Twists and Turns of the Legal Profession in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This roundtable will examine the historical trajectories of legal professionals — judges, prosecutors, investigators, and attorneys — in Russia over the past century, from 1917 to the present.
As Peter Stuchka, the first People's Commissar of Justice in Lenin’s 1917 government, once stated: "We don't need lawyers, we need communists." Building on this premise, we will explore the development of Soviet legal education from 1918 to the mid-1930s.
The discussion will focus on how legal professionals were trained and positioned within the Soviet and post-Soviet governments, the roles assigned to those with legal education, and how these roles evolved from the Soviet system’s inception in 1917 through its collapse in 1991, and into the post-Soviet era. In particular, we will examine legal careers in the 1960s and 1970s, the limited non-legal career alternatives for jurists, and the issue of professional prestige.
Turning to the role of legal professionals in Putin’s Russia, we will address the significant issue of prosecutorial actions in the renationalization of assets — an area that has become central to law enforcement efforts in recent years.
Additionally, we will analyze societal attitudes toward lawyers in post-Soviet Russia, exploring how Russians perceive legal professionals and how lawyers view their own profession. Which legal specializations are considered the most prestigious among law students in 21st-century Russia? Despite the increasing encroachment of authoritarianism under Putin, and the growing influence of politics on legal practice, the status of judges today remains higher than it was during the Soviet era.

Sub Unit

• Politics/Law

Chair

• Pavel Ivlev, KRES Poliskola

Roundtable Speakers

• Kathryn Hendley, U of Wisconsin-Madison

• William Eric Pomeranz, Woodrow Wilson Center, Kennan Institute

• Peter H. Solomon, U of Toronto (Canada)

• Ekaterina Mishina, Free U (Latvia)

• Suren Avanesyan, U of Wisconsin–Madison