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Recent Soviet Literature on International Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

O. J. Lissitzyn
O. J. Lissitzyn*
Affiliation:
Columbia University; member of the New York Bar
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Extract

Since World War II a great number and variety of books, pamphlets, and articles devoted in whole or in part to international law have appeared in the Soviet Union. Not all of these publications are available in the United States. The articles are too numerous to be listed here. Substantial contributions have appeared not only in the central legal periodicals such as Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo (Soviet State and Law) and Izvestija Akademii Nauk SSSR, Otdelenie Èkonomiki i Prava (News of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Section of Economics and Law), but also in the publications of institutions of higher learning and research in the provinces as well as in Moscow and Leningrad. The books include general texts, specialized monographs, collections of documents, and dictionaries. Popular lectures touching on problems of international law have been recorded and distributed in pamphlet form. This extensive literature may help outsiders to understand the Soviet conception of international law, its role in Soviet policy, and its value in predicting future Soviet actions and attitudes.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Slavic and East European Review , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 1952 , pp. 257 - 273
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies 1952

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References

1 On October 5, 1946, the Central Committee of the AU-Union Communist Party directed special attention to be given to the study of international law. Kul'tura i Žizri (Culture and Life), November 20, 1946; Izvestija Akademii Nauk SSSR, Otdelenie Èkonomiki i Prava (News of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Section of Economics and Law), No. 6, 1946, p. 460. Many Soviet publications on international law had appeared, or were in preparation, by that date. On the Soviet doctrine of international law see, in general, Taracouzio, T. A., The Soviet Union and International Law (New York, 1935)Google Scholar; Hazard, John N., “The Soviet Union and International Law,” 43 Illinois Law Review 591 (1948)Google Scholar; Hazard, John N., “The Soviet Union and International Law,” Soviet Studies, I (1950), 189 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Schlesinger, Rudolph, Soviet Legal Theory: Its Social Background and Development (2nd ed., London, 1951), pp. 273–93.Google Scholar

2 Some have been translated and published in the Current Digest of the Soviet Press. In the early post-war years, as before the war, Soviet writers occasionally contributed articles to Western periodicals. See, e.g., Trainin, I. P., “Questions of Guerrilla Warfare in the Law of War,” American Journal of International Law, XL (1946), 534 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and in the same volume, Eugene A. Korovin, “The Second World War and International Law,” p. 742. With the development of the cold war this practice appears to have been given up.

3 See, e.g., Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava (Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Institute of Law), Meždunarodnoe Pravo (International Law) (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Juridičeskoj Literatury, 1951), p. 9; Korovin, E. A., “Ob Obščepriznannykh Normakh Meždunarodnogo Prava” (On Generally Recognized Norms of International Law), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 9, 1951, p. 14 Google Scholar. See also n. 5 below.

4 Koževnikov, F. I., Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Meždunarodnoe Pravo (The Soviet State and International Law) (Moscow, Juridičeskoe Izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Justicii SSSR, 1948), p. 28 Google Scholar.

5 Vyshinsky, A. Y., Voprosy Meždunarodnogo Prava i Meždunarodnoj Politiki (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Juridičeskoj Literatury, 1949)Google Scholar; second series published under the same title by the same publisher, 1951. That this tendency is not confined to Vyshinsky is evident, e.g., from G. P. Zadorožnyj's article “Voprosy Meždunarodnogo Prava v Trinadcatom Tome Sočinenij I. V. Stalina“ (Questions of International Law in the Thirteenth Volume of J. V. Stalin's Works), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 9, 1951, p. 1.

6 Institut Prava Akademii Nauk SSSR, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (International Law) (Moscow, Juridičeskoe Izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Justicii SSSR, 1947), p. 5. Eight scholars are listed as the authors of this textbook; Chapter I, in which the definition appears, was written by Krylov. This text was printed in 30,000 copies.

7 Krylov, Sergej, “Les Notions Principales du Droit des Gens (La Doctrine Soviétique du Droit International),” Académie de Droit International de la Haye, Recueil des Cours, I, 1947, 420.Google Scholar

8 This definition, approved by the Institute of Law of the Academy of Sciences in 1938, may be translated as follows: “Law is the sum total of rules of conduct expressing the will of the ruling class and established by the legislative process, and also of the customs and rules of community living sanctioned by state authority, the enforcement of which is secured by the coercive power of the state in order to protect, consolidate and develop such social relations and institutions as are advantageous and agreeable to the ruling class,” in Vyshinsky, A. Y., Voprosy Teorii Qosudarstva i Prava (Questions of the Theory of State and Law) (2nd ed., Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Juridičeskoj Literatury, 1949), p. 84 Google Scholar. This definition is still regarded as tentative. Active and sometimes acrimonious discussions of the proper definition of law are continuing in Soviet legal literature.

