Methodology fundamentals for investigating violations of the laws and customs of war

Abstract

Based on modern ideas on the concept of forensic methods of specific crimes investigation, their classification according to the level of generalisation of information contained therein and their structure, the article considers theoretical prerequisites for developing methods of investigation of violations of the laws and customs of war. The relevance of scientific developments in this area has been substantiated. Based on the definition of the criminal law classification of criminal acts included in the concept of "violation of the laws and customs of war", the author concludes that it is advisable to develop subspecies methods of investigation of crimes of certain types included in this concept.
 A typical structure of a separate methodology for investigating violations of the laws and customs of war has been proposed, which includes the following elements (blocks): 1) forensic characteristics of a war crime; 2) circumstances to be established; 3) peculiarities of detecting a crime and initiating criminal proceedings; 4) typical investigative situations, tasks and algorithms of the investigator regarding actions at the initial stage of the investigation; 5) typical investigative situations, tasks and algorithms of the investigator regarding actions at the next stage of the investigation; 6) organisation and planning of the investigation, interaction of the investigator with other subjects of criminal proceedings; 7) tactics of certain procedural actions: public and covert investigative (detective) actions, measures to ensure criminal proceedings, as well as tactical operations. It has been noted that among these constituent elements, a separate problem is the information content of the last block which is the forensic prevention measures. This is due to the practical impossibility of eliminating the causes and conditions contributing to war crimes, and taking special forensic measures to prevent, counteract and stop them.
 Crime prevention is possible only if there is effective control by the subject of such activity over the object. At present, national judicial and investigative bodies and any other subjects of state power do not have the ability to influence war crimes, and therefore there is no possibility to eliminate the causes and conditions of such crimes.