In Art. 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation provides detailed information on the types of preliminary investigation, as well as an exhaustive list of criminal cases in which it is carried out in one form or another. The content of the norm changes regularly, sometimes several times a year. What is the essence of this article, what is a preliminary investigation, what forms it can take and what are its goals - read about all this later in the article.
Preliminary investigation: concept
The court cannot examine most of the criminal cases immediately; for this they should be prepared properly. If the preliminary work in the civil process is quite simple and is conducted not only by the court, but also by the parties, then a number of factors impede this criminal course of events. Establishing factual guilt often complicates the non-obvious nature of many crimes, various kinds of counteraction on the part of the guilty and accused persons, etc. That is why the prosecutor cannot immediately formulate his demands in the final form. It is urgent to detect the traces of the crime and fix them, identify the suspect and track him down, collect and then check the evidence, arguments, determine the subject of the dispute (criminal law) and, at the end, ensure the presence of the accused at the trial. As a rule, all this requires quite a lot of time and effort. In other words, a preliminary investigation is required, which takes two forms, as defined in Art. 150 Code of Criminal Procedure. It is carried out by special state bodies endowed with special powers and resources. In the Russian criminal process, a preliminary investigation is the leading form of pre-trial preparation of a case. Only in criminal cases relating to a private charge, and not a public one, instead of it, the preparation for the trial is carried out by the victim with the help of a justice of the peace.
Objectives of the preliminary investigation
Before proceeding to the consideration of the forms of preliminary investigation indicated in Art. 150 of the CPC, it should focus on the goals and objectives that it sets for itself. What is their difference? Goals - this is, in fact, the expected result, which, perhaps, will not be achieved in a particular case, and tasks are the responsibility of all participants in the corresponding process. For various reasons, the case may not be opened, the offender is not caught, evidence is not collected, etc.
So, before the process of preliminary investigation in any case, the following goals are set:
- solve the crime;
- expose the guilty person or rehabilitate the innocent;
- ensuring the personal presence in court of the accused;
- the formation of evidence in an amount sufficient to conduct proceedings in court;
- ensuring the possibility of a court deciding on compensation for harm caused by a crime or damage.
Tasks of the preliminary investigation
To achieve the above goals, the bodies that implement the preliminary investigation (Article 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) are assigned the following tasks:
- search, collection and research of evidence;
- ensuring the guaranteed right to defense held by the suspect and the accused;
- if necessary, enforcement measures (procedural);
- termination or referral of a case or termination of criminal prosecution.
About forms of preliminary investigation
Every procedural form, being a combination of grounds, procedures, conditions and guarantees, has a peculiarity - the ability to differentiate. In other words, it can be divided into various components according to the nature of criminal cases. Differentiation can go in two ways: towards simplification or complication. The preliminary investigation is also a separate stage, and it has its own procedural form. As can be seen from the article of Art. 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation (the latest changes should be found in the original source), it can differentiate in the direction of simplification - this inquiry or complication is a consequence. Let us dwell on each form in more detail.
Preliminary investigation
Under the preliminary investigation is understood the most complete, comprehensive form by which a preliminary investigation can be conducted. It provides to the maximum extent a guarantee of establishing the true circumstances of the crime, as well as realizing the rights of the participants in the process in reality. It is also the main one. A preliminary investigation is carried out in all criminal cases, the exception is only those that are directly indicated in part 3 of article 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as those that were instituted as a private prosecution.
Investigators of the RF Investigative Committee are authorized to conduct it (IC of Russia - the structure was formed on the basis of the same body under the prosecutor's office in 2011), internal affairs bodies, as well as the FSB.
Inquiry Feature
Inquiry is a simplified form of investigation (preliminary). It can be carried out by the investigator or interrogator in the category of criminal cases where the investigation is not necessary. For a simplified form of investigation (inquiry), the basis and conditions are a small risk of a criminal act. As a rule, it takes place in crimes of moderate and minor gravity, an exhaustive list of which is presented in Art. 150 Code of Criminal Procedure. With the latest changes, the second condition, previously present in the norm, by which the case could be referred to the inquiry, was excluded. Such was the small complexity of the investigation, which depended on the availability of evidence. In this regard, the inquiry was conducted mainly in the so-called “open” criminal cases that were brought against a particular person.
One of the important conditions for a successful investigation is the correct choice of its form. At the same time, the production of an inquiry instead of the preliminary investigation laid down on all grounds should be regarded as a significant violation of the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which contains direct instructions on this subject.
Art. 150 Code of Criminal Procedure: contents
This rule in part one indicates that a preliminary investigation may be carried out in the form of an investigation or inquiry. The latter, in particular, may be carried out in an abbreviated form or in a general manner.
The range of criminal cases for which a preliminary investigation should be conducted is defined in the second part of the norm. It does not contain specific articles of the Special Part of the Criminal Code, however, it says that this form of investigation is used in all cases, with the exception of those regulated by part three.
Turning to paragraph 1 of h. 3 Article. 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, we see that it contains a direct indication of the law on what criminal cases of public prosecution an inquiry is organized. The list is quite lengthy and includes in particular: leaving in danger, illegal deprivation of liberty (simple composition), negligent possession of weapons (gunshot), cruel treatment of animals, vandalism, etc.
In addition, according to the second paragraph of the third part of the rule under consideration, inquiry is also possible in other cases (not specified in Part 1) of moderate and minor gravity, if there are written instructions from the prosecutor. With his permission, in accordance with part 4 of this article, all the criminal cases listed in paragraph 1 can be referred to for a preliminary investigation.
About changes
Changes to Art. 150 Code of Criminal Procedure occur quite often. If we turn to statistics, we can see that the text of the norm changes almost annually. For example, in 2011, changes were made three times, in 2012 - 5, in 2015 - 6, in 2016 - 6. As the criminal law norms are updated, comments to them also change.
In the previous year, the amendments concerned part two of the article. The list of criminal cases on which the inquiry should be conducted was repeatedly supplemented with new standards. Amendment of the Criminal Code, as a rule, entails the introduction of innovations in the CPC. When dealing with legislation, it is important to keep track of all upcoming innovations.