9 A. Y. Vyshinsky, “Meždunarodnoe Pravo i Meždunarodnaja Organizacija“ (International Law and International Organization), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 1, 1948, p. 22; reprinted in A. Y. Vyshinsky, Voprosy Meždunarodnogo Prava i Meždunarodnoj Politiki (1949), p. 480.

10 Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1951), p. 5. Chapter I, in which this definition appears, was prepared by E. A. Korovin, who was also the general editor of the book in the writing of which twelve other authors took part. This textbook was printed in 10,000 copies. For another recent variation of the definition of international law see Koževnikov, Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Meždunarodnoe Pravo, p. 5; cf. also Diplomatičeskij Slovar’ (Diplomatic Dictionary) (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Političeskoj Literatury, 1950), II, col. 123. Vyshinsky is editor-in-chief of the Diplomatic Dictionary.

11 See, e.g., Institut Prava Akademii Nauk SSSR, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1947), pp. 8–9; Vyshinsky, “Meždunarodnoe Pravo i Meždunarodnaja Organizacija,” Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 1, 1948, p. 20; Koževnikov, Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Meždunarodnoe Pravo, p. 25; Diplomatičeskij Slovar', II, col. 124; Korovin, “Ob Obščepriznannykh Normakh Meždunarodnogo Prava,” Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 9, 1951, p. 14.

12 Custom is also recognized as a source of international law. There is much reluctance, however, to accept “general principles of law” as a distinct source. See, e.g., Vyshinsky, “Meždunarodnoe Pravo i Meždunarodnaja Organizacija,” Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 1, 1948, p. 22; F. I. Koževnikov, Učebnoe Posobie po Meždunarodnomu Publičnomu Pravu (Study Aid for International Public Law) (Moscow, Juridičeskoe Izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Justicii SSSR, 1947), pp. 32–34; Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1951), pp. 15–19; Diplomatičeskij Slovar', II, col. 124. Cf. N. N. Poljanskij, Meždunarodnyj Sud (The International Court) (Moscow, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1951), pp. 124 ff.

13 Vyshinsky, , Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 1, 1948, p. 22 Google Scholar.

14 Ibid.; see also Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1951), p. 16, where treaties are said to be the basic source when they are voluntary expressions of the wills of the parties on a basis of equality.

15 See, e.g., Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Mežunarodnoe Pravo (1951), p. 12.

16 See, e.g., Diplomatičeskij Slovar', II, col. 125; Institut Prava Akademii Nauk SSSR, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1947), p. 5.

17 Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Mežunarodnoe Pravo (1951), p. 8. 18 A. Y. Vyshinsky, “O Nekotorykh Voprosakh Teorii Gosudarstva i Prava” (On Some Questions of the Theory of State and Law), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 6, 1948, pp. 7–8; reprinted in Vyshinsky, Voprosy Teorii Gosudarstva i Prava (2nd ed., 1949), pp. 409–10.

19 Vyshinsky, “Meždunarodnoe Pravo i Meždunarodnaja Organizacija,” Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 1, 1948, pp. 16–24. Vyshinsky's view is followed in subsequent Soviet writings.

20 Koževnikov, , Učebnoe Posobie po Meždunarodnomu Publičnomu Pravu (1947), p. 27 Google Scholar. Emphasis in the original.

21 S. B. Krylov, Materialy k Jstorii Organizacii Ob'edinënnykh Natsij (Materials for the History of the United Nations Organization) (Moscow and Leningrad, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1949), I, note, 212.

22 International trials of war criminals are explained as the application of an international criminal law distinct from public international law. Koževnikov, , Sovetskoe Qosudarstvo i Meždunarodnoe Pravo, p. 31 Google Scholar; but cf. pp. 360–68 and 141–60 (on human rights). The monograph of Modžorjan (see n. 55 below) on the subjects of international law has not been available to the reviewer.

23 Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1951), p. 5.

24 See n. 4 above. No comment on this book in Soviet periodicals has been found by the reviewer. The subsequent appointment of the author as editor-in-chief of Sovetskoe Qosudarstvo i Pravo to succeed Vyshinsky indicates that his work was not unacceptable to higher authorities.

25 Koževnikov, , Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Meždunarodnoe Pravo, pp. 255–56Google Scholar. The context indicates that the author relies, in terms of traditional international law, on a broad interpretation of the doctrine of changed circumstances (rebus sic stantibus).

26 Ibid., pp. 182–83. The quotation from Stalin is here given as translated in History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), Short Course (New York, International Publishers, 1939), p. 269. Emphasis by Koževnikov.

27 Koževnikov, , Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i MeMunarodnoe Pravo, pp. 23, 340Google Scholar; History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), Short Course, pp. 167–68.

28 Koževnikov, , Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Mežunarodnoe Pravo, pp. 103–4, 134.Google Scholar

29 Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Mežunarodnoe Pravo (1951), p. 199. 30 Ibid., p. 3.

