased

[@annayosh]

A biologist, an architect and a lawyer are fighting about whose occupation is the best. "Well," says the biologist, "Biology is definitely the best, merely by it ancientness. The very first man, Adam, gave names to all animals. A fine biologist if I may say so." "Hah," says the architect, "Let's go back even further. God created the world out of chaos - now that is what I call great architecture!" The lawyer grins and says, "And where did you think that chaos came from?"

[@branimirkolarov3493]

Just change lawyer with politician.

[@mpetersen6]

Reminds me of the joke about which part of the body thought it should be in charge. They had a fine discussion until the Arsehole went on strike. Explains a lot doesn't it.

[@jamescutright919]

Great joke; it’s perfect! I’m a lawyer. I really appreciate everything the channel is doing and thank you.

[@GorgeousRandyFlamethrower-]

What do lawyers and sperm have in common? One in fifty million has a chance of becoming a human being.

[@princevesperal]

Since you mention God and Genesis, a funny thing to add is that "Satan" is a title rather than a name, and it literally means "Accuser", in the sense of "Prosecutor". If God is the Supreme Judge, Satan is the one building a case and leading the charge against us. Look at the Book of Job!

[@brokenbridge6316]

I remember finding out that in the 1980's the Soviet Union had a Serial Killer on it's hands. Who happened to be a Railroad Worker. It would be really interesting to see this channel make a video about him. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.

[@arthurhayward122]

Andrei Chikatilo, he didn’t work on the railways but had a job that required him to travel a lot and would use the opportunity to pick up children and young adults whom he would kill and mutilate. The HBO movie “Citizen X” is about him. I believe you can find it on KZbin.

[@arthurhayward122]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJCkmKVoiLSUg5o

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@arthurhayward122---I see. Thanks.

[@MultiMusicbuff]

"There are no serial killers in the worker's paradise".

[@arthurhayward122]

@@MultiMusicbuff “it is a decadent capitalist flaw”.

[@Ressuu]

Interesting episode, my grandmother was a prosecutor and then a defense lawyer, but I wouldn't say she was just a clerk, she really knew her stuff. However, she did tell me that defense attorneys had little impact on the cases and many did not even bother to try to mount a proper defense and I guess could be called clerks. With the conviction rate being at 99% the philosophy of the courts was that "if a prosecutor brings a case then it must have merit" so the best an accused could usually hope for with a motivated lawyer was just a more lenient sentence.

[@arthurfisher1857]

That's how it is in Japan to this day. The idea is that the threshold of evidence needed to prosecute someone is so high that if someone is actually charged, SURELY that means they MUST be guilty. Conviction rates are Insanely high. Flawed logic to say the least

[@Neomalthusiano]

@@arthurfisher1857 while I agree with you that this system don't work out, I still think that countries where the prosecution is started over just about anything, including evidence that points out that the supposed misconduct, even if it happened, does not constitutes a crime, is even worse.

[@arthurfisher1857]

@@Neomalthusiano I wouldn't say even worse, but I would certainly agree it's just as bad. I would argue though, that it's still far harder to convict an innocent person when his or her guilt isn't just assumed going in to trial (not to say it doesn't happen, of course).

[@blackfalcon1324]

As far as how the soviet courts worked, this is actually fairly common in europe outside of the UK. Sweden, denmark, germany, austria, finland and norway (among others) all use lay judges instead of juries (most of the time). In addition, the inquisitorial system is used in germany and austria as well.

[@littlehandsgivescovfefe4837]

The ‘analogous’ part for a judgement and punishment at 4:17 is absolutely terrifying. And obviously just an extension of the party and it’s needs.

[@mr.whatever1492]

I'm a lawyer from India & have always waited for this video. Thank you all for covering the Soviet Legal System.❤️

[@grimwaltzman]

According to my grandmother, my grandfather took local governments to court a couple of times over some minor civil matters and won all of them. Gotta ask her what those reasons were at some point. Edit: so apparently my grandfather got unlawfully fired from his job at a factory to free up a place for some relative of the boss. He took it to court and the prosecution ruled that he was right and reinstated him on his position. Then the factory appealed and lost again. And then factory party official stepped in, did some party magic and replaced the prosecutor, factory appealed again and basically it suddenly became obvious that he was fired rightfully and could basically go fuck himself. He tried to appeal to republican Supreme Court and later Supreme Court of the SU but it went nowhere. It was in 79-80.

