USSR REPORT MILITARY AFFAIRS MILITARY CRIMINAL LAW FOR COMMANDERS

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• Publication Date: January 18, 1985
• Content Type: REPORT

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JPRS-UMA-85-005-L
18 January 1985
USSR Report
MILITARY AFFAIRS
MILITARY CRIMINAL LAW FOR COMMANDERS
Ed. by
A. G. Gornyy
FBIS
FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE
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18 January 1985
USSR REPORT
MILITARY AFFAIRS
MILITARY CRIMINAL LAW FOR COMMANDERS
Moscow KOMANDIRU -- 0 VOYENNOM-UGOLOVNOM ZAKONODATEL'STVE in Russian
1983 (signed to press 10 Aug 82) pp 1-176
[Book "Military Criminal Law for Commanders," under the general
editorship of Col-Gen Just A. G. Gornyy, "Voyenizdat," 35,000
copies, 176 pages]
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1. The Concept of the Military Crime . . . . . . . . . . 7
1. Definition of the Concept of the Military Crime . . . . . . . . 7
2. The Subject of Military Crime ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3. Complicity in Military Crimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4. The Military Crime and the Disciplinary Offense.. . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 2. Penalties Applied to Military Servicemen . . . . . . . . . . 17
1. The Objectives of Criminal Punishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2. Penalties Applied to Military Servicemen . . . . . . . . . . 18
3. What Guides the Court in Determining Punishment . . . . . .
Chapter 3. Crimes Against the Procedures of Subordination and Military
Courtesy . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1. Criminal Law Protection of One-Man Command and Military
Courtesy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . ... . . . . . . 25
2. Insubordination and Failure to Carry Out an Order . . . . . . . 26
3. Resistance to a Person Performing Duties in Military Service
or Forcing Him to Violate These Duties . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4. Threatening the Commander and Using Force Against Him . . . . 31
5. Criminal Insult of One Military Serviceman by Another . . . . . 33
- a - [III - USSR - 4 FOUO]
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Chapter 4. Evasion of Military Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1. Forms of Evasion of Military Service and Their Social Danger 38
2. Absence Without Leave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3. Abandonment of the Unit Without Leave . . . . . . . 41
4. Desertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5. Abandonment of the Unit or Place of Service Without Leave in a
Combat Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6. Evasion of Military Service by Self-Mutilation or Other Means 45
Chapter 5. Responsibility for Offenses Against the Rules For Use of
Military-Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
1. The Social Danger of Offenses Against Military Property . . . . 50
2. Illegal Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3. Loss of and Damage to Military Property . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4. Intentional Destruction of and Damage to Military Property . 53
Chapter 6. Criminal Violations of the Rules for Driving and Operating
Military Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
1. The Concept and Social Danger of Violating the Rules for
Driving and Operating Military Equipment 56
2. Violation of the Rules for Driving and Operating Vehicles . 57
3. Violation of the Rules for Flights and Preparation for Them 61
4. Violation of the Rules of Ship Navigation . . . . . . . . . . 62
Chapter 7. Violation of the Rules for Performance of Guard, Internal,
and Other Forms of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
1. Types of Violations of the Rules for Performance of Special
Services and Their Social Danger . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2. Violation of the Regulation Rules of Guard (Watch) Service 65
3. Violation of the Regulation Rules of Patrol and Convoy
Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4. Violation of the Rules of Border Service . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5. Violation of the Rules for Performance of Combat Duty . . . . . 70
6. Violation of Regulation Rules of Internal Service . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 8. The Law Protecting Military Secrecy . . . . .. . . . . . 74
1. The Social Danger of Divulging Military Secrets . . . . . . . . 74
2. The Concept of the State and Military Secret and Responsibility
for Divulging Such Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3. The Meaning of the Phrase "Divulging Military Information That
Is a State Secret" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4. What the Term "Loss of Documents and Objects" Means . . . . . . 77
5. Being Held Responsible for Divulging Information That Is Not
a Secret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 9. Responsibility of Officials For Work Crimes . . . . . . . 81
1. General Description of Military Official Crimes and Their
Social Danger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
2. The Concept of the "Military Official " . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3. Types of Military Official Crimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
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i' V.. WE' Wt SA/.4 LJk.l/i Vl~ an
Chapter 10. Wartime Crimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. The Concept and Types of Wartime Crimes . . . . . . . . .
