Socialist law or
Soviet law denotes a general type of
legal system which has been used in
communist and formerly communist states. It is based on the
civil law system, with major modifications and additions from
Marxist-Leninist ideology. There is controversy as to whether socialist law ever constituted a separate legal system or not. If so, prior to the end of the
Cold War,
socialist law would be ranked among the major legal systems of the world.