[@bsadewitz]

When was that, approximately? I'm unexpected fascinated by this subject.

[@grimwaltzman]

@@bsadewitz i think it was somewhere in 70s or early 80s, but i'm not sure, gonna have to ask that as well

[@grimwaltzman]

@@bsadewitz edited the original comment with more details

[@uis246]

Labour law in USSR was VERY strong. Basically if you showed up in court, then you won because it considered that if working person took effort to go to court, then firing is indeed illigal.

[@jfbrandon9651]

Reminds me of an old Soviet joke A judge walks out of the courtroom, laughing loudly. A colleague asks, "What are you laughing about?" "Ah, I just heard an excellent joke!" the judge says, sweeping tears of laughter. "Oh a joke? Please tell me!" Judge suddenly stops laughing and gets very stern. "Tell you the joke? Are you crazy? I just sentenced a man to ten years for telling it!"

[@princesskenny7222]

Here's a good one. A Russian, a Cuban, an American and a lawyer are in a train. The Russian takes a bottle of the best vodka out of his pack; pours some into a glass, drinks it, and says: "In the USSR, we have the best vodka in the world, nowhere in the world you can find vodka as good as what we produce in Ukraine. And we have so much of it, that we can just throw it away...". Saying that, he opens the window and throws the rest of the bottle out the window. All the others are quite impressed. The Cuban opens a box of Havanas, takes one of them, lights it and begins to smoke it saying: "In Cuba, we have the best cigars of the world: Havanas. Nowhere in the world are there better cigars, and we have so many of them, that we can just throw them away...". Saying that, he throws the box of Havanas out the window. One more time, everybody is quite impressed. The American just stands up, opens the window, and throws the lawyer out...

[@zagreus1249]

XD

[@trevorbarrett7609]

I really like how this channel has explored the inner workings and social aspects of the Soviet Union. Good work.

[@diarmuidodonovan4785]

I love the bell button jokes at the end of each episode , thanks for all the ones you've made throughout the year ^^

[@jasondeweerd8044]

Interesting video, although I would like to point out one problem in your language. When you describe the law system being used in the west, you refer to it as “our system”. However the west has a great variety in judicial systems. The biggest difference is between “common law” (Great Britain and her former colonies) and “continental law” (countries that were part of the influence sphere of the French Republic under Napoleon). So when you point out a lot of stuff which is “different than the west”, most of the differences are actually how continental law conducts (as far I have knowledge of Dutch and European law). So for not having public trial or the way criminal law is conducted, it resembles the Dutch system a lot where as it differs a lot with American/Canadian system. Other than that a topping I’m happy someone finally is talking about.

[@clopec]

I agree, layman judges, for example, are commonly used in many European countries, e.g. Germany and the Nordic countries.

[@MordantMagic]

I was thinking this, having recently read a book about USSR's role in the Nuremburg trials and how the soviet and French lawyers understood each other better due to that similarity, but the French for ideological reasons went along w/ the US/UK in most every vote of how procedures should go.

[@tomc8693]

Came here to make this exact comment. I'm not an apologist for the former USSR, but we need to be cognisant of how we might be inclined to frame the discussion around its institutions, and how these talking points arise from our biases. For example "an appointed judge/prosecutor leads the investigation into the case, and there's a minimal role for a strong/robust defence counsel, how totalitarian!" is a very naive Anglo-American perspective; as you say Jason, this rings true for lots of countries in Europe today, including France. Source: I have a post-grad diploma in criminology and criminal justice.

[@AlexandrDarius]

I believe that the "continental law" is actually based on the ancient Roman law and its principles.

[@232pk]

​@@AlexandrDariusWel in a indirect way. Continental civil law is based on the code Napoleon. And the code Napoleon had a lot of Roman influences

[@theoutlook55]

This reminds me of a (very unconvincing) episode of the Mission Impossible TV show where they commit espionage, allow one of their own to be accused of espionage, and (incredibly) rely on the Soviet legal system to exonerate that guy (who Was a spy in on the deception).