31 Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Buržuaznoe Pravo na Službe Amerikanskogo Imperializma (Bourgeois Law at the Service of American Imperialism), “Trudy Instituta Prava” (Works of the Institute of Law), I (Moscow, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1951).

32 Kareva, M. P., Pravo i Nravstvennost’ v Socialističeskom Obščestve (Moscow, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1951), pp. 53–54 Google Scholar. Emphasis in the original. 33 Koževnikov, F. I., Russkoe Gosudarstvo i Mezdunarodnoe Pravo (Moscow, Juridičeskoe IzdatePstvo Ministerstva Justicii SSSR, 1947).Google Scholar

34 Korovin, E. A., Istorija Meždunarodnogo Prava (Moscow, 1946)Google Scholar, I. Much of the substance of this book is incorporated in Chapter II of the 1951 textbook.

35 The books published in Russian translations include Hudson's International Tribunals, Satow's Guide to Diplomatic Practice, Oppenheim's International Law, and Hyde's International Law Chiefly As Interpreted and Applied by the United States (Volume I published in translation in 1950). Of these translations, only the first part of Volume II of Oppenheim, published by Izdatel'stvo Inostrannoj Literatury in Moscow in 1949, and dealing with the settlement of international disputes and the law of war, has been available to the reviewer. The translation is accompanied by notes designed partly to bring the material up to date and partly to present distinctive Soviet views.

36 Koževnikov, , Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Meždunarodnoe Pravo, pp. 32–50, 250.Google Scholar

37 Institut Prava Akademii Nauk SSSR, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1947), pp. 153–56; Akademija Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1951), pp. 211–13.

38 Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 8, 1948, p. 72; translated in part in American Journal of International Law, XLIII (1949), 387.

39 Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 2, 1949, pp. 65, 67.

40 Ibid., No. 11, 1948, p. 87.

41 S. B. Krylov, “Bor'ba SSSR za Osnovnye Principy Meždunarodnogo Prava“ (Struggle of the USSR for the Fundamental Principles of International Law), in Akademija Obščestvennykh Nauk pri TsK VKP(b) (Academy of Social Sciences attached to the Central Committee of the All-Union Coumunist Party [B]), Učënye Zapiski (Scholarly Notes), III (Moscow, 1949), 26.

42 A. A. Anisimov, “K Voprosu o Suverenitete Germanii” (On the Question of the Sovereignty of Germany), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 5, 1949, p. 13. Anisimov asserts that Germany retained sovereignty despite the occupation.

43 Levin, I. D., Suverenitet (Sovereignty) (Moscow, Juridičeskoe Izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Justicii SSSR, 1948).Google Scholar

44 See, e.g., Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 4, 1949, pp. 10–11, 42–43.

45 Levin, I. D., “K Voprosu Suščnosti i Značenija Principa Suvereniteta” (On the Question of the Nature and Significance of the Principle of Sovereignty), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 6, 1949, p. 33.Google Scholar

46 Ibid., No. 7,1949, p. 10.

47 Levin, D. B., Diplomatičeskij Immunitet (Moscow and Leningrad, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1949).Google Scholar

48 Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 2, 1951, p. 89. It is common Soviet practice for book reviews to be written jointly by two or more persons.

49 There have been numerous articles, for instance, stating or elaborating in legal terms the Soviet opposition to the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty, and the “intervention” in Korea. Articles dealing with the more technical issues of current interest (see, e.g., V. M. Koreckij's attack on the claims of the United States and other nations to the resources of the continental shelf, Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 8, 1950, p. 55) may, perhaps, be also designed to reflect specific governmental policy which has not yet been publicly announced.

50 United Nations, General Assembly, Fifth Session, Official Records, Sixth Committee, October 16, 1950, pp. 59 ff., 64, 73–74; International Court of Justice Pleadings, Reservations to the Genocide Convention, p. 21. For previous views of Soviet writers see Institut Prava Akademii Nauk SSSR, Meždunarodnoe Pravo (1947), pp. 388–89; Polenc, O. E., Ratifikacija Meždunarodnykh Dogovorov (see n. 57 below), pp. 26-29 Google Scholar; Kolčanovskij, N. P., in Potemkin, V. P., ed., Istorija Diplomatii (History of Diplomacy) (Moscow and Leningrad, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Političeskoj Literatury, 1945), III, 809 Google Scholar. See also Memorandum on the Soviet Doctrine and Practice with respect to the Law of Treaties (Prepared by the Secretariat), UN Document A/CN.4/37, November 21, 1950, pp. 22–23. The 1951 textbook notes merely that reservations may be made at signature or accession and that they must be communicated to all the participants (pp. 408–9).

