Essence and significance of conviction of deceased Nazi’s for crimes not subject to statutory limitations

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Abstract

The article is devoted to the prerequisites of improving criminal procedure legislation in the Republic of Belarus which establishes the order of convicting deceased Nazi’s for crimes to which statutory limitations are not applicable. Based on the analyses of international and national legislation, the practice of investigating criminal cases of rehabilitation of Nazism and genocide of the Belarusian people during the Great Patriotic War the conclusion is drawn about the advisability of the court procedure for establishing guilt or innocence of persons accused of crimes against peace and humanity as well as war crimes to which statutory limitations are not applicable.

The idea is supported that the efficiency of adversariality in criminal procedure regarding deceased Nazi criminals is based on the balance of the legal status of the defense (a representative of the deceased person, his defense lawyer) and the prosecution (victims and their representatives, a public prosecutor) as well as on the completeness, objectiveness and comprehensiveness of the activities of the preliminary investigation agencies.

A decisive role of the court verdict in establishing legally significant facts of guilt or innocence of a deceased accused of committing crimes to which statutory limitations are not applicable is substantiated.

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About the authors

Yuri F. Kamenetsky

Institute of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus

Author for correspondence.
Email: y.kamenecki@sledcom.by

PhD in Law, Associate Professor, Board Member of the International Union of Criminalists, Head, Chief Editor of the Preliminary Investigation Scientific and Practical Journal of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus

Belarus, Minsk

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