2. Crimes on the Field of Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Crimes While in Captivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. Crimes Against the Laws and Customs of War . . . . . . .
Chapter 11. Prevention of Military Crimes . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. The Preventive Role of Military Criminal Law . . . . . .
2. The Main Ways to Eradicate Manifestations of Crime in Our
Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. The Direct Causes of Various Types of Military Crimes . .
4. Main Direction of Preventive Work in Military Units . . .
5. Preventing Particular Types of Military Crime . . . . . .
Chapter 12. The Responsibility of Military Servicemen Under the
Criminal Law of the Warsaw Pact Socialist Countries . . . . .
1. Respect the Laws of the Union States . . . . . . . . . .
2. Short Survey of the Law of the Warsaw Pact Countries . .
Appendix Law on Criminal Responsibility for Military Crimes . . .
. . .
88
. . .
88
. . .
89
. . .
94
. . .
97
. . .
101
. . .
101
. . .
105
. . .
107
. . .
111
. . .
117
. . .
123
. . .
123
. . .
126
. . .
130
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PUK X)tV1C;IA1. USE. UPVLY
MILITARY CRIMINAL LAW FOR COMMANDERS
Moscow KOMANDIRU -- 0 VOYENNOM-UGOLOVNOM ZAKONODATEL'STVE in Russian 1983
(signed to press 10 Aug 82) pp 1-176
[Book "Military Criminal Law for Commanders," under the general editorship of
Col-Gen Just A. G. Gornyy, "Voyenizdat," 35,000 copies, 176 pages]
[Text] Annotation
This work was prepared by a collective of.authors consisting of Col-Gen Just
A. G. Gornyy (Introduction); doctor of juridical sciences, professor., and
honored `jurist of the RSFSR Col Just Kh. M. Akhmetshin (Chapters I and IV);
candidate of juridical sciences, docent Col Just F. S. Brazhnik (Chapters V,
VI, and VII); doctor of juridical sciences, docent Col Just V. V. Luneyev
(Chapter XI); candidate of juridical sciences, honored jurist of the RSFSR
Col Just I. P. Rashkovets (Chapters VIII and IX); candidate of juridical
sciences, docent Col Just A. A. Ter-Akopov (Chapter III jointly with V. V.
Shuplenkov and Chapter X); and candidate of juridical sciences, docent Col
Just V. V. Shuplenkov (Chapters II, XII, and, with. . A. A. Ter-Akopov, III).
The editorial board consisted of Kh. M. Akhmetshin, V. V. Luneyev, and I. P.
Rashkovets.
This book sets forth the fundamental principles of the criminal responsibility
of military servicemen for the commission of military crimes under existing
military criminal law. The concept of military crime is explained, the types
of punishment applied to servicemen are presented, and a legal description of
specific types of military crimes is given. The book examines the main
.areas of work to prevent military crimes.
The book is intended for commanders, political workers, and cadets and students
at non-legal military schools. _
The USSR Armed Forces, indoctrinated by the Communist Party in a spirit of
absolute dedication to the Homeland and the cause of conimunism,'are vigilantly
guarding the peaceful constructive labor of the Soviet people. Permeated with
lofty ideals they perform their constitutional duty to reliably defend the
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socialist Fatherland and be in constant combat readiness which guarantees the
immediate repulse of any aggressor.
Under contemporary conditions where the army and navy are equipped with collec-
tive types of weapons and combat equipment and sophisticated combat complexes
which can only be kept in constant combat readiness by the.skillful and coordin-
ated actions of many people, it becomes exceptionally important for each fighting
man to be highly organized, self-controlled, and irreproachable in performance.
Even isolated cases of carelessness and lack of discipline may have grave
consequences. That is why V. I. Lenin's teaching that "We must have military
discipline and military vigilance raised to the highest level"1 and his demand
that "all laws concerning the Red Army and.all orders be followed out of
conscience, not out of fear, and discipline be maintained in the army by every
means"2 sound so timely today.
The everyday life and activities of the Soviet Armed'Forces as an organic part
of socialist society are constructed on the basis of the Leninist principles-
.of socialist legality. The USSR Constitution, the USSR Law on Universal
Military Obligation, the military regulations, and other enforceable enact-
ments of military law regulate the procedures for performance of military
service and the rights, duties, and mutual relations of military servicemen
precisely. Rigorous observance and percise execution of the requirements of
the USSR Constitution, the laws, and the military?regulations by all. servicemen
are an essential condition for maintaining the constant combat readiness of
units and ships. Military legal order creates a solid legal basis for mutual
relations among fighting men, permitting them to carry out their missions of
defending the socialist Fatherland successfully in any situation, under the
most difficult conditions.
