The analysis rests on document reviews, interviews with criminal justice personnel in the Soviet Union, observations of trials, and an unofficial visit with Soviet 'refuseniks.' The analysis showed that the development of criminal law and procedures in the Soviet Union recapitulates in microcosm the evolutionary and revolutionary social history of that society. Since 1917 the official position on crime has been that it rarely or never happens. However, glasnost and perestroika have initiated drastic changes in the official position on the nature and scope of the crime problem as well as its causes. The Soviet criminal justice system appears similar to that of the United States in many ways, but it has many significant difference. In the Soviet Union, the preliminary investigation is a critical phase of criminal proceedings and is supervised at all stages by the procurator, a professionally trained lawyer. The overall process is more inquisitorial than adversarial. The move to introduce the defense attorney at an earlier stage in the legal process will probably have a more significant impact than any other change being introduced. Footnotes.