Special procedure for military courts to try terrorist crimes: historical parallels

Contemporary criminal procedure legislation establishes some features of the procedure for criminal proceedings relating to terrorist crimes. However, the size and importance of such features are so insignificant that there is no differentiation in the form of proceedings in this group. Meanwhile, in the second half of the 19th and early 20th century, military criminal proceedings in Russia were characterized by significant specifics in criminal cases involving state crimes. The study of historical experience seems to be very useful for determining the directions for improving the current legislation, because in contemporary criminal proceedings, the consideration of criminal cases on terrorist crimes is attributed to the competence of military courts. Purpose: to identify the peculiarities of criminal proceedings concerning state crimes related to terrorist activities used in the military courts of tsarist Russia, and on the basis of a comparative analysis with the current procedure, to outline ways to improve modern criminal procedure legislation. Methods: the dialectical method is the methodological basis of the study. In addition, general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis and a systematic approach are used, as well as special legal methods: historical-legal, legal interpretation and logical-legal. Results: the study shows that the steps taken by the modern legislator in regulating criminal proceedings on terrorist crimes largely repeat the processes that took place in the legislation of the Russian Empire during the period when the country faced an unprecedented terrorist threat. At the same time, the historical and legal analysis reveals gaps in the current regulation of procedural activities, such as the lack of influence of special legal regimes (including the legal regime of the counter-terrorism operation) on the procedural form of criminal proceedings.