Since the Soviet judicial system is patterned largely after the political system, the study is introduced with an explanation of the governmental plan of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics and its constituent parts. The author, who is thoroughly conversant with Russian language, life, and politics, has discussed the political and social philosophy of the Soviet as it affects the administration of criminal justice.

The material has been collected not only from published records but from firsthand observation in Russia. It has been brought up to date by a summary of a Project for a New Soviet Code of Criminal Procedure (August, 1931).

Based on proletarian political philosophy, the Soviet Codes differ very widely from Russian Imperial Law and from European practice in general, the most striking instance being, the abolishment of trial by jury. By considering the social, economic, and human background of Soviet Law, the author has brought out these contrasts in a lucid fashion, and although the book is primarily a legal treatise, it provides a wealth of new information for general readers.