Court system of the Krasnoyarsk region during the Great Patriotic War (by the example of general jurisdiction courts)

During the Great Patriotic War the role of military tribunals increased. It was due to that fact that court and law-enforcement authorities faced to the aims of maintaining public order during the war time. As on the territory of the Krasnoyarsk region the martial law was not proclaimed, courts continued acting relying on the Act «About Judicial Code of the USSR, union and autonomous republics» as of August 16, 1938. According to this legislative a court system of the country was organized in respect of territorial attribute: people’s courts in regions and cities. Then, a territorial (regional) court. The highest instance the Supreme Court of the USSR considering under cassational procedure cases, which came from lower judicial authorities. The highest number of criminal cases was considered by people’s courts. In total for the first half of 1941 lower judicial bodies of the region received 24 837 criminal cases, where 21 133 people were convicted. In the second half of the year people’s courts received 19288 cases, in the course of which 16299 men were convicted. More serious crimes were included into duties of the regional court. In the 4th quarter of 1941 in the regional court 455 criminal cases on the charge of «counter-revolutionary» actions were considered. 91 of them are under criminal rule 58.10 part 1 of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic Criminal Code, 237 - 58.10 part 2, 58.14 - 120, other criminal rules - 7. During this period, the court discontinued 4 criminal cases against «counter-revolutionists». Absolution of an accused in commission of «counter-revolutionary crime» did not mean his release. On March 20, 1940 the USSR People's Commissar and the USSR Procurator General signed the Rule «About exemption order of the persons acquitted on cases about counter-revolutionary crimes». Since that time individuals acquitted by the court on these cases were not liable to instant release from custody but must be sent to the detention spaces, where they were brought from. In all mentioned cases courts were obliged to clarify previously in authorities of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs whether they had any objections from their side against release of these individuals. And if only there were not ones, the acquitted could release from prison. The main problem of the staff was a low level of education. As of June 1, 1941 from 88 people’s judges of the Krasnoyarsk region 29 did not have legal education, 56 had lower education only, however only 15 studied at correspondence law school.