Ismail
17th February 2014, 00:11
Was reading an article on how Bierut asked Stalin to help write the 1952 Polish Constitution. The latter made a bunch of corrections to it, and then this happened:
One of the most consequential corrections which had a considerable impact on legislation and jurisprudence in the domain of civil law was more a result of Bieruts mistranslation than Stalins deliberate intention. In article 11 of the draft, which referred to the protection of private property of the means of production belonging to craftsmen and peasants, Stalin changed the expression private property (chastnaia sobstvennost) into personal property (lichnaia sobstvennost) ... Bierut, however, while translating Stalins corrections used a synonym individual property, and by doing so unwittingly introduced to the constitution a new, previously unknown type of property. What is interesting, is that this change turned out to be quite troublesome for Polish lawyers who were forced to work out whole new theories in order to justify and explain the meaning of individual property which was a novelty even to Marxist jurisprudence.
For those unaware of what Stalin meant by the term "personal property": "The [Soviet] Constitution [of 1936] explicitly states what citizens are entitled to possess as private wealth. Income from work, savings, home and household furnishings, objects for personal use and comfort such personal property may be both possessed and inherited (Article 10). Individual farmers and artisans may own small private farms or workshops 'based on their personal labor, provided there is no exploitation of the labor others' (Article 9). Members of collective farms may not only possess their dwelling-houses, but have for personal use garden plots of land, household livestock and small farm implements (Article 7). Thus private property in goods of consumption, or in small-scale means of production used by the individual, is protected by law." (Anna Louise Strong, The New Soviet Constitution, 1937, p. 68.)
The article, as well as another interesting article wherein Gomułka discusses Polish affairs with Stalin in 1945, can be found here: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/New_Ev_Pol_EarlyCW.pdf
One of the most consequential corrections which had a considerable impact on legislation and jurisprudence in the domain of civil law was more a result of Bieruts mistranslation than Stalins deliberate intention. In article 11 of the draft, which referred to the protection of private property of the means of production belonging to craftsmen and peasants, Stalin changed the expression private property (chastnaia sobstvennost) into personal property (lichnaia sobstvennost) ... Bierut, however, while translating Stalins corrections used a synonym individual property, and by doing so unwittingly introduced to the constitution a new, previously unknown type of property. What is interesting, is that this change turned out to be quite troublesome for Polish lawyers who were forced to work out whole new theories in order to justify and explain the meaning of individual property which was a novelty even to Marxist jurisprudence.
For those unaware of what Stalin meant by the term "personal property": "The [Soviet] Constitution [of 1936] explicitly states what citizens are entitled to possess as private wealth. Income from work, savings, home and household furnishings, objects for personal use and comfort such personal property may be both possessed and inherited (Article 10). Individual farmers and artisans may own small private farms or workshops 'based on their personal labor, provided there is no exploitation of the labor others' (Article 9). Members of collective farms may not only possess their dwelling-houses, but have for personal use garden plots of land, household livestock and small farm implements (Article 7). Thus private property in goods of consumption, or in small-scale means of production used by the individual, is protected by law." (Anna Louise Strong, The New Soviet Constitution, 1937, p. 68.)
The article, as well as another interesting article wherein Gomułka discusses Polish affairs with Stalin in 1945, can be found here: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/New_Ev_Pol_EarlyCW.pdf