Elections of people’s judges in the late 1940s – early 1950s: organization, conduct, results (on the example of the Kursk region)

The main issues related to the organization and procedure of elections of people’s judges in the period from the late 1940s to the early 1950s are considered. The analysis of normative legal acts adopted by the bodies of Soviet power, the provisions of which are devoted to the requirements for candidates for the positions of people’s judges, the principles and procedure for holding elections of people’s judges in the late 1940s – early 1950s, is carried out, and a conclusion is made about the degree of influence of a political party on the mechanism of formation of the judicial corps. This influence took place in several forms: from the organization of the election procedure, the conduct of election campaigns to direct participation in the selection and approval of candidates for the positions of people's judges. The study of archival documents allowed us to form a real idea of the procedure for selecting judges of the time period under study. Many of the documents stored in the archives of the Kursk region are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. We believe that the Kursk region in this case represented a typical example of the procedure for the formation of the judicial corps in the RSFSR. A systematic analysis of normative acts, archival documents and legal literature allowed us to conclude that, despite the complete regulatory regulation of the procedure for organizing and holding elections of people's judges, the mechanism for forming the judicial corps was imperfect and needed to be reformed.