| Central Executive Committee of the USSR | |
| House Type: | Bicameral |
| House1: | Soviet of the Union |
| House2: | Soviet of Nationalities |
| Coa Pic: | Coat of arms of the Soviet Union (1923–1936).svg |
| Coa Res: | 150px |
| Meeting Place: | Kremlin Senate[1] |
| Established: | 1922 |
| Preceded By: | None (creation of a new state) |
| Disbanded: | 1938 |
| Succeeded By: | Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union |
| Voting System1: | Indirect election
|
| Voting System2: | Indirect election
|
The Central Executive Committee of the USSR (Russian: Центральный исполнительный комитет СССР|Tsentralʹnyĭ ispolnitelʹnyĭ komitet SSSR), which may be abbreviated as the CEC,[2] was the supreme governing body of the USSR in between sessions of the All-Union Congress of Soviets from 1922 to 1938. The Central Executive Committee elected the Presidium, which, like its parent body, was the delegated governing authority when the other was not in session. The chairman of the Presidium, served as the ceremonial head of state of the USSR. The Central Executive Committee also elected the Council of People's Commissars which was its executive and administrative organ. The Central Executive Committee of the USSR was established in 1922 by the First All-Union Congress of Soviets, and was replaced by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1938.
Initially the committee had four co-chairs, after 1925 there were seven. The Kazakh and Kirghiz SSRs were created in 1936 and did not have co-chairs in the committee, as it dissolved just two years later.
The Central Executive Committee was created with the adoption of the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR in December 1922. The Central Executive Committee was elected by the Congress of Soviets to govern on its behalf whenever the Congress of Soviets was not in session. The Central Executive Committee was convened by the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee, which was elected by the Central Executive Committee to govern on its behalf whenever it was not in session.[3]
The Central Executive Committee of the USSR should not be confused with the Central Executive Committees that operated in each of the Soviet Union's constituent republics. These were:
The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee consisted of 21 members and included the Presidia of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. A representative of each constituent republic (initially four) was elected one of the directors of the presidium.
Mikhail Kalinin (December 30, 1922 – January 12, 1938)
Grigory Petrovsky (December 30, 1922 – January 12, 1938)
Alexander Chervyakov (December 30, 1922 – June 16, 1937)
As more entities (usually previously Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics) were promoted to the status of constituent republics of the USSR, they received representation among the directors of the Presidium:
The 1924 Soviet Constitution defined the powers of the CEC as: