Legal foundations for the establishment of Soviet judicial authorities in Western Ukrainian Lands in 1939-1941

The article is dedicated to the legal foundations for the establishment of judicial authorities in the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR in 1939-1941. It characterizes the overall state of the Soviet judicial system at the time of the occupation of Western Ukrainian lands. This system included both union and republican judicial bodies. In addition to traditional courts, Soviet judicial processes were also carried out by pseudo-judicial bodies (such as «triika» and «dviika»). It is emphasized that under Soviet statehood, the court was not an independent authority of law enforcement but rather a submissive tool of the communist punitive-repressive apparatus. The article highlights the peculiarities of forming Soviet judicial authorities in the newly annexed regions and their staff. Specifically, regional, people’s (district and city) courts, and the Lviv Railway Line Court were established. Due to the disregard and lack of trust towards the local population, the Soviet occupation authorities actively recruited personnel from other regions of the Ukrainian SSR and even other republics of the USSR to form the judiciary. However, local residents were allowed to hold non-judicial positions. The newly arrived personnel were characterized by complete loyalty to the occupation authorities and had experience in judicial and party work. Along with the courts and their staff, the occupation authorities immediately implemented Soviet legislation into the judicial system and judicial processes in the Western Ukrainian lands. The article explores the Soviet imitation of judicial democracy in the Western Ukrainian lands. For this purpose, elections of people’s assessors were conducted, which were not free and were fully controlled and directed by the occupation authorities. As a result, the elected people’s assessors from the local population did not positively influence the activities of Soviet courts in the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR (in this regard, they did not differ from people’s assessors in other regions). Elections of people’s judges were never conducted in the Western Ukrainian lands during 1939-1941. Instead, they were appointed administratively, contrary to the requirements of the 1938 USSR law.