Legal basis for the creation and activities of the VCHK

The article is devoted to the analysis of the process of creation, legal regulation and functioning of the first soviet special service, the All-Russian Emergency Commission for combating counterrevolution and sabotage. It is emphasized that the Cheka and its organs, first of all, implemented the operational search function. The specifics of the organizational and legal regulation of the Cheka's activities were associated with the period of the Civil War and foreign intervention. Changes in the legal status of the Cheka during different periods of its activity corresponded to the tasks of the bolshevik party and the Soviet state as a whole, and were aimed at strengthening territorial integrity and combating internal and external threats.