New Code Will Protect Rights, Pravda Says
The Soviet Union is drafting a new criminal code aimed at providing citizens with better protection of their rights, the Communist Party newspaper Pravda said today.
Pravda said new legal acts are needed to establish court procedures against officials who abuse the rights of citizens, commenting that this would be a major step toward democratic control over the state apparatus.
New laws are also needed to spell out the rights of non-state organizations in the process of state decision-making and to determine procedures for referendums, it said.
Pravda devoted much of its commentary to criticism of the West for what it described as violations of civil rights by police and courts, but also acknowledged that legal abuses have occurred in the communist world.
“Not long ago work began on a new criminal code, which should fully answer the contemporary conditions of the development of socialist society and more effectively defend the rights of citizens,” Pravda added.
The report followed a call by the Kremlin leadership late last year for a crackdown on law and order abuses.
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