Specific investigative practices of the USSR Military Prosecutor’s Office in the early 1930s (a case study of the Baltic Fleet)

The functions of any government agency are determined by a body of national and local normative legal acts. The historiographical situation is such that researchers rarely pay attention to military justice in general and its functioning in the early 1930s in particular. The research problem addressed in the article is the influence of the intradepartmental regulatory framework on the practical activities of the Soviet Military Prosecutor’s Office. The article analyzes a set of circular documents established by the early 1930s and determining the nature of the operational work of investigators at the Military Prosecutor’s Office to examine the stages of the development of a special system for recording fleet accident cases as a sign of their political importance, using the example of the Baltic Sea Naval Forces. The study of the law enforcement aspect draws upon two archival criminal cases on accidents in the Baltic Fleet submarine brigade. The findings lead to conclusions about the role and place of military justice authorities in the life of the army and navy of the Soviet state, their inability to interfere in the actions of the military command at the district level, as well as about the customizable nature of the practical activities of the Military Prosecutor’s Office.