[@nickfifteen]

It's so weird watching stuff about the USSR from Western TV shows and movies between the 1950s and 1990s, because of all the information about the USSR that has leaked out in the decades after it's collapse revealing that the shows really had no idea of anything about Soviet society. My favorites include all the computer tech used by the USSR in Rocky 4 and The Hunt For Red October. On the other hand, I can't blame those shows like Mission Impossible and movies like Rocky 4 for thinking that, because of how little ACTUAL information about the USSR came out back then to actually use in their stories. Ultimately the thinking was: if the USSR was equal to the US in terms of power, then surely they have the same tech and legal system and everything else, just painted in Commie Red instead of Red-White-and-Blue... right??

[@ilyatsukanov8707]

@@nickfifteen Unfortunately even 30 years after the collapse, and the advent of KZbin and translators, many people continue to think about the USSR in the wooden, propagandistic framework of the 80s.

[@Nhosto]

Fascinating episode. It is really strange to hear how little organized this system was. Doubly interesting for me since my granpa was a prosecutor and later a lawyer in this system.

[@user-cx1ki8li4t]

Thank for your video. I felt familiar with Soviet law after enjoying it yesterday. Today, I logged on to a Chinese old book website（孔夫子旧书网）and found the Chinese people's research on Soviet law in the 1950s and 1980s. Before that, I always thought that only Japan and France (some people think Germany is also a teacher) were CPC teachers In terms of law, I bought some Chinese materials about Soviet law and studied the impact of Soviet law on China。Maybe CPC learned Soviet law and made its own law.😂😂😂

[@alexclement7221]

Q: What's the difference between a dead skunk laying in the road and a dead lawyer laying in the road? A: There are skid marks in front of the skunk!

[@Telluwide]

You should also do something on Soviet films. There were many classics that are still enjoyed today. Even Post Soviet films of the 1990's like Brat and Bandits of Saint Petersburg as well as Brigada of the early 00's were awesome films....

[@user-cx1ki8li4t]

And ”war and peace”

[@ukrainiipyat]

Ballad of a Soldier - 1959 is one of my favourite Soviet era movies.

[@nigeh5326]

Come and See is a masterpiece

[@kiddankula5480]

@@nigeh5326 "WE DIDN'T DO IT, IT WAS THE FASCIST BUTCHERS!" that's my favorite when they shot all thre nazis

[@nigeh5326]

@@kiddankula5480 I think the actors playing the boy and girl were both amazing and overall it was an excellent film that really conveyed the horror of the Eastern Front and it’s utter barbarity.

[@Numba003]

On the one hand, I see how the comrade courts would be useful for dealing with mundane and minor misdemeanor type crimes through a healthy maintenance of community morality. Of course, in less generous terms, I could also see it being used to punish nonconformity in general, which wouldn't be great. Thank you for the informative video about it! God be with you out there everybody! ✝️ :)

[@miltmason4486]

Great stuff! Thanks for bothering to to explain something this complex. I look at these videos the way Khrushchev looks at corn.

[@Lorkdemper]

Definitely one of the most interesting videos I've seen on KZbin. Well done! Was there a right against self-incrimination (i.e., not to confess to law enforcement, not to testify in courts) in the USSR?

[@Retro80sMan1]

REMINDER: in seven days he will be covering the downfall of the Soviet union for it's 30th anniversary!

[@ironhorsehistorian9871]

Just found the channel. So far it’s really fascinating and interesting. Also you earned a subscriber.

[@Telluwide]

You should do something on the Soviet Workers Councils that each Soviet company seemed to have. They were strange internal councils where they would reprimand workers and tell them how to conduct their personal lives....

[@nigeh5326]

Sounds like it came from the workers Soviets of the revolution.

[@tomweickmann6414]

We have the same here. It's called HR.

[@Davey-Boyd]

@@tomweickmann6414 Lol! Shame I can only like your comment once

[@manhoosnick]

@@tomweickmann6414 hahahaa 🤪🤪👍👍

[@moustachio05]

​@@nigeh5326except the Worker Soviets used to be independent and controlled by the workers who thus controlled their own workplace this was system was scrapped pretty early on

[@lefteyereport6354]

It's also funny that you're talking about contradictory laws in each jurisdiction being different from the West when it's one of the most obvious aspects of the US legal system

[@baneofbanes]

Almost like the US is a federation or something.

