The Law of Spikelets or Law of Three Spikelets (, Закон о пяти колосках, Закон семь-восемь) was a decree in the Soviet Union to protect state property of kolkhozes (Soviet collective farms)—especially the grain they produced—from theft, largely by desperate peasants during the Soviet famine of 1932–33. The decree was also known as the "Seven Eighths Law" (, Zakon "sem' vos'mykh""), because the date in Russian is filled into forms as 7/8/1932 (7th August 1932). The law provided for judicial repression for stolen collective and cooperative property "execution with confiscation of all property and replacement in mitigating circumstances with imprisonment for at least 10 years with confiscation of all property." Amnesty was prohibited in these cases. From 1932 to 1940, 182,173 people were convicted under this law. Although the formal name of the law was longer, the common names Law of Spikelets or Law of Three Spikelets came into use because of the article and brochure of Prosecutor General A.Vyshinsky (1933), where he condemned the practice to prosecute both corrupt officials and also those who gleaned the grains (or spikelets) left behind in the fields after the entire harvest was officially collected and counted. The decree was accepted and harshly used during the Soviet famine of 1932–33, to provide food for industrial workers and the poorest rural residents. Basis of decree The decree of the All-Union Central Executive Committee and the All-Union Council of People's Commissars, "About protection of the property of state enterprises, kolkhozes and cooperatives, and strengthening of the public (socialist) property", is dated on 7 August 1932. Before it the prosecution for theft of state or cooperative property was formal and didn't exceed 2–5 years of prison or community work, which wasn't a barrier for mass thefts of foodstuff and property, especially in kolkhozes. The Soviet state intended to stop it with increased penalties and even death for especially grave crimes against people and state. The preamble stated that the communal property (state, kolkhoz, or cooperative property) is fundamental for the Soviet social order, therefore people who try to appropriate it must be treated as enemies of the people and socialist rule. Section I covers theft at railways and of water communications. Section II covers theft of kolkhoz and cooperative property. Section III of the law covers violence, threats and intimidation of kolkhozniks. The punishment was 5 to 10 years of concentration camp time. The highest punishment