The Law of Spikelets or the Law of Three Spikelets (Russian: Закон о трёх колосках) was a common name of the Soviet law to protect state property of kolkhozes. The common name came into use because the law was used to prosecute not only property thieves but also anyone who collected as little as a handful of grain or "spikelets" left behind in the fields after the entire harvest was officially collected and counted. The law was also known as the "Seven Eighths Law" (Закон 'семь восьмых', Zakon “sem’ vos’mykh”“), because the date in Russian is filled into forms as 7/8/1932.