USSR Central Executive Committee

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Верховный Совет Советского Союза
Legislative body in the Soviet Union
Type
Type	Bicameral
Chambers	Soviet of Nationalities Soviet of the Union
History
Established	1938
Disbanded	1991
Preceded by	Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union
Succeeded by	Congress of People's Deputies Several post-Soviet Supreme Councils: list  Supreme Soviet of Russia Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Supreme Soviet of Belarus Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Supreme Council of Estonia Supreme Soviet of Latvia Supreme Council of Lithuania Supreme Soviet of Kazakhstan Supreme Soviet of Armenia Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan Assembly of Turkmenistan
Seats	542 (at dissolution)
Elections
Voting system	Direct non-competitive elections (1936—1989) Elected by Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union (1989—1991)
Last election	4 March 1984 (last direct election) 25 May 1990 (last - and only - indirect election)
Meeting place
Grand Kremlin Palace, Moscow Kremlin

The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (Russian: Верхо́вный Сове́т СССР, Verkhóvnyj Sovét SSSR) was the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments. It elected the Presidium serving as the collective head of state of the Soviet Union, formed the Council of Ministers and the Supreme Court, and appointed the Procurator General of the Soviet Union.

The Supreme Soviet was made up of two chambers, each with equal legislative powers, with members elected for four-year terms:

Under the Soviet constitutions of 1936 and 1977, the Supreme Soviet was imbued with great lawmaking powers.

After 1989 it consisted of 542 deputies (down from previously 1,500). The meetings of the body were also more frequent, from six to eight months a year. The presidium carried out the day-to-day operations of the Supreme Soviet when it was not in session.

Beside the Supreme Council, in the Soviet Union supreme councils also existed in each of union and autonomous republics. The supreme councils of republican level also were headed by their presidiums, but all those councils consisted of one chamber. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, some councils of the succeeded independent republics simply changed their name to their historic or to emphasise the importance of the council as a national parliament, while others went through some major restructuring by changing to double-chamber assemblies. All republics in the Soviet Union were soviet (as soviet national), yet 15 were of union level, while the other, autonomous republics, were subordinated to the union republics.

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