The activities of the Soviet military justice authorities in Europe in the second half of the 1940s – early 1950s

This article is devoted to the activities of the Soviet military justice bodies in Europe in 1945-1953. This article is based on the documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The aim of this article is to identify the peculiarities of the activity of military justice. The methodological basis is the approach of P. Solomon. In the second half of the 1940s there was a continuous search for the optimal structure of the Soviet military justice in Europe. This process was accompanied by a reduction in their number. The competence of the Soviet military justice in Europe was characterised by broader powers. They dealt not only with specifically defined cases, but also with cases that fell within the jurisdiction of the general courts of justice and major cases of a political nature. Until the early 1950s, they were tried under wartime laws. There was a shortage of personnel with higher legal education. Despite the high prestige of serving abroad, the number of vacancies in military justice was high. The workload was not heavy, but the number of cases was not evenly distributed. These bodies were involved in several criminal law campaigns at the same time. Their activities were severely criticised by the leadership. Close attention was paid to the ‘soft’, ‘liberal’ judicial practice. The close attention of the leadership to military justice was due to suspicions of corruption.