Legislation on societies and unions of Soviet Russia (1917-1930s)

This article outlines a number of sources of law of various legal force that determine the legal status of non-governmental organizations in Soviet Russia in the 1917-1930s. Primarily, these are the Constitutions of the RSFSR and the USSR and Resolutions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars on societies and unions. The authors examine doctrinal documents (resolutions of party congresses, excerpts from speeches by party leaders, etc.) that characterize self-organization of Soviet society and legal framework for the activities of mass voluntary associations. The legal foundations for voluntary associations operation in Soviet Russia, as well as specifics of legislative acts regulating their formation and activities, and the forms of control over them by the authorities, have not been fully studied in academic literature. This research aims to bridge this gap. Based on the analysis of a wide range of published sources, as well as the standpoint of modern methodology of critical legal research, the article investigates legal policy of the Soviet government aimed at developing a new legal framework for the activities of societies and unions including the principles of their relationship with the state in terms of formation, re-registration and termination of activities of mass voluntary organizations.