AN ESSAY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE THEORY IN RUSSIA. Part 2. The fate of the presumption after the October Uprising and in the postwar period

There was a tense struggle in the post-October time which forced participants to forget about universal values. A revolutionary and counter-revolutionary consciousness did not acknowledge the presumption of innocence. The end of the civil war and the adoption of the RSFSR Criminal Procedure Code did not eliminate class warfare, which had taken new forms. The presumption of guilt was introduced into the law enforcement practice. It resulted in obtaining confessions from accused persons. At the same time, the legalization of the M. S. Strogovich’s presumption of innocence formula was being continued. Results of this work emerged in 1978 when the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR enshrined this presumption. However, attempts of stating it in laws were not successful. The presumption of innocence was mistakenly found in Art. 160 of the 1977 USSR Constitution. In fact, the comparison of this norm with Art. 7 of the Fundamental Principles of Criminal Procedure of the USSR and Union Republics let us conclude that there was the principle of administration of justice by the court alone.