[@flamesthephoenix3665]

Yeah thats western propaganda for you. Most of the content on this channel seems to be. Of course most media in America is, in our supposedly "free country" that is so much better than le evil and le authoritarian Soviet Union.

[@baneofbanes]

@@flamesthephoenix3665 Poor baby

[@flamesthephoenix3665]

@@baneofbanes "HA! TRIGGERED LEFTIST DOESNT LIKE CORPORATE OWNED MEDIA THAT PUSHES A COORDINATED CONSENSUS ON FOREIGN POLICY! IM A REAL MAN WHO BLINDLY BELIEVES WHAT THE GOVT AND THE MEDIA TELLS ME" -you rn

[@baneofbanes]

@@flamesthephoenix3665 Poor baby

[@roniberahaquartet477]

In Yugoslavia was similar sistem ,only the judges and lawyers were highly educated .But I wanted to say that even today in Serbia there is no jury sistem .In Yugoslavia the crime was so small in compare to the western countries and particularly today's Serbia who indorsed a lot but almost everything bad from Western style of life .In my childhood in Yugoslavia I felt very protected .

[@user-cx1ki8li4t]

There is no jury in China. We only have 人民陪审员 (usually only two people). In my opinion, this is because our law teachers are France and Japan, and CPC doesn't like the common law system, we don't have jury. Maybe I'm wrong because I found that France has jury.

[@nomdeguerre7265]

@@user-cx1ki8li4t In France the burden of proof is on the defendant, to disprove the charges of the State. This is a legacy of the French Revolutionary government, because Revolutionary logic dictates that the State is always right, by default. Revolutionary states have complete control over 'citizens', all that matters is how much power one has within the revolutionary movement, at the moment. France's revolutionary government is long gone, but much of its legacy survives.

[@Neomalthusiano]

Jury's system is a good one when it comes to murder. It's easier to convince peers, than a judge, that the defendant, even though committed the crime he is charged and is not covered in a exception from responsibility, do not deserve to be sentenced, since the law cannot predict every possible future nuance of an hypothetical situation. Regarding children, old times were best regardless of the country. Maybe not in those countries of Africa, but everywhere else it was

[@flopsinator5817]

@@nomdeguerre7265 That's not all too uncommon in Europe, the old legacy thing I mean. In some German states it is still technically law that a funeral must be held for the deceased, regardless of whether the body is in the casket. Apparently this is a leftover from the Bismarck era.

[@232pk]

Juries are not necessary for a fair trial. So long as you have truly independent judges you can have a fair trial that way.

[@sargesacker2599]

Video starts at 2:03

[@patrickjspoon]

This and the TimeGhost WW2 videos are Saturday morning appointment viewing, which is rare

[@tremorsfan]

Reminds me of Animal Farm: No Animal shall kill another Animal (without cause).

[@alexplotkin3368]

Great episode. Very informative and very entertaining. I just became a Patreon supporter of your site. Thanks!

[@TheColdWarTV]

Thank you very much!

[@HistoryOfRevolutions]

"A genius doesn't adjust his treatment of a theme to a tyrant's taste" - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

[@dietollezeit]

It's rather amusing how by "western" you actually mean just common law system depicted in TV series. There's many more western law systems that you conveniently gloss over (french, german, italian, etc). Prejudicate is not a common place in western law systems (at least in first instance) outside of common law countries. Juries are either abolished or acting as a panel of jurors. Even in UK (common law) only certain crimes have a jury presiding. I would advise researching the subject deeper as most of the used comparisons are relevant only for US/Canada viewers without any previous knowledge about law systems.

[@ilyatsukanov8707]

I think by "western" the guy just meant "in our civilized world"; it's the same reason he used the term "interrogate" to refer to prosecutors' questioning of the accused, the victim, and witnesses, instead of just the word "question."

[@ozymantiasVI]

@@ilyatsukanov8707 was the USSR not "civilized"? How about Italy? France? The people in the video are suffering heavily from USA-normativity (Canada is USA-light). by "western" they mean Canada / US, anything that deviates from that Absolute Normal is the "different"

[@visassess8607]

Yeah how strange that this American with a primarily Western audience (American, Canadian, British) would use terms that the common Westerner would know about...