In the Soviet Armed Forces since their origin military discipline has been based
on each serviceman's being highly conscious of his patriotic and international
duty and being dedicated to the ideas of the Communist Party and the ideals of
the Great October'Socialist Revolution. Our army is properly called a school
of political and moral. indoctrination for young people, for toughening them
ideologically and physically, and for teaching them a high level of organiza-
tion and discipline. Soviet fighting men typically have a profound understand-
ing of their personal responsibility for defense of the Homeland, an activist
posture in life, and a feeling of genuine military comradeship, and carry out
the requirements of the laws, military oath, regulations, and orders of .
commanders conscientously. The high political-moral state of personnel, their
political consciousness, and discipline have a positive effect on the fighting
effectiveness of the Armed Forces and on maintaining, them in constant combat
readiness.
Commanders, political, organs, and party and Komsomol organizations carry on
planned, purposeful work to prevent legal offenses in the army and navy. This
1 V. I. Lenin, "Poln. sobr. soch." [Complete Works], Vol 39, p 55.
2 Ibid., p 152.
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work is done on the basis of Leninist principles embodied in resolutions of
congresses of the Communist Party and decrees of the CPSU Central Committee and
Soviet Government. This struggle is made highly effective under army and navy
conditions, as follows from the 2 August 1979 decree of the CPSU Central
Committee entitled "Improving Work to Protect Legal Order and Intensify the
Struggle Against Legal Offenses," by the unity of action of commanders,
political organs, party and Komsomol organizations, and the organs of military
justice; a comprehensive approach to indoctrination of personnel; and, correct
use of means of state and social influence. Primary attention here is devoted
to eliminating the causes and conditions that foster the commission of legal
offenses and to instilling servicemen. with high ideological-political and moral
qualities and socialist legal consciousness. The decisive factors in successful
performance of these missions are purposeful organizational and ideological-
political work by commanders and political workers; their high demands and
intolerance of shortcomings; and their personal example in observance of Soviet
laws, the military oath, the military regulations, and legal and moral-ethical
norms of behavior. .
Soviet. criminal law, including the Law on Criminal Responsibility for Military
Crimes, is an important tool in the struggle against legal offenses in army
and navy forces. Skillful use of the law in the struggle against crimes and
other violations of established procedures for performance of military service
is one of the essential conditions for maintaining solid military discipline
and regulation order in the Armed Forces.
Correct application of the laws for the above-stated purposes presupposes that
officer personnel have certain legal knowledge. This knowledge is especially
important for commanders of military units and large units and the chiefs of
military institutions, to whom the law gives the powers of preliminary investi-
gation. It is these officials above all who are expected to organize and
conduct work to prevent legal offenses and, when necessary, to organize
investigation of them and decide whether to turn over their findings concern-
ing guilty persons to organs of the military procurator's office. To perform
these functions commanders and chiefs must have a solid knowledge of the
general requirements of the Soviet State's legal policy, the norms of existing
law on the criminal responsibility of military servicemen, and the purposes
and fundamental principles of assigning and serving sentences.
All other commanders and chiefs who, under Article 49 of the Internal Service
Regulations of the USSR Armed Forces, are expected to engage in legal indoctri-
nation of subordinates on a daily basis must also have a good knowledge of the
law on the responsibility of military servicemen for legal offenses. And
because they rely in their indoctrination work on party and Komsomol organiza-
tions, taking advantage of their influence on all personnel, party and Komsomol
activists must also have a certain amount of such knowledge. Military lawyers
and legal activists give commanders, political workers, and the heads of army
and navy social organizations a great deal of help both in improving their own
legal sophistication and in organizing legal indoctrination work with the men.
As we know, military servicemen and reservists called up to active duty enjoy
all the rights and bear all the responsibilities of citizens of the USSR
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envisioned in the USSR.Constitution. Their rights and duties, which follow
from the conditions of military service, are established by the USSR Law on
Universal Military Obligation and the military regulations. According to
Article 83 of.this Law, military servicemen and reservists on active duty
bear criminal responsibility in conformity with existing law for crimes that
they commit.
