Socialist theory and practice of punishment in Czechoslovakia on the example of the offense of rioting
Abstract
It goes without saying that the criminal law of the socialist era in Czechoslovakia (1948-1989) can not be exhaustively described in a brief text. At least three central characteristics of this right should be outlined: first, disrespect and abuse of procedural rules, second, class-based Legislation, ie the standardization of Communist ideologically influenced offenses; thirdly, the class-based interpretation of all, even of the wording neutral criminal offenses.
Against this background, the main theme of this essay is to describe the offense of excess ("vytrznictvi"), which combines the second and third characteristics, namely an extremely vague fact for the punishment of political dissenters, which leaves room for a political interpretation in the Sense of class justice. The criminal law was substantially redesigned after the turnaround in 1989-1990, but the offense of the riots exists until today, so that finally, questions of continuity have to be answered.