The petition of a military unit as a condition for suspending criminal prosecution of a person participating in a special military operation

Relevance. The amendments made to the criminal and criminal procedure legislation, which establish the procedure for suspending criminal proceedings in connection with the participation of a suspect accused of a special military operation, as well as the subsequent termination of criminal prosecution, should be provided with a clear legal mechanism. For the adoption of these procedural decisions, a mandatory condition is a petition from a military unit (institution) sent to the preliminary investigation authorities. Currently, it is difficult to assess the law enforcement practice in such cases as uniform, which gives rise to legal disputes and ambiguity in the interpretation of the law.The purpose of the study is to study the procedural nature of the "petition" as the basis for suspending criminal proceedings, options for its resolution by the investigator, the inquirer, determining the legal status of the command of a military unit (institution) in connection with the decision to suspend proceedings in the case.Objective: to determine the procedural content and features of a military unit's petition as an official request for suspension of proceedings against a suspect, accused, mobilized or contracted for military service; to establish the expediency of its existence in the specified procedural form; to establish the need for legislative establishment of the duties of the command of a military unit (institution) to interact with investigative authorities in order to prevent abuse the right of the suspect, the accused.The methodology is based on general scientific methods such as analysis, synthesis, as well as formal-logical and comparative-legal methods of interpretation.Results. It is proposed to replace the procedural form of the "petition" with a "submission" to facilitate the decision of the investigator or inquirer to suspend the criminal case. The article substantiates the need for a legislative definition of the duties of a military unit (institution) to interact with the bodies of preliminary investigation, to inform about the status of a serviceman and his changes related to participation in a special military operation: death, injury, desertion, commission of a new crime, missing persons, etc.Conclusions. The existence of a military unit's initiative in the form of a submission will create a clear legal mechanism for responding to it on the part of the investigator, inquirer, eliminating discreteness in making procedural decisions. The idea was expressed to establish the duties of the command of a military unit (institution) to inform the investigative body about changes in the legal status of a serviceman participating in a special military operation.