I don't think that's necessarily true. This is a trick for working around the rule of law, but totalitarian governments don't need that subtlety. They have dummy courts and full control over what's legal. To take the most extreme example, Nazis didn't pass harsh jaywalking laws and then use them on Jews; they actively made laws against Jews.
Even the most tyranical regimes can not blatantly declare the ruler god-emperor like Egyptian Pharoes, that just wouldn't fly - they keep up the appearences one way or the other.
Soviet Union still felt the need to hold elections and have laws, China officials were removed using charges of corruption, etc.