[@lordquad4604]

@@ilyatsukanov8707 usa and the west are far from civilized. Sure you have an image of how things should be but take some time to research a specific slice of that civilized nation and you will soon discover the rot that hides underneath that shiny metal plate of civility equality and freedom

[@jasonwaters382]

One of the best channels on KZbin. Didn't know it was Canadian. It would be great to see a video about Soviet nuclear strategy and about the transition from USSR to CIS and Russia

[@Violent2aShadow]

"A plea of innocence is guilty of wasting my time." ~Warhammer 40k judge

[@haenselundgretel654]

Such an awesome channel!!! So well made!

[@CaptainCalculus]

Pretty much like everything in the Soviet Union there is a vast chasm between the professed procedure on paper and what actually happened in practise.

[@bennorwood8433]

Can you do a video about local village and city government in the USSR

[@TheMr77469]

I always wondered about that aspect of the Soviet Union. thanks for making the video!

[@leehaseley2164]

Q: What do you call 5000 dead lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A: A good start!

[@-JA-]

Thank you.

[@ep5acg]

excellent video

[@vasilerogojan4520]

I'm still waiting for another episode about the situation in Cuba or another round of soviet miths.

[@SomasAcademy]

Huh, those "comrade courts" don't sound like such a bad idea. Public embarrassment seems like a more appropriate, potentially more effective punishment for minor crimes than jail time or fines; I wonder how effective it was at stopping repeat offenses compared to our approaches in the US?

[@blackhatfreak]

Yeah that's totally fine for the most part, but fuck all that other shit.

[@johnstudd4245]

If fines and possible jail time does not stop repeat offenders, do you really think 'embarrassing' someone will?

[@vylbird8014]

@@johnstudd4245 Depends how you define effective. Jail time has a tendency to turn criminals into worse criminals, because it pushes them away from society. Someone commits a bit of minor crime, some petty theft or selling weed, and gets thrown in jail - maybe only for couple of months. Just long enough to lose their job, and possibly their house when they cannot make rent or mortgage payments. Then they get out again, and find they are unable to find a new job - no employer wants to hire someone who just got out of jail, a known thief or drug dealer. Now the person has gone from an almost-law-abiding member of society to an outcast facing poverty - and when one of their new friends from their time inside makes contact, the life of crime looks very appealing. It's the only dependable income left, and they no longer feel any loyalty to some abstract ideal of 'the law' when it has so casually destroyed their life over something so small.

[@johnstudd4245]

@@vylbird8014 Sorry, I don't buy that. Criminals are criminals because they want to be. If you want to look at the history of virtually everyone in prison, you will find that they have started out with relatively minor offenses without any significant consequences, given chances to straighten out after being caught and have had plenty of opportunities to see the error of their ways. That is a myth that most people in prisons are 'good' folks that just made a mistake. I will agree that once a person has gone a long way down that road of thumbing his nose at the law and doing some serious time, some things are going to be more difficult for them. Imagine that! there are consequences to actions! It can be done. I have known a number of people who have been incarcerated for significant amounts of time, and have come out with the right attitude and done just fine for themselves. And I have known people who have gotten out and just kept acting like stupid hood rats. It is all up to the individual.

[@gabrielferrer3868]

comrade court is like the Judge Judy Court in the US.

[@ritemolawbks8012]

How much has the judiciary has changed since the Soviet Republics declared independence. I believe the _comrade_ courts have been abolished in the Russian Federation and Belarus, but there should have been many experienced judges and lawyers who practiced law under the communist system. After declaring independence in 1776, the US maintained English Common Law legal and the economic system of the British Empire. There are still laws and procedures that originated in a British, as judge-made law or statute passed by Parliament. This is a lengthy post, but I'm sure many of the legal customs and procedures from the Russia Empire and the Soviet Union have been adopted by Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine as they transitioned from the Soviet legal system.

[@nickfifteen]

I've legit been curious about how far the Soviet influence went in the former Soviet Republics, in the same way the US still utilizes law from their British roots like you mentioned. Like how the Soviets trashed everything from the Tsarist era, did the newly formed countries do the same with their Soviet systems?

[@ritemolawbks8012]

@@nickfifteen I'm not 100%, but I have a feeling the prisoner's cages inside Russian courtrooms have to be from the Soviet system. The _Comrade_ courts seem reasonable, and would probably work in a court-system in the West.

