NCJ Number
87773
Date Published
1982
Length
53 pages
Annotation
This article argues that drastic reductions in violent crime and the emergence of a democratic and educational legal system in Cuba since its 1959 revolution have occurred as a result of the wider revolution in political economy, social organization, class structure, and social values.
Abstract
The laws and the justice institutions have not only reflected these larger developments but have also been instrumental in bringing them about. The shift from elite dictatorship on behalf of the proletariat to an increasingly decentralized and particularly proletarian democracy is the political result of the revolution in economy and class relations. This proletarian democracy rests on free elections, community control, and the right to due process. The first revolutionary laws from 1959 to 1961 guided the effort to eliminate imperialism and capitalism and provided the foundations for socialist reconstruction. Since 1970, Cuba has fundamentally reorganized government, economy, and justice along more directly participatory lines. However, the Nation still faces the continuing problems of egoism, sexism, and opportunism, as well as new problems of bureaucratic elitism and social tensions. Crime is one aspect of the difficulties during transition, and Cuba faces problems of juvenile delinquency, sharply increasing divorce rates, domestic quarrels, petty theft, and some black marketeering. The newly reorganized justice system emphasizes nonpunitive, educational sanctions; informal procedures; and the direct role of citizen volunteers in policing, adjudication, crime prevention, and rehabilitation. Tables are provided.