Procurator General of the Soviet Union

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Procurator General of the Soviet Union
Генеральный прокурор СССР
Insignia
Longest serving
Roman Rudenko

1 July 1953 – 23 January 1981
Office of the Public Procurator of the USSR
TypePublic procurators
StatusAbolished
PrecursorProcurator General of the Russian Empire
Formation15 March 1924
First holderPyotr Krasikov
Final holderNikolai Trubin [ru]
Abolished29 January 1992
SuccessionProcurator General of the Russian Federation

The Procurator General of the USSR (Russian: Генеральный прокурор СССР, romanizedGeneralnyi prokuror SSSR) was the highest functionary of the Office of the Public Procurator of the USSR, responsible for the whole system of offices of public procurators and supervision of their activities on the territory of the Soviet Union.

History[edit]

The office of procurator had its historical roots in Imperial Russia, and under Soviet law public procurators had wide ranging responsibilities including, but not limited to, those of public prosecutors found in other legal systems. Offices of Public Procurators were and are still used in other countries adhering to the doctrine of socialist law.

The Office of Public Procurator of the USSR was created in 1936, and its head was called Public Procurator of the USSR until 1946, when it was changed to Procurator General of the USSR. According to the 1936 Soviet Constitution, the Procurator General exercised the highest degree of direct or indirect (through subordinate public procurators) control over the accurate execution of laws by all ministries, departments, their subordinate establishments and enterprises, executive and administrative bodies of local Soviets, cooperative organizations, officials (including judges in court proceedings), and citizens on behalf of the state.

The Procurator General was appointed by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for a 7-year term and given a class rank of the Active state counselor of justice. His deputies and Procurator General of the Armed Forces were appointed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on recommendation from Procurator General. The Procurator General appointed public procurators of the Soviet republics and, on their recommendation, public procurators of autonomous republics, krais, oblasts and autonomous oblasts. He also issued orders and instructions for all of the offices of public procurators, instructed on differentiation of their competence, etc.[clarification needed]

The Procurator General had the right to present his issues to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet that needed to be solved in the legislative manner or demanded interpretation of the law.

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

Procurators General[edit]

Alexander Sukharev (left) at the 1st convocation of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union with investigator Telman Gdlyan (right) and Mikhail Gorbachev (center)
No. Portrait Name
(Born-Died)
Term of office
Took office Left office Time in office
1
Pyotr Krasikov
Pyotr Krasikov
(1870–1939)
15 March 192420 June 19339 years, 97 days
2
Ivan Akulov
Ivan Akulov
(1888–1937)
20 June 19333 March 19351 year, 256 days
3
Andrey Vyshinsky
Andrey Vyshinsky
(1883–1954)
(from 1931 - the prosecutor of the RSFSR)
3 March 193531 May 19394 years, 89 days
4
Mikhail Pankratyev
Mikhail Pankratyev
(1901–1974)
31 May 19397 August 19401 year, 68 days
5
Viktor Bochkov [ru]
Viktor Bochkov [ru]
(1900–1981)
7 August 194011 March 19432 years, 216 days
6
Konstantin Gorshenin
Konstantin Gorshenin
(1907–1978)
(from 1946—Procurator General of the USSR)
12 March 19434 February 19484 years, 329 days
7
Gregory Safonov [ru]
Gregory Safonov [ru]
(1904–1972)
5 February 19488 August 19535 years, 184 days
8
Roman Rudenko
Roman Rudenko
(1907–1981)
8 August 195323 January 198127 years, 168 days
9
Alexander Rekunkov
Alexander Rekunkov
(1920–1996)
9 February 198126 May 19887 years, 107 days
10
Aleksandr Sukharev [ru]
Aleksandr Sukharev [ru]
(1923–2021)
26 May 198822 September 19902 years, 119 days
11
Nikolai Trubin [ru]
Nikolai Trubin [ru]
(1931–1996)
11 December 199029 January 19921 year, 49 days

See also[edit]