[@thunderbird1921]

How do courts in Communist China work then? Is it similar to what the old Soviet stuff was?

[@ritemolawbks8012]

@@thunderbird1921 That's a good question. I'd have to find out. One way to check for independence is when (or if) the government loses a case. I know India has true judicial independence, but the CCP might still have show trials because they were able to hold Canadians for ransom when there was a dispute with a Huawei executive charged and arrested in Canada for violating US sanctions against Iran. I'm not familiar with Chinese laws, but the whole Uygur vocational training camps situation seems extra-judicial. That's a long way to say, "I don't know."

[@marcinhoffmann2860]

If some of you are from Poland, we have a very good book regarding this topic. Prawo Rosji i ZSRR 1917 - 1991 czyli historia wszechzwiązkowego komunistycznego prawa (bolszewików). Krótki kurs. You can find this book in several law libraries across Poland.

[@TWHueyGuitar]

"I'm your host David, and welcome to today's Bokksu episode."

[@stevedilucido3060]

I'm just getting into the Soviet Union (after 10 years reading about the 3rd Reich), I'm extremely interested in the internal mechanisms of justice, economy, infrastructure and military spheres. Any book suggestions?

[@cherrynutz]

Easy! GUILTY...GUILTY....GUILTY...Judge: Wooo i'm tired from all that hard work.

[@Marinealver]

If you don't want punishment. Then be beyond reproach.

[@lagautmd]

The BEST Smash-the-Bell-Button requests on KZbin.

[@azzureone78]

Very informative, so different to the common law system of the Anglosphere.

[@stevewonder10]

Indeed. After all, it's civil law.

[@torgeirbrandsnes1916]

Joke: at a party there was many different line of work present. After dinner some of the guests found out there was a MD in the house. They started bombarding the doc with covid this and Corona that. After a while the doc have it and asked the lawyer «What should I do? Charge a fee or let it be? the answer back was not a very yes or no, but it all calmed down and people went home. A few days later the doc got a email: off duty law advice at dinner party. Invoice $100. Lol! I rest my case! Hihi!

[@psmtz]

Is there also going to series like this on his everything worked in Nazi Germany? That would be interesting.

[@geronimozarza8495]

Soviet Legal System: Quite fair and operative as long You were not accused of political crimes.

[@FlymanMS]

Or as long as cops don't beat the fake confession out of you.

[@michael9738918]

Oh, you mean like "Undermined the Democratic process"?

[@chrisleonard2066]

I mean it was authoritarian and if you went against the party at all or against a particular leader, they could trump up charges against you and you’d have very little means of legal defence. Not to mention no right or privacy or representation.

[@user-cn8vj5rs5c]

What constitutes a political crime, of course may vary considerably

[@Victor-kt6qn]

So pretty much most of the world in the cold war? Idk about you guys but my country (capitalist) executed people on the spot if they suspected them of being communist. Even if it was just a hunch. That's if you were lucky, if not they tortured you first then killed you. Cold war was a brutal time for everyone.

[@tarikbegic8580]

you should do a video about udba

[@CoverCode]

I actually really like the idea of the he comrade court

[@MASON_99]

Can you do an episode on counseling services in the USSR if they existed at all?

[@spearshake4771]

Protection of the workers Death Penalty abolished Judicial independence Stalin: *Laughs in Gulags, Siberia and paranoia fueled purges

[@unfairadvantagefilms]

The gulag system also existed in France at the time via penal colonies, and was the existing prison system that the country had developed through the Russian Imperial period. It was not an invention of the party.

[@spearshake4771]

@@unfairadvantagefilms I never said they created them just that they made use of them quite frequently. Siberia was also used by the Russian Imperial authorities and purges were obviously a thing before Stalin's time.

[@anngo4140]

7:38 holy cow Beria looked so similar to how he does in the movie

[@ftffighter]

What was the USSR's drug policy? Their approach to addiction and Treatment/Recovery? I have always been curious about this.

[@The__Leo69]

5:19 hooold onn! That face seems familiar!

[@jasongutierrezz]

Hello David, I've a small question. I heard some rumors that during Lenin's time homosexuality was legalized, but then Stalin tried to re-criminate against homosexuals (gays) and charged them with infringing the Soviet laws, by associating them with fascism. Was that true?