Military criminal law, which is the set of all criminal law norms that apply
only to military servicemen,, is a particular part of Soviet criminal law.
Military criminal law has the immediate mission of protecting the fighting
effectiveness and combat readiness of-the Soviet Armed Forces, military service
.relations, proper performance of military service, and military discipline
against criminal infringement. Military criminal law comprises the Law on
Criminal Responsibility for Military Crimes and the norms of the Fundamentals
of Criminal Law of the USSR and Union Republics concerning criminal punishment
applied only to military servicemen. The need for special military criminal
law results from the unique characteristics of the Armed Forces as a military
organization whose activity demands unconditional observance of the principles
of one-man command ["yedinonachaliye"], absolute obedience to commanders and
chiefs, detailed regulation of all service, and strict military discipline.
The Law on Criminal Responsibility for Military Crimes defines which violations
of discipline and military order are criminal and what punishments should be
applied to the guilty persons. In this way it preserves the system of military
and service relations established by laws and military regulations, promotes
indoctrination of personnel in a spirit of rigorous observance of military
discipline, and deters unstable people from disallowed actions and behavior.
Thus, the Law on Criminal Responsibility for Military. Crimes has important
indoctrination and preventive significance, on the one .hand, and on the other
hand it enables one-man commanders and the organs. of military justice to
an energetic struggle against military crimes-strictly within the framework of
socialist legality.
Military criminal. law begins from the concepts of crime, guilt, the purposes
and missions of punishment, and so on which are defined in the Fundamentals
of Criminal Law of the USSR and Union Republics. Soviet criminal law does not
.contemplate a special system of military punishments. Military servicemen
guilty of committing crimes generally receive the same kind of punishments as
do civilians. The procedures for assigning and carrying out. punishments are
determined by the uniform norms of criminal, criminal procedural, and corrective
labor law. The general principles concerning criminal conviction, prescription
[limitation of actions] on initiation of a criminal case, prescription on
execution of a guilty verdict, cancellation and clearing of a criminal record,
and so on also apply to military servicemen who have committed military crimes.
At the same time the Law on Criminal Responsibility for Military. Crimes has
certain specific features. Above all it clearly defines the object of criminal
infringement: military service relations, the key components of established
procedures for performance of military service. Only those crimes against the
established procedures for performance of military service which are committed
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by military servicemen or reservists when serving on active training duty and
persons equivalent to them who are directly indicated in the Law3 are recog-
nized as military crimes. All other persons are subject to responsibility
under the articles of the Law only in cases where they are accomplices. in.a
military crime.
A significant characteristic of the Law on Criminal Responsibility for Military
Crimes is also that a number of its articles envision disciplinary responsibility
.on.the condition that the crimes indicated in them were committed with miti-
gating circumstances. This refers to certain violations of internal order in
the military unit which, although: formally they do fit the elements of some
particular article of the Law, still by their nature do not present.a signifi-
cant danger to military legal order and the maintenance of military discipline.
Persons guilty of such legal offenses can be rehabilitated by means of
penalties imposed under the rules of the Disciplinary Code of the USSR Armed
Forces.
Of course this.humane rule has nothing in common with universal forgiveness
and .ndulgence of legal offenders. "Any law," the Accountability Report of
the CPSU Central Committee to the 26th Party Congress stated, "is alive only
when it is carried out, carried out by all people in all places."4 The Central
Committee of the CPSU demands that each crime be properly investigated and
that the guilty persons receive their just punishment. In our country where
the laws express the will of the people and are aimed-exclusively at protecting
their interests, any concealment of crimes is intolerable. But it is
especially intolerable in the Armed Forces, because failure to punish.legal
offenders nurtures crime and leads to the breakdown of military discipline and
the lowering of combat readiness.
The Accountability Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 26th Party
Congress observes that persons employed by the organs on whom the investigation
of crimes and punishment of guilty persons depends must have a combination of
professional knowledge, civic courage, incorruptibility, and fairness. This
party demand applies fully to the commanders and chiefs who are given the rights
of preliminary investigative organs in the Armed Forces and to other officers
who may be assigned to conduct preliminary or administrative investigations.
Beginning from this and endeavoring to help certain categories of servicemen
improve their legal knowledge, the authors of the present book set forth the
basic principles of Soviet military criminal law in lay form. The book
examines the general concepts of military crime, the range of persons to whom
military criminal law applies, the criteria for distinguishing a military crime
from a disciplinary offense, and other questions which commanders and chiefs
3 Here and in the subsequent text references to the "Law" will mean the Law
on Criminal Responsibility for Military Crimes.
