Legal Regulation of Self-Employment of Citizens in Soviet Russia in Historical Retrospect

The article presents a retrospective study of the legal regulation of self-employment of citizens in Soviet socie-ties. Using a systematic approach, a study was conducted of the chronology of the development of self-employment of the population in Soviet Russia in the context of the adoption of regulations governing this activ-ity, and the author’s approach to identifying the stages of its development is presented: the first stage (1917–1929) – the formation of the Soviet state and the emergence of self-employment of citizens (the period of war communism and the new economic policy – NEP); the second stage (in the 1930–1940s) – the development of self-employment of the population in the conditions of building socialism during the Stalinist period; the third stage (1950–1970s) – the development of self-employment of citizens during the period of mature socialism; the fourth stage (1980s until December 8, 1991) – the development of self-employment during the period of the beginning of the reform of Soviet society and the collapse of the USSR. The work presents the main legal acts that were adopted to regulate self-employed citizens at each stage, presents the features of the legal regu-lation of self-employment, and identifies trends and problems. The study made it possible to present the mechanism of legal regulation of self-employed citizens, which was formed in Soviet society. The obtained results of the legal regulation of self-employment in Soviet society can be used to regulate individual labor ac-tivity in modern Russia.