THE INFLUENCE OF MARTIAL STATUS ON THE LAW ENFORCEMENT PRACTICE OF INVESTIGATING MILITARY CRIMES

Abstract

In the article it has been emphasized that military crimes are characterized
by increased public danger, especially in the conditions of armed aggression
against Ukraine and active hostilities on its territory. It has been emphasized that
law enforcement practice plays a significant role in the development of an unified
approach to the application of the norms of criminal material and procedural law,
especially during the investigation of criminal offenses under the conditions of the
legal regime of martial law. It has been established that clarifying the state of law
enforcement practice in the investigation of military crimes is an important
component of the theoretical foundations of the study of these criminal offenses.
It has been emphasized that law enforcement practice, including the investigation
of military crimes, is a “mirror” that reflects the reliability and effectiveness of
substantive and procedural law. It has been substantiated that the law
enforcement practice of investigating military crimes reflects the level of:
regulatory regulation of criminal procedural activity; investigation organization;
scientific, methodical and resource support; effectiveness of the investigation
process of the defined category of criminal offenses. It has been established that
the introduction and operation of the legal regime, as well as the grounds for such
a decision, directly affect the structure of military crimes, as well as the
procedural and forensic aspects of the investigation of such criminal offenses. It
has been found that the law enforcement practice of investigating military crimes
changed under the influence of many factors: changes in the order of initiation of
pre-trial investigation in connection with the adoption in 2012 of the new Code of
Criminal Procedure of Ukraine; introduction of the institutions “criminal offense”
and “criminal misdemeanor”; changes in the system of law enforcement agencies
authorized to detect and carry out pre-trial investigation of war crimes; changes
in the regulation of the defense sphere in general and the order of military service
in particular; the structure and dynamics of military crime; presence and nature
of the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine; etc.