[@greenshirtiv4n211]

I believe so

[@pingpingsson8401]

Thx for the impartial comment Mr. Speer

[@kaiser5910]

@@AlbertSpeerPhd Albert Speer always had a very subjective view on "truth" :D

[@JohnRedacted]

Lmao , where are you getting your histroy from Call of Duty? , yes the early NKVD was entirely staffed by black homosexual Women

[@kaiser5910]

@@AlbertSpeerPhd What has today's society to do with Albert Speer's ließ?

[@kevinlitton1399]

The perfect joke for such a topic: A Cuban, a Soviet and an American are traveling by train, when the Cuban lights a cigar, takes a few puffs, then tosses it out the window. When asked why he did that, he said "in Cuba, we have plenty of cigars." Later the Soviet opens a bottle of vodka, takes a few drinks, then tosses it out the window. When asked why he did that, he said, "In the Soviet Union, we have plenty of vodka." Suddenly, the American grabs a lawyer and throws him out the window.

[@jlizamavera]

Excellent video. It is really interesting, Thanks for share it. Greetings from Chile.

[@donnyboon2896]

Yes

[@allaroundarbiter4809]

Bokksu sounds good😋😛

[@nsayer]

"All animals are equal. But some are more equal than others."

[@ufodeath]

And yet the video directly disagrees with the cold-war era propaganda about the soviet legal system that you were trained to believe and regurgitate like a zombie.

[@howtomoscow4764]

I'd like to see a video about the development of the Metro sytem

[@Vukoslav_Miloradovich]

One way for Soviet young men to avoid jail for less serious crimes would be to join the army. By the time they return home two years later it'd all be forgotten about.

[@baneofbanes]

In the US a lot of courts would give young men convicted of nonviolent crimes the choice between jail time or joining the military.

[@davidfryman2173]

@@baneofbanes doesn’t exist anymore legally. The army suffered heavily from that tactic during the Iraq War

[@alexturlais8558]

Im sure the information is correct but you seem to frame it in an uncharitable way when comparing it to western systems. It would be interesting to know if it's more similar to a french/continental system or an English law system.

[@justintr4888]

Is nobody going to mention that the Commissar at about 2:48 is blatantly a time-travelling Malcolm MacDowell?

[@adamjmorgan]

I am here to stand in solidarity with the bell button.

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Be careful, though! The bell button could drag you down if it gets accused of anything! Guilty by association!

[@stefanodadamo6809]

The young guy under trial at about 5:30 was Putin! 😂😂😂

[@hamishneilson7140]

Is it possible that guy's comment about the people's court/public shaming being worse than a harsher sentence was a way of avoiding being sent to a gulag or hard labour? If you said that I apologize, I'm listening while cooking. It also raises the question for me of how much did Soviet citizens know about Gulags before Solzhenitsyn?

[@AlxAnt83]

At around 16.30 I thought he was describing Baltimore justice

[@borysgengalo4037]

Actually, the Procuratura were not usually prosecutors. The case woud usually be presented by the investigating officers. The procurators represented the People, which is to say the Communist Party. In fact, theiy were found throughout the Soviet system.. Their job was to keep a watch on the activities of all elements of government to ensure Party policy was followed and coruption fought. Such investigations could result in the procurators bringing cases in court as prosecutors. Normally, within the courts, the procurators nsure decisions followed Party direction and interests.

[@19Koty96]

it appears in czech republic we do still make use of "comrade courts", although under very different name although nowadays it sounds like it's a niche,

[@Neomalthusiano]

How do you call it?

[@TheWaveGoodbye-Music]

An episode on Democratic centralism and the election system would be quite good, saw a video on the way the Cuban model works recently

[@badluck5647]

"You shout like that they put you in jail. Right away. No trial, no nothing. Journalists, we have a special jail for journalists. You are stealing: right to jail. You are playing music too loud: right to jail, right away. Driving too fast: jail. Slow: jail. You are charging too high prices for sweaters, glasses: you right to jail. You undercook fish? Believe it or not, jail. You overcook chicken, also jail."

[@thomaszimmerman5455]

Why don't the sharks eat lawyers? because of professional courtesy!