4 "Materialy XXVI s "yezda KPSS"' [Materials of the 26th CPSU Congress],' Moscow,
1981, p 64.
5
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may encounter when evaluating the nature of legal offenses. The book is also
intended for a broad range of officers and warrant officers and for legal
activists engaged in legal indoctrination of personnel.
The collective of authors express in advance their gratitude to those readers
who will consider it possible to express their comments and wishes concerning
the content of this book.
6
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1. Definition of the Concept of the Military Crime
A crime is an act which presents danger to socialist. society and the rights
and interests of the citizens and therefore is prohibited by the criminal
law. Article 7 of the 1958 Fundamentals of Criminal Law of the USSR and the
Union Republics gives the following definition of the concept of a crime: "A
crime is recognized to be a socially dangerous act (action or inaction)
contemplated by the criminal law that infringes on the social order of the
USSR, its political and economic systems, socialist property, the individual
personality, and. the political, labor, property, and other rights and liberties
of citizens as well as any other socially dangerous act envisioned by the criminal
law that infringes on socialist legal order."
The main element of a crime is its social danger, that is, its ability to cause
significant damage to the interests of socialist society. Of the different
types of incorrect behavior Soviet criminal law singles out and declares to
be criminal and criminally punishable only those which present a serious
danger to socialist legal order. Because under conditions of socialism the
interests of society and the interests of the individual do not contradict
one another, any criminal dct is considered socially dangerous regardless of
whether it infringes on general state interests or on the legally protected
interests of individual citizens.
The second element of a crime is that it is against the law: only that socially
dangerous act which is directly contemplated in the criminal law is recognized
as criminal. And the third element of a crime is the culpability (guilty mind)
of the person in commission of the socially dangerous, illegal act. Only an
action or inaction which a person does with a guilty mind, under the control
of consciousness -:nd will, is recognized as a crime. No act, no matter what
dangerous consequences it may have, can be considered a crime if it was
committed without a guilty mind.
The concept of the military crime is defined in Article 1 of the Law on Criminal
Responsibility for Military Crimes which was adopted by the USSR Supreme Soviet
on 25 December 1958.5 The article states: "Military crimes are recognized to
5 See VEDOMOSTI VERKHOVNOGO SOVETA SSSR, 1959, No .1, Article .10.
7
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be crimes against established procedures for performance of military service
envisioned by the present Law and committed by military servicemen and
reservists during active duty training."
The Law on,Criminal Responsibility for Military Crimes is a constituent part
of unitary Soviet criminal law. It is full reproduced in the criminal codes
.of the Union Republics and is applied in practice in the form of.the corre-
sponding articles of these codes. Specifically, military crimes form the
12th chapter of the Special Part of the RSFSR Criminal Code (Articles 237-
The definition of a military crime begins from the general concept of a crime
as a socially dangerous, illegal, and culpable action or inaction. At the
same time it points out the special features of a military crime that
distinguish it from other, general crimes.
The social danger of military crimes lies in the fact that they flagrantly
.violate military legal order, that is, the social relations regulated by
military law, cause harm to this legal order, and weaken the military
discipline and combat readiness of the troops.
The special characteristics of a military. crime are: (1) the act is directed
against established procedures for performing military service and against
military legal order, and (2) the legal offense is committed by a serviceman
or a reservist during active duty training, in other words by a special
subject.
Any military crime is characterized. by both of these elements together. For
example, socially dangerous acts by military servicemen that do not infringe
.on the established procedures for performing military service (for example,
stealing the personal property of citizens, infringement on the life and
health of an individual, and so on) are not military crimes. As general
crimes they are subject to determination according to the appropriate
articles of the criminal. codes of the Union republics. At the same time,
work crimes committed by civilian workers and employees of the Soviet Army are
not military crimes because these crimes are committed by persons who are not
in the military service.
In addition to the above one must keep in mind that there are also crimes
which, although they violate procedures for performance of military service
and are committed by military servicemen, still are not envisioned as military
crimes by military criminal.law (for example, a serviceman's stealing military
gear issued to him for service use, or careless destruction of or damage to
military gear). Responsibility for these actions also follows under the
articles of the criminal codes of the Union republics which envision the
corresponding general crimes.
