Legislation

(1) One of the basic methods by which the state exercises its functions, consisting in the promulgation of laws by agencies of state power. In the USSR legislation is the exclusive prerogative of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Constitution of the USSR, 1971, art. 32) and of the Supreme Soviets of the Union and autonomous republics. The enactment of legislation is the most important activity of the Supreme Soviets, since the laws they promulgate encompass the most important aspects of the country’s economic, sociocultural, and political development, as well as the fundamental problems of foreign policy.
(2) The body of legal norms regulating social relations as a whole or one of the forms of social relations, including civil and criminal legislation.