Metamorphoses of Czechoslovak military justice after World War II

Abstract of this article by Stanislav Polnar:

The study examines the development of Czechoslovak military justice after 1945. The subject of the analysis is mainly the organisational structure of military prosecutors’ offices and courts. The text discusses the issue of military justice in its broader sense. The subject of the analysis also includes other authorities that played an important role in the criminal proceedings regarding acts committed by military personnel. These concern the search activities of commanders and investigative activities of intelligence and security authorities in the context of pre-trial criminal proceedings. The article also deals with the issue of the development of the military prison system and the problem of crimes committed by members of the Soviet army on Czechoslovak territory after 1968. In the context of international criminal law, mention is also made of the activities of General Bohuslav Ečer, who significantly affected the character of the prosecution of Nazi war crimes between 1945 and 1948 and thus wrote one of the most important chapters of Czechoslovak military justice after World War II. In general methodological terms, the author describes the development of the organisational structure of military judicial bodies in the context of the political developments in Czechoslovakia, including legal developments, specifically in the field of substantive and procedural criminal law. The final part provides a general overview of the basic development tendencies following 1989 and the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, set within the context of the current global security situation.