“Socialist Legality” and Interference in the Independence of the Judiciary in the 1950s

Abstract

This article focuses on changes to the legal system made in the period from February 1949 onwards in connection with the so-called legal biennial in Czechoslovakia, namely in substantive and procedural criminal law. On one side, such changes were aimed at bringing the Czechoslovak legal system closer to the Soviet model and thus providing tools for fighting the enemies of the Communist Party, whether perceived or real. These consisted of, for example, changes to the merits of individual crimes, in particular of the crime of high treason. Another goal was to control bodies involved in criminal proceedings and thus ensure decision-making in accordance with the party line, for example by the mass implementation of the institute of lay judges. Furthermore, the article focuses on compliance with, or rather mass violations of, socialist legality in criminal proceedings, from arresting individuals, through their unlawful detention, to filing lawsuits and deciding on guilt and punishment for alleged crimes – in political trials – or actually committed crimes – for example, while attempting to recruit informants and collaborators for various security forces. The article further points out that in many cases the decisive factor and driving force behind criminal proceedings was representatives of the Communist Party, who controlled, directed, and otherwise interfered with the independence of the judiciary, public prosecution bodies, security and other state agencies, both to the detriment of, or the other way round (and more often) for the benefit of, selected individuals.