The definition of areas of law enforcement and their relationship is determined by the variety of tasks assigned to it. Within each area, various groups of law enforcement agencies work. They implement relatively independent functions. Law enforcement activities of various bodies , however, are closely interlinked. It is united by a common essence and purpose. Let us further consider the characteristics of the main areas of law enforcement .
Classification
Currently, there are five main areas of law enforcement. These include:
- Justice.
- Supervision of prosecution authorities.
- Preliminary investigation of crimes .
- Search operations.
- Organizational support for the functioning of the courts.
Justice
The Constitution of the Russian Federation says the following about this area of law enforcement: justice in Russia is carried out only by the courts. The corresponding provision is enshrined in article 118 of the Basic Law (part 1).
The right to defense in the courts is guaranteed by the 46th norm of the Constitution. It represents the main mechanism for resolving legal disputes, restoring violated interests in a democratic democratic country.
According to the concept of judicial reform, the tasks of law enforcement carried out by the court include effective, impartial, professional justice. The court acts as a guarantor of justice and legality. It plays the same role for the state as conscience for man.
Controversial issues
Recently, it has become widespread that the court is not among the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation . This conclusion is due to a narrow definition of the very concept of law enforcement. The interpretation of the term boils down to the suppression, disclosure, prevention of crimes and other illegal acts.
Meanwhile, when classifying a court as a law-enforcement structure, it is not vested with the power to prosecute or accusatory functions. The law enforcement activities that he carries out are not on par with the work of the bodies of the VD and the prosecutor's office. On the contrary, if we consider the court as a key body for the implementation of the protection of rights in society, it emphasizes its independence from the state prosecution. This ensures the role of the court not only as a guarantor of justice and legality, but also as an institution capable of protecting a person from state arbitrariness.
Constitutional review
In many educational publications, it is considered as one of the main areas of law enforcement . However, according to some authors, constitutional review is covered by the institution of justice.
In the Russian Federation, the constitutional control body is the Constitutional Court. It is one of the highest judicial institutions in the country. As indicated in part 2 of article 118 of the Constitution, judicial power is exercised through civil, constitutional, criminal, administrative proceedings. Justice, as mentioned above, can be carried out exclusively by authorized structures.
The tasks of the Constitutional Court include resolving disputes on the constitutionality of various regulatory documents on the appeals of interested government agencies, employees, complaints of violation of freedoms and rights of citizens, at the request of the courts. Justice in this case is carried out on the basis of the principles of independence, collegiality, competition, equality of arms and publicity. The essence of this process is that it acts as a key mechanism for resolving disputes about law. The peculiarity of the work of the Constitutional Court is that when it administers justice it decides only issues relating to law. At the same time, he does not establish or investigate the factual circumstances of the case in all cases, as provided for by other judicial instances and other structures.
Accordingly, justice, acting as one of the main areas of law enforcement, is implemented by all bodies that form the judicial system. On the basis of the Constitution and FKZ No. 1, it includes the courts of general jurisdiction, arbitration bodies that administer justice in economic disputes, the Constitutional Court, the statutory courts formed in the entities.
Prosecutor supervision
In the framework of law enforcement, the tasks that are implemented by the prosecution authorities are reduced to control:
- Enforcement of constitutional provisions and laws in force in the Russian Federation.
- Respect for the freedoms and rights of citizens by structures of state power and territorial administration, heads of various organizations (commercial and non-commercial).
- Fulfillment of legislative requirements by the operational-investigative, investigative bodies, bailiffs, bodies carrying out inquiries, administrations of penal institutions.
In accordance with the provisions of the Federal Law No. 2202-1, the prosecutor's office is a single centralized federal system of bodies that exercise supervision on behalf of the state. These structures ensure the rule of law, unity, strengthening the rule of law, protecting the freedoms and rights of citizens, the interests of the state and society.
Currently, the prosecutor's office is endowed with a fairly wide range of powers. It includes not only direct supervision, but also criminal prosecution, participation in legal proceedings, law-making activities, coordination of work to combat crime.
Investigation of crimes
It is carried out by prosecutors, interrogators, investigators. Acting as one of the main areas of law enforcement , the preliminary investigation aims at pre-trial settlement of issues related to the criminal case. First of all, they relate to the establishment of the composition and events of the crime, the identification and detection of persons involved in the assault. In the course of resolving these issues, authorized employees collect evidence base, which is subsequently provided to the court.
The investigation is carried out by employees of various law enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation:
- The prosecutor’s office.
- ATS.
- FSB.
- State services.
- FSSP.
- Bodies controlling the circulation of prohibited substances (narcotic, psychotropic).
Investigation work
When considering the main areas of law enforcement, special attention should be paid to operational-search measures. They are carried out publicly and behind the scenes by special units of state bodies authorized by the provisions of the Federal Law No. 144.
Detective-search measures are aimed at ensuring the protection of freedoms, interests, life, rights, human health, property, the state and society from criminal attacks.
Objectives of the activity
These include:
- Suppression, detection, disclosure, prevention of crimes, the establishment of entities preparing and committing attacks.
- Collection of information on actions or events that create a danger to the country's military, environmental, state, economic security.
- The search for citizens evading punishment, missing, hiding from the investigation and trial.
These activities are carried out by special units of the FSB, Customs, SVR, ATS, the Ministry of Justice, etc.
Nuances of terminology
In some publications, when analyzing the main areas of law enforcement, operational investigative work and preliminary investigation are combined with the concept of “identifying and investigating attacks”. Meanwhile, this approach is recognized by many experts as rather controversial.
A preliminary investigation carried out during pre-trial proceedings is considered a procedural activity. It is produced within the framework and in the form established in the CPC. A preliminary investigation is covered by the term “criminal proceedings”. It, in turn, in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, includes pre-trial and judicial activities.
It follows from the foregoing that the investigation pursues goals similar to those faced by the criminal trial as a whole. That is, it is aimed at ensuring the protection of the interests of citizens and organizations, victims of crimes, the individual from unlawful conviction, unjustified charges, restriction of freedoms and rights.
The operative-search work, in turn, is not considered a procedural activity. It is carried out on the basis of the provisions of the Federal Law No. 144. This normative act establishes only key requirements for the performance of certain operational-search actions. The law does not contain detailed rules governing their implementation.
Consequently, the operational-search work and the preliminary investigation pursue the same goals, but have a different legal nature and are regulated by various legal acts.
Organizational support for the functioning of the courts
This activity in relation to instances of general jurisdiction is carried out by the Judicial Department at the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and for arbitration instances - by YOU. Organizational support for the work of top-level bodies of the system is assigned to the aircraft, CS and YOU.
The tasks of the Ministry of Justice bodies are closely connected with this area of activity, which are called upon to ensure the execution of decisions and punishments, and the established procedure for the courts.
Additionally
In some publications, one can find the isolation of such types of activities as the statement of facts of legal significance, the certification of documents, the provision of legal assistance. It is in particular about the work of the bar and notaries. Meanwhile, the separation of these areas into relatively independent can hardly be considered justified.
Notarial activity is considered authentic in nature. It can hardly be considered law enforcement in this context. In addition, notarial bodies, in fact, are not included in the system of state bodies. This applies to both private and state structures.
Advocacy also cannot be considered a law enforcement agency. In accordance with Federal Law No. 63, it is a professional community of lawyers. Acting as an institution of civil society, advocacy is not included in the system of state bodies. However, its activities are closely related to the work of law enforcement agencies.