Revolution in the Balance: Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba.

• Author: Whitlock, Eugene

The average American knows little about the legal practices and laws of other countries. In Revolution in the Balance, Debra Evenson(1) removes some of the mystery surrounding socialist legal systems by presenting, in detail, the Cuban legal system.

Ever since Fidel Castro assumed power in 1959, the operation of law in Cuba has seemed, to the uninformed observer, unsystematic and dictatorial. Evenson's exhaustive research, however, reveals that Castro and his fellow revolutionaries have been working to develop a legal system that is faithful to the Cuban brand of socialism. To that end, the Cuban legal system has undergone continuous reform in an attempt to promote its ultimate goal: a perfect socialist democracy.

Evenson examines the accomplishments of Castro's socialist revolution by looking at the development of the Cuban legal system in terms of "the evolution of the framework of law and legal process that establishes and regulates the complex interrelationships between the structures of the state and the collective and its individual members" (pp. 2-3).

Evenson's objective seems rather ambitious; nonetheless, she reaches her goal through a thorough exposition of various fields of Cuban law, such as commercial, family, and criminal law, using examples and anecdotal evidence taken from statutes, journals, and even government officials. In the end, a picture emerges that is remarkably detailed and fully reflective of the impressive research Evenson conducted on trips to Cuba over the last ten years. With Revolution in the Balance, Evenson presents an excellent overview of Cuban law and the Cuban legal system.

Evenson begins with a brief legal history of Cuba from its independence after the Spanish-American War in 1898 to the defeat of the Batista government by Castro's revolutionaries in 1959. She discusses how the involvement of other nations in this history influenced the development of the Cuban legal system. For example, the Spanish influence manifested itself in Cuba's adoption of parts of the civil law tradition, while the United States's influence, through its participation in the Spanish-American War, was realized in the borrowing of certain American legal concepts such as the separation of powers. Evenson then traces the passage and subsequent demise of four national constitutions before the 1959 revolution and attributes their failure to their inability to create stable and legitimate political institutions.

Evenson next discusses the reorganization of the legal system that occurred during Castro's first years as leader of the revolution. She illustrates how the first laws passed by the new government, whose members were "appointed" by Castro, essentially "paved the way for consolidation of power in the hands of Fidel Castro and his supporters" (p. 11). Crucial to Castro's success was his establishment of parallel institutional structures, such as ministries and courts, to carry out his policies and to punish those who had collaborated with the previous regime.

In Chapter Two, Evenson shifts into a theoretical discussion of "socialist legality" -- the ideological basis from which all laws in a socialist state are derived. Evenson reviews the different meanings given to socialist legality and concludes that the concept implies a system of law whose objective "is not only to regulate but to transform society" into a pure socialist...