51 Cited in n. 41 above.

52 Cited in n. 10 above. The coverage of international law by the Dictionary has been criticized as inadequate. See review by S. Borisov, V. Durdenevskij and G. Zadorožnyj in Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 6, 1951, p. 85.

53 Bol'saja Sovetskaja ènciklopedija (2nd ed., 1950–). About ten volumes of the second edition have appeared so far.

54 Dorogin, V., Suverenitet v Sovetskom Gosudarstvennom Prave (Sovereignty in Soviet State Law) (Moscow, Akademija Obščestvennykh Nauk pri TsK VKP(b), 1948).Google Scholar

55 Modžorjan, L. A., O Sub'ekte Meždunarodnogo Prava (Moscow, 1948)Google Scholar; cited by Koževnikov, , Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Mežunarodnoe Pravo, p. 31 Google Scholar.

56 See n. 47 above.

57 Polenc, O. E., Ratifikacija Meždunarodnykh Dogovorov (Moscow and Leningrad, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1950).Google Scholar

58 Mežera, V. F., Immunitet Gosudarstvennykh Morskikh Sudov SSSR (Moscow and Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo “Morskoj Transport,” 1950)Google Scholar. Reviewed in Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, No. 8, 1950, p. 87.

59 V. I. Lisovskij, Torgovye Predstavitel'stva Sojuza SSSR za Granicej (1947), cited by Lunts (see n. 60 below), p. 189.

60 Lunts, L. A., Meždunarodnoe Castnoe Pravo (Moscow, Juridičeskoe Izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Justicii SSSR, 1949), pp. 188–98Google Scholar. This book also deals with the treatment of aliens and other topics related to public international law.

61 The law of war was covered by E. A. Korovin in Part ii of his Kratkij Kurs Meždunarodnogo Prava (A Short Course of International Law) (Moscow, Voenno-Juridičeskaja Akademija RKKA, 1944).

62 Trainin, A. N., Ugolovnaja Otvetstvennost” Gitlerovtsev (Moscow, Juridičeskoe Izdatel'stvo NKYu SSSR, 1944)Google Scholar; published in English translation as Hitlerite Responsibility under Criminal Law (London, Hutchinson & Co., n.d. [1945]).

63 Poljanskij, N. N., Meždunarodnoe Pravosudie i Prestupniki Voiny (International Justice and War Criminals) (Moscow and Leningrad, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1945)Google Scholar; N. N. Poljanskij, , Meždunarodnyj Voennyj Tribunal (The International Military Tribunal) (Moscow, Juridičeskoe Izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Justicii SSSR, 1946).Google Scholar

64 Raginskij, M. Y., Rozenblit, S. Y., Mežunarodnyj Process Glavnykh Japonskikh Voennykh Prestupnikov (The International Trial of Chief Japanese War Criminals) (Moscow and Leningrad, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1950).Google Scholar

65 Published in English as Materials on the Trial of Former Servicemen of the Japanese Army Charged with Manufacturing and Employing Bacteriological Weapons (Moscow, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1950).

66 Raginskij, M. Y., Rozenblit, S. Y., Smirnov, L. N., Bakteriologičeskaya Voina—Prestupnoe Orudie Imperialističeskoj Agressii (Bacteriological Warfare—Criminal Weapon of Imperialist Aggression) (Moscow, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1950).Google Scholar

67 Evgenev, V. V., Mežunarodno-Pravovoe Regulirovanie Reparacii posle Vtoroj Mirovoj Voiny (International Legal Regulation of Reparations after the Second World War) (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Juridičeskoj Literatury, 1950).Google Scholar

68 Cited in n. 21 above. Reasons for the failure of the USSR to join certain specialized agencies are given by N. Evgenev in News (Moscow), No. 10 (November 30, 1951), pp. 6–9 (in English).

69 Cited in n. 12 above.

70 Štejn, B. E., Sistema Meždunarodnoj Opeki (The System of International Trusteeship) (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Političeskoj Literatury, 1948).Google Scholar

71 Šuršalov, V. M., Režim Meždunarodnoj Opeki (The Regime of International Trusteeship) (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Juridičeskoi Literatury, 1951).Google Scholar

72 Krylov, S. B., Meždunarodno-Pravovoe Regulirovanie Radiosvjazi i Radioveščanija (International Legal Regulation of Radio Communication and Radio Broadcasting) (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Literatury po Voprosam Svjazi i Radio, 1950).Google Scholar

73 Dranov, B. A., Černomorskie Prolivy (Meždunarodno-Pravovoj Režim) (Moscow, Juridiceskoe Izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Justicii SSSR, 1948).Google Scholar

74 Potapov, V. P., Deribas, A. T., Kommerčeskaja èksploatacija Železnykh Dorog SSSR (Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe Transportnoe Izdatel'stvo, 1950), pp. 273–89.Google Scholar