[@rollercoasterintogiantdomo]

Interestingly you could make a similar video critical of the US law system for the same reasons. For example, the prison industrial complex is a great pressure to convict. I also thought it interesting that "focusing" on a specific sort of crime was regarded as a bad thing?

[@greebfewatani]

The last statement done by the narrator has no ground. What makes the pther system ls better for the common man than the soviet system based on what you discussed in this video?

[@croco3671]

Video begins at 2:04

[@Flipmole123]

Man's gotta earn a living

[@croco3671]

@@Flipmole123 Doesn't mean we have to watch the ad

[@Flipmole123]

@@croco3671 sure but if the advertiser doesn't get any traffic from him they won't sponsor him. So it's helpful if some people are willing to watch the adverts and maybe buy the goods

[@TheCimbrianBull]

@@Flipmole123 in the USSR the video would have been mandated by the Party and not promoted some bourgeois capitalists!

[@aleisterlavey9716]

" I now read you your rights " " I repeat"

[@Roma_eterna]

Since were on the subject of law, I’d be curious about criminal proceedings, such as murder. The most famous one I know of is the case of Andrei Chikatilo, a serial killer in the 70s who killed over 50 people throughout the Soviet Union.

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

I have watched 2 videos today (structure of the soviet government) and it sounds like they were slowly improving the way the government was structured in every branch; it's clear they still had a long way to go! But I wonder how much China took from the Soviet government!?

[@filyapanzerman335]

under torture you confess everything is how the courts worked in the Soviet Union

[@vylbird8014]

That's still how they work in Russia today. They can boast of a 99+% conviction rate, because the courts simply rubber-stamp every charge as guilty without even looking at the case. The prosecutor just decides who to charge. If you're in court, you've already lost. It helps that if the police want you to confess, then you /will/ confess, guilty or no. They don't even need to bother with the old torture unless they want to - easier to just forge a signature on the confession. Sometimes though the police will explain that they want to investigate some evidence that might prove you are innocent, but they don't have the resources. Perhaps, if you could see your way to making a 'donation' to the police officers to fund the investigation, proof of innocence might just happen to turn up and the charge can be dropped.

[@lordquad4604]

Thats how it works in the usa too bud.

[@filyapanzerman335]

@@lordquad4604 nope you're totally wrong

[@MouldMadeMind]

You're one to talk settler.

[@paulgaskins7713]

Wow thank you for the video really well done and interesting, and relevant because there are many justices and district attorneys being nominated right now in the United States that hold opinions that mirror ‘proletariat law’ which is scary because it’s basically mob rule concentrated into a body of ‘activist’ lawyers, judges, prosecutors and DA’s

[@Marinealver]

As I said, we are moving toward NEWLAW

[@pablohabibefigueiredo7142]

"Deviation"?

[@ianmathwiz7]

One idea I had for an episode was to look at the history of the Biocosmist movement during and after the Russian Revolution. I think it's especially relevant because this movement was not only heavily persecuted under Stalin, but its ideology heavily influenced the Soviet Space Program.

[@robtoe10]

The Comrade Courts seem reminiscent of communal discipline in Reformation era Scotland, where a guilty congregant would be publicly shamed for their transgressions until they repent and beg to be forgiven and to return to the flock.

[@jonathsnparrish4040]

Whenever you see a court on the news today in Russia, Belarus ect, the defendant is in a cage. These courts seem far more informal. Can somebody tell me when this changed?

[@AsbestosMuffins]

really goes to show they set themselves up for failure by having such a conflicting government system. the courts don't seem to really be that bad organizational wise though there's the obvious issues with jurisdiction throughout as well as the system having maybe a few too many branches

[@rodrigonogueiramota4433]

"public embarrassment were used to deal with minor cases" well pineapple on a pizza isn´t a minor crime but public embarrassment will work on this case

[@TheCimbrianBull]

Pineapple on pizza is an abomination!

[@c-money9623]

I would love to see videos like this about other communist countries

[@HVACSoldier]

The way the Soviet Union passes laws, and the way the US government passes laws looks the same.

[@vylbird8014]

A big committee that makes a show of passing the law, concealing all of the behind-the-scenes dealing and power games that lead up to it.

[@cap.meruwkateklimana8321]

The video starts at 2:04

[@altay57]

I need to know the name of the ost played at the end of every video, please!