A new law enforcement structure that may appear in Ukraine will deal with criminal cases of the military. The idea is based on the American justice system, and investigations of crimes will be carried out by police officers, lawyers, as well as former employees of the SBU and the State Bureau of Investigation.
In Ukraine they want to create a military police that will investigate war crimes and maintain discipline among the military. People's deputies of the Verkhovna Rada are working on the bill together with the Main Directorate of Military Justice of the Ministry of Defense. Focus asked lawyer Nikolai Maksimov to explain what the new law enforcement structure will do and who will work in it.
In the image and likeness of the Americans
Now the military law enforcement service is dealing with war crimes in Ukraine, military lawyer Nikolai Maksimov tells Focus. Some of the crimes committed by the military are recorded by the National Police, investigated by the prosecutor's office and considered by a civilian court.
The problem is that most law enforcement officials do not understand military legislation in detail, and therefore cannot conduct investigations taking into account the peculiarities of wartime and the order established in military structures.
“I can give an example that was discussed at a legal forum several months ago, where issues of military justice were discussed. The situation is as follows: at a checkpoint where the ATO was previously carried out, and now there is a full-fledged war, a military man shot at a civilian car that did not stop when requested. The case was tried in a regular court, classified as murder, and the military man is serving his sentence in prison. If a military court had considered the case, they would have taken into account the norms of military law and released the person from punishment,” says Maksimov.
According to him, the main idea of the military police is that investigations of crimes committed by the military should be carried out by specialists qualified in this field. These could be active police officers after retraining, former employees of the SBU, State Bureau of Investigation, or lawyers who have similar experience in defense. The basis for the military police should be the American military justice system. Future police officers can receive training from foreign colleagues and gain experience, adapting it to Ukrainian realities.
“Military legislation is based on a huge number of legal acts, orders of the Ministry of Defense, which lawyers, the National Police, and current prosecutors are not always familiar with. The judges who attended the legal forum in Kyiv admitted that they could not retrain in a couple of months to handle cases involving the military. And there are a huge number of crimes. The courts are overloaded with civil cases and are physically unable to provide proper investigations and judicial decisions,” the expert continues.
Work specifics
As an example of crimes that should be dealt with by military justice, the expert cites the story of a sergeant who shot a lieutenant colonel. For the murder of his leader, he actually received a suspended sentence: the court referred to mitigating circumstances, saying that there was hazing in the unit and the defendant was forced to carry out inadequate orders.
“The military says that not following orders is unacceptable in their sphere. If the case had been tried by a military court, the punishment would have been much more severe. Another example of a war crime is when a serviceman left his unit without permission. In this case, defendants often refer to health conditions, hazing, and illegal orders. And civil courts impose short sentences. From the military’s point of view, such cases create precedents for others to disobey orders, knowing that they can get by with a “light” punishment,” Maksimov continues.
The lawyer also notes that the difficulty in investigating criminal offenses committed by the military lies in the fact that the police do not have free access to the military unit. The same applies to access to state secrets. Police sometimes spend months trying to obtain military-classified information needed to investigate a case.
The military police will also deal with issues of abuse of power by the leaders of the TCC and the joint venture. Including corruption cases. As for situations where disabled military personnel are mobilized, today, according to the lawyer, these cases are not classified as criminal. And the military police will deal specifically with criminal offenses.
Let us remind you that on August 14, the State Bureau of Investigation announced the start of a pre-trial investigation into the fact that a Navy captain beat a subordinate in one of the military units in the Odessa region.
