USE OF SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE DURING DOCUMENTATION AND INVESTIGATION OF WAR CRIMES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problems of documentation of war crimes. It
should be carried out in accordance with international legal standards in order to
ensure that in the future the perpetrators are brought to criminal responsibility
not only at the national, but also at the international level. It has been noted that,
taking into account the complexity and specificity of the mechanism of
committing war crimes, law enforcement officers have to use special knowledge
during the collection and research of traces of war crimes and other evidentiary
information. It has been established that special knowledge is knowledge from
various fields of science, technology and art, which: are not professional for an
employee of a pre-trial investigation body; obtained as a result of professional
education and/or practical experience; necessary to establish circumstances that
are subject to proof and/or are important in criminal proceedings. It has been
found that special knowledge during the recording and pre-trial investigation of
war crimes is used in both procedural and non-procedural forms. It has been
emphasized that the use of special knowledge during the pre-trial investigation of
war crimes is aimed at identifying, recording and extracting all possible and
important traces that contain evidentiary information about the circumstances of
the committed offense and its consequences; ensuring the safety of participants in
investigative (search) actions; recording with the help of technical means the
progress and results of investigative (search) actions; obtaining advisory
assistance during preparation for carrying out certain procedural actions, during
the adoption of certain procedural decisions; determination of the action
algorithm for a specific investigative situation; organization and implementation
of interaction; obtaining information using information and search,
telecommunication and computer systems, etc.