The procedures for performance of military service (military legal order)
against which the military crime infringes are the totality of military
service relationships that arise in the process of troop life and combat
activity and are fixed in Soviet laws, the military oath, the military
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regulations, statutes on service by different categories of servicemen, and
other enactments of military legislation. These procedures must be followed
by all servicemen; rigorous and exact compliance with them is the essence of
military discipline and an essential condition for insuring the constant
combat readiness of the USSR Armed Forces, which guarantees the immediate
repulse of any aggressor.
The established procedures for performance of military service are a constitu-
ent part of socialist legal order. At the same time, military legal. order
reflects the specific principles of military organization: military service
as the constitutional duty of Soviet citizens; one-man command; absolute
obedience by subordinates to superiors, and strict military discipline. It
is characterized by comprehensive, detailed regulation of social relations
in the army and navy and precise delineation of the rights and obligations
of the subjects of these relations.
Each military crime infringes directly not against the full totality of
military relations protected by military criminal law, but against specific
relations that constitute a definite part (aspect) of the rules for perform-
ance of military service. The components of military legal order are as
follows: procedures for mutual service relations of commanders, (chiefs)
and subordinates, superiors and inferiors in military rank, and servicemen
who are not in relationships of subordination and seniority; procedures for
going through military service; rules established by corresponding normative
documents for using military gear and military equipment; procedures for
performing combat duty, guard duty, and other special services, and so on.
In conformity with this the military crimes envisioned in the Law form the
following system:
-- crimes against the rules of subordination and observation
of military honor -- disobedience, failure to carry out an
order, resistance to a superior or forcing him to violate
service obligations, threatening a superior, violent actions
in relation to a superior, and criminal insult of one service-
man by another (Articles 2-8 of the Law, Articles 238-244 of
the RSFSR Criminal Code);2
-- avoiding military service -- being absent without leave,
leaving the unit or place of service without authorization,
desertion, leaving the unit without authorization in a
combat situation, and avoiding military service by self-
mutilation or other means (Articles 9-13 of the Law, Articles
245-249 of the RSFSR Criminal Code);
-- crimes against procedures for preservation of military prop-
erty and use of military equipment -- illegally disposing
2 Here and in the later text we refer also to the corresponding articles of
the criminal codes of the other Union republics.
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of or losing military property, deliberately-destroying or dam-
aging military property, violating the rules of driving
or using motor vehicles, violating the rules of flight
or preparation for flight, and violation of the rules
of ship navigation (Articles 14-18 of the Law, Articles
250-254 of the RSFSR Criminal Code);
-- crimes against procedures for performance of special
work -- violation of regulation rules for guard and
convoy service and garrison patrol, violation of the
rules for performance of border service, violation of
the rules of performance of combat duty, and violation
of regulation rules for internal service (Articles 19-
22 of the Law, Articles 255-258 of the RSFSR Criminal
Code);
-- divulging military secrets (Article 23 of the Law,
Article 259 of the RSFSR Criminal Code);
-- military official crimes (Article 24 of the Law,
Article 260 of the RSFSR Criminal Code);
-- military crimes committed in a region of military
operations (Articles 25-33 of the Law, Articles 261-
269 of the RSFSR Criminal Code).
2. The Subject of Military Crime
As noted above, only military servicemen and reservists during active training
duty can be the subject of military crime, the persons who commit it.
The term "military servicemen in the Law means people on active military duty
in the Soviet Army, Navy, and border and internal troops. In addition to
soldiers, seamen, sergeants, petty officers, warrant officers, and officer
personnel this term also includes students and cadets at military schools.
The term "reservists" mean people enlisted in the reserve of the USSR Armed
Forces. The USSR Law on Universal Military Obligation establishes that
periodically during their time in the reserve reservists are called up for
training duty. Socially dangerous acts by reservists against established
procedures for performance of military service are recognized as military
crimes only when committed during these training tours.
According to Part 2 of Article 1 of the Law on Criminal Responsibility for
Military Crimes, soldiers, seamen, sergeants, petty officers, and officer
personnel of state security organs and also persons who are specially indicated
in the law of the USSR are responsible for crimes against the procedures
established for them to perform their service, as are military servicemen of
the Armed Forces, under the corresponding articles of the Law.
Among the persons specially indicated are military construction workers, who
by their legal status are equivalent to regular-term military servicemen.
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