Russia Center Offers Book On Soviet Law

A system of law and a system of "unlaw" exist together in the Soviet Union, according to Harold J. Berman, professor of Law and an associate in the Russian Research Center. Berman's new book, "Justice in Russia," just published by the University Press, is the second in the Center's series of books dealing with the conditions and development of the Soviet Union.

"Soviet law is always precarious; the secret police may step in at any time," Berman writes. But where no question of political or "counter-revolutionary" crime is involved, he adds, the Stalin regime has in the past 15 years officially emphasized "stability of laws," based on Soviet concepts of justice.

Berman links the "Restoration of Law" since the mid-1930's with "the return to a sense of tradition, to Russian history, to patriotism." Instead of Communism swallowing up Russia, "today we see that Russia has swallowed up Communism."