Case Law of the Supreme Courts in Post-Soviet Legal Systems

Abstract

The article is dedicated to introduction of case law of the supreme courts in post-Soviet legal systems and the issues thereof. The author analyzes the means of unifying judicial practice by regulatory explanations of the supreme courts in Soviet legal systems. The thesis that such practices negatively affected the independence of the judiciary and generated formalism and passivity of the judiciary was justified. The author clarifies, which post-Soviet countries still have such regulatory explanations, and which ones have refused them and how that was done. The legal provisions, which introduced case law in such post-Soviet legal systems as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine are analyzed. The author states the necessity of further research of mechanisms for ensuring case law practice in post-Soviet legal systems.