Ways of overcoming gender asymmetry in local judicial authorities in the Urals in 1920 — in the middle of 1930s

The article describes the process of woman involvement in a new Soviet system of law-enforcement authorities while its creation and formation in the beginning of 1920s — in the middle of 1930s using the example of the Urals. The legal principles of this process such as declaration of gender equality, formation of law-enforcement agencies regardless of gender identity, policy of involvement of women in the work of public authorities are defined. It’s discovered that a local court (people’s court, provincial court, district court) was the first body that overcame a gender asymmetry. In such courts women worked as people’s assessors. More and more women were appointed as people’s assessors as far as the socialist construction and the delegatory women’s movement developed. The first step for women promotion was women and delegatory meetings. It’s revealed that in practice the process developed very slowly (in the beginning of 1930s there was a few percent of female judges) and men had an aggressive attitude towards it. We’ve come to the conclusion that etatism principles, state support of the institute of people’s assessors as one of the constitutional principles of Soviet legal proceedings aimed to express its democratic character, the development of proletarian women’s movement and female activism played an important role in overcoming the gender asymmetry in law-enforcement authorities.