Crimes Against Citizens Political and Labor Rights

in Soviet criminal law, violations of the political and labor rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of the USSR. In the criminal codes of the Union republics this group of crimes is treated in a special chapter, for example, Chapter 4 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. Such crimes include preventing Soviet citizens by force, deception, threats, or bribery from exercising their right to vote, deliberately counting ballots incorrectly, falsifying electoral papers, preventing women from participating in state or cultural activities in a way that significantly infringes on the equality of women, illegal search, illegal eviction or other illegal acts that violate the sanctity of the home, and violation of citizens’ privacy of correspondence.

The criminal codes establish liability for violation of labor legislation, such as the illegal discharge of a worker from a job for personal reasons, failure to carry out a court decision to reinstate a person, and any deliberate significant violation of labor law committed by an official. Liability is also prescribed for refusing to hire a woman because she is pregnant or has a young baby or for discharging a woman on these grounds.

Officials are also criminally responsible for violating safety regulations, industrial health regulations, or other labor protection regulations if the violations have resulted in bodily injury, disability, or death and also if they could have caused accidents involving people or other grave consequences.

Copyrights on literary, musical, or other artistic works and on scientific works are protected by the criminal codes, as are inventors’ rights to their inventions and improvements.