Defects in the Activity of Transport Justice Bodies in the 1940s and 1950s

In the paper, the author analyzes the activities of the judicial authorities in transport on the basis of previously unpublished archival sources. In his opinion, there are several groups of shortcomings in their activities. Among them: deviation from the set tasks and "liberal" punitive policy; errors in the application of the norms of substantive and procedural law, shortcomings of organizational work, legal proceedings, and secret proceedings. According to the author, the main reasons for these defects are the lack of a high-quality training system for these bodies, as well as insufficient funding for their activities. The main results of such mistakes were reduced to unfounded criminal proceedings and unfounded conviction.

The author came to the conclusion about the unstable competence of these bodies. It widened and narrowed. In the event of an emergency, it tends to expand and the punitive function of these bodies comes to the fore. As a result, there was a systematic abuse of the powers, as well as mass violations of substantive and procedural law. During periods of stabilization, these bodies were supposed to perform broader functions of educating transport workers and promoting the decisions of the party and the government. Such a policy, according to the country’s leadership, was supposed to help prevent crimes.

The system of these bodies was a clumsy mechanism. They were not able to a quick reorganization if necessary. It was possible that errors identified during audits were not eliminated. During the great Patriotic war, the leadership was forced to put up with these shortcomings. After the end of the war, these bodies began to meet higher requirements. However, even in the 1950s, there were manifestations of the main defects identified by the author in the activities of transport justice bodies.

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