Organization of the Educational Process in the System of Correspondence Legal Education in the USSR

Legal education will soon be transformed in connection with Russia's withdrawal from the Bologna system. These circumstances actualize the understanding of the Soviet experience in the field of legal training. During the Soviet period, the training of lawyers was mainly carried out in correspondence form. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the process of correspondence education of law students in the USSR. The research is based on materials from the periodical legal press, regulatory legal and law enforcement acts. The work was carried out using formal legal and historical legal methods. The article presents data on the number of law students studying in absentia during the Soviet period, reflects the opinion of the heads of justice bodies regarding the departure of employees for the session, describes the benefits provided to part-time lawyers, shows measures to control the academic performance of part-time students. Correspondence legal education in the Soviet period was a significant stage in the career of a lawyer. The bodies of Soviet justice strove to improve the skills of their employees, established benefits for them during their studies, helped with the development of subjects and preparation for the session. At the same time, managers did not let employees go to study, because in conditions of a shortage of qualified employees, the departure of staff could lead to suspension of work. The bodies of Soviet justice supervised the training. Workload at work led to the fact that students often did not have time to master the material, dropped out or stayed for a second year. The Soviet government systematically created conditions for correspondence learning (benefits, job placement assistance), but in fact it was difficult for part-time students to find time to study.