PECULIARITIES OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS CONDUCTED BY MILITARY PROSECUTORS DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

This article examines the specific activities of the military prosecutor's office in investigating crimes during the Great Patriotic War. In conditions of a front-line situation with limited time and resources, military prosecutors performed not only supervisory but also investigative functions, acting in close cooperation with the command, counterintelligence agencies and military tribunals.
The purpose of the article is to investigate the specifics of the implementation of the investigative and supervisory functions of the military prosecutor's office in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War, to determine the specifics of frontline investigation and law enforcement practice in extreme conditions, as well as to reveal the significance of the historical experience of the military prosecutor's office for the evolution of the domestic legal system and the institution of investigation.
Based on archival data and modern scientific sources, the real conditions in which investigations were conducted are considered: military operations, shortage of personnel, and lack of standard procedural capabilities. Special attention is paid to the methodology of documenting crimes, interaction with the command, counterintelligence agencies and the medical service. The issues of qualification of acts, the evidence base, and the specifics of frontline investigation were also addressed. Through the prism of historical experience, the contribution of the military prosecutor's office to the development of the postwar legal system and the institution of emergency investigation is revealed. The study highlights the specifics of the front line investigation, including the problems of collecting evidence, the speed of procedural decisions and the limited possibilities of legal protection of the accused.
Special attention is paid to such types of offences as desertion and looting. The author analyses the regulatory framework, archival materials, and historical and legal literature, which enables an objective assessment of the contribution of the military prosecutor's office to ensuring discipline, legality, and stability within the military machine of the USSR. The work emphasises that even during the war, the investigative function retained the features of legal control, which played a significant role in strengthening military discipline and statehood.

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