In the article the author analyses the main guiding documents of the enquiry of the armed forces of the USSR — instructions of 1923, 1933, 1940. The author concludes that these documents have not evolved much. In his opinion, their publication was related to the existing model of justice. As a rule, they were issued after the completion of political and legal campaigns, in the process of restoration of socialist legality. Their main purpose was to increase the level of discipline in the troops and the authority of the command.