Historical aspects of the disclosure and investigation of premeditated murders related to the unknown disappearance in the 1960s-1980s (based on the materials of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Irkutsk Regional Executive Committee)

Introduction: of all the categories of crimes against the person, the most difficult to solve and investigate are murders related to the unknown disappearance of people. This is due to the fact that the time, place, method and other forensic signs that are significant for the investigation of the crime are not known, as well as the very fact of the existence of a crime as such. In Russia, at the present stage, regulations, organizational measures and technical means, operational search forms and methods allow us to solve the tasks of establishing the circumstances of the unknown disappearance of citizens quite effectively and to use the information received in a timely manner when solving crimes against the person. Nevertheless, the changing international situation and related phenomena (local hostilities and the associated migration of a significant number of the population) suggest a negative trend towards an increase in the number of missing people, including victims of crimes. Taking into account the above, the law enforcement agencies of the state need to take additional measures to ensure the safety of the population, including in the area under consideration. In this regard, the historical experience of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in general and the Irkutsk region in particular in the organization of work on the disclosure of premeditated murders can be in demand in modern conditions. Materials and Methods: the research materials were articles by scientists, the norms of the legislation of the USSR and the RSFSR, departmental acts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs-the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (RSFSR), archival documents. The methodological basis of the research is a complex of general scientific methods, such as analysis, synthesis, comparison, and special methods: historical-legal, system-structural, comparative-legal. The Results of the Study: allowed us to reveal the process of development of the organization of the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR in 1968-1985 to solve murders related to the unknown disappearance of citizens, to identify factors affecting the effectiveness of this activity, to highlight certain organizational and practical aspects of the activities of the departments of the Department of Internal Affairs of the IO in terms of the implementation of the function of the Soviet state in this area, to introduce previously unpublished archival materials into scientific circulation. documents of the period under review. Findings and Conclusions: the analysed materials made it possible to reveal the specificity of forms and methods used by law enforcement agencies of the USSR in general and in the Irkutsk region in particular, aimed at solving and investigating crimes against persons and establishing the whereabouts of missing persons who became victims of crime, as well as made it possible to assess its effectiveness.