Prison camp courts of Krasnoyarsk Krai (1945–1954)

The aim of the article is to analyze the features of personnel formation and study the activities of prison camp courts in Krasnoyarsk Krai from their creation in 1945 to their abolition in 1954. The source base for the study was documents from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, which were introduced into scientific discourse for the first time. Krasnoyarsk Krai was the location of a large number of prison camps and colonies, and three prison camp courts were initially organized there: the Krasnoyarsk Department of Correctional Labor Camps and Colonies (UITLiK) in Krasnoyarsk; the Krasnoyarsk Correctional Labor Camp (Kraslag) in Kansk; the Norilsk Correctional Labor Camps and Colonies (Norillag) in Norilsk. In 1951, another prison camp court was organized under the management of the Yeniseistroi of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. The natural and geographical conditions of the region created serious obstacles to the organization of the activities of judicial bodies, including prison camp courts. It was difficult to transport the defendants from the crime scene to the location of the prison camp court. The distances from most of the prison camp sites to Krasnoyarsk, Kansk or Norilsk were hundreds of kilometers. The formation of the personnel of the prison camp courts was hampered by the lack of specialists with higher and secondary legal education. The newly appointed chairmen of the courts were given the right to choose their own subordinates; however, both leaders of the regional department of the People's Commissariat of Justice and the chairman of the regional court did not help them, since they did not have available personnel. The personnel issue of the prison camp courts of the region was resolved only with the help of the People's Commissariat of Justice of the USSR, whose auditor appointed members of the prison camp courts in an appearance order. The most common crime among prisoners was escape. The small number and poor training of guards contributed to the growth of this type of crime. The number of escapes decreased significantly after the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 27, 1953, as a result of which the number of prisoners decreased. The prison camp courts had to deal with a large number of cases of banditry. In the post-war period, places of detention were engulfed by a wave of violence: many prisoners were injured or died, so the courts acted extremely harshly towards camp bandits. Prison camp courts were abolished on April 29, 1954. Being created in a hurry, they did not solve their tasks. Trials revealed conditions that led to crimes, but camp administrations did not have resources to overcome these shortcomings. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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