The investigation of crimes is carried out by the bodies of inquiry and preliminary investigation. The powers of these structures are enshrined in the CPC. Investigation is a mandatory stage of criminal proceedings. In the course of it, circumstances to be proved are established. In the article we consider the system of bodies of inquiry, their tasks and powers.
General information
Inquiry is carried out in the case when the investigation of the criminal case is not necessary. This form of preliminary investigation is used in criminal proceedings, the list of which is given in 3 parts 150 of the article of the CPC.
The powers of the bodies of inquiry and investigation are significantly different in their volumes. Moreover, all decisions made by those and other structures have the same legal force.
The concept and powers of the bodies of inquiry
The inquiry bodies conduct an investigation on an expedited (simplified) procedure. Legal publications contain various opinions regarding the nature of the inquiry. According to some authors, it should be considered as the simplest or initial investigation procedure. Other authors believe that the inquiry is the primary activity aimed at establishing the event and the material traces of the crime.
Some lawyers consider the concept, types and powers of inquiry bodies more widely. They believe that the activities of these structures combines operational search and investigative measures and is aimed at curbing, preventing, solving crimes, searching and exposing the perpetrators of them.
Legal essence of the institute
The point of isolating the system of bodies of inquiry and their powers is to expedite the preparation of simple investigative and less dangerous cases for trial. This form of investigation greatly simplifies the process.
The right to an expedited court is the most important international legal guarantee aimed at protecting the interests of the individual.
Procedural authority
The bodies of inquiry, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 24 of paragraph 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, are government agencies, officials whose tasks include the implementation of inquiry and the exercise of other powers. They are included in the category of law enforcement institutions.
The main procedural powers of the inquiry bodies are:
- An investigation into cases for which a preliminary investigation is not necessary.
- Implementation of urgent investigative measures for cases, the investigation of which is mandatory.
Types of government agencies
Other authorities of the executive branch are vested with the powers of the inquiry bodies of the RF Internal Affairs Directorate, the competence of which includes the implementation of operational-search measures. ATS form an independent link in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It consists of:
- FSB authorities. Their competence is enshrined in Federal Law No. 40. The powers of the FSB inquiry bodies include border, counter-intelligence activities, and the implementation of measures to ensure information security.
- Bodies of the FCS. These structures ensure compliance with customs tariff regulations, restrictions and prohibitions provided for in the legislation on foreign economic activity and related to the movement of goods through the state border. The powers of the FCS inquiry bodies include the implementation of operational-search measures in cases of smuggling and evasion of customs duties.
- FSIN units. The powers of the bodies of inquiry are exercised by the heads of institutions - colonies of a special, strict, general regime, prisons, educational colonies, pre-trial detention centers, medical and correctional institutions. Operative-search measures are carried out on cases, preliminary investigation of which is mandatory, on crimes related to violation of the rules of service by employees and other persons.
- Structures that control the turnover of narcotic and psychotropic substances. The tasks and powers of their bodies of inquiry are related to the implementation of operational investigative measures for crimes provided for in the first parts of Articles 228, 228.2, 230-233, parts 1, 4 of Art. 234 of the Criminal Code.
FSSP
Subdivisions of the Federal Bailiff Service also include bodies of inquiry. The powers of the investigators are regulated by the Federal Law No. 118.
The relevant units of the FSSP are entitled and must initiate proceedings for crimes provided for in Articles of the Criminal Code:
- 157 - on evading payment of alimony;
- 294 (Part 1) - on obstruction of the investigation and administration of justice;
- 297 - on contempt of court;
- 311 (part 1) - on the disclosure of information on security measures taken against the judge and the parties to the criminal process;
- 312 - on illegal actions with property that was seized or which is subject to confiscation;
- 315 - on non-enforcement of a court order (decision, sentence, other act).
The command staff of the RF Armed Forces
In accordance with the provisions of Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Order of the Ministry of Defense No. 557 of 2008, the powers of the heads of the bodies of inquiry are exercised by:
- commanders of military formations and units;
- heads of military institutions;
- heads of garrisons.
The indicated persons shall carry out an inquiry on crimes committed by military personnel, persons undergoing training, employees of the civilian personnel of the Armed Forces, other troops and units, as well as communications agencies in the performance of their official duties or within the territory of the location of a unit, garrison, institution.
State supervision and Federal Tax Service
Fire safety authorities are authorized to initiate proceedings on crimes directly related to daily business activities. The inquiry is carried out, in particular, in cases of violation of fire safety requirements and other requirements of the law in the field of protecting the health, life and property of citizens from fires.
Investigators of divisions of the Federal Tax Service carry out operational investigative measures for crimes related to tax evasion by individuals and organizations from paying taxes and contributions to extra-budgetary funds.
Prosecutors
These employees are also authorized to conduct an inquiry. They conduct proceedings on crimes provided for in paragraph 3 of Article 150 of the Code of Criminal Procedure committed:
- Member of the Federation Council.
- State Duma deputy.
- Judges.
- Arbitration / jury during the administration of justice.
- Deputy / member of an elected local government body, legislative (representative) structure of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
- Chairman (his deputy) or auditor of the Accounts Chamber.
- Commissioner for Human Rights.
- The prosecutor.
- The investigator.
- Lawyer.
- President of a country whose authority has been terminated.
- Candidate for the post of head of state.
- An employee of the FSB, SVR, FAPSI, FSO, ATS, the Federal Tax Service, the Federal Customs Service, the Penal Correction System, the military, a citizen undergoing military training, civilian personnel of the RF Armed Forces, and other military units.
The nuances of the law
The inquiry body may make decisions on the distribution of powers between employees. So, in accordance with clause 3 of part 3 of article 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the following functions may be assigned to employees:
- Operational units - for crimes stipulated by the first parts of Articles 322 and 323, as well as Part 1 of Art. 188 (regarding smuggling identified by the border service).
- Maritime Guard Units - in cases provided for by the norms 253 and 256 of the Criminal Code (as regards the unlawful extraction of aquatic plants / animals identified by border divisions), as well as part 1 of Art. 188 (regarding smuggling discovered by the maritime security).
General procedure for the initiation of production
If there are grounds for initiating prosecution in a case of public-private or public prosecution, the pre-trial procedure begins with the opening of the case against a specific citizen with the consent of the prosecutor.
The investigation of crimes for which a mandatory investigation is not required is carried out in full. The procedure for the implementation of operational-search measures is fixed in Chapters 21, 22, 24-29 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In this case, the exceptions provided for in Ch. 32 of the Code.
The prosecutor monitors the procedural activities of the bodies of inquiry. The authority of this employee, in particular, includes checking the legality of the decisions made. Legislation requires investigators to obtain the consent of the prosecutor to initiate proceedings against suspected citizens. Having fulfilled this requirement, employees begin the necessary investigative actions aimed at establishing the circumstances of the case.
Limitations
The legislation takes 15 days to carry out the inquiry. The term is calculated from the date of initiation of proceedings. Within the framework of his authority, the head of the body of inquiry or the inquiry officer has the right to petition for the extension of this period to the prosecutor. You can increase the period by no more than 10 days. As a result, the maximum period for conducting operational-search measures cannot exceed 25 days.
Procedural Nuances
The law assigns a number of specific powers to the prosecutor. The inquiry body has the right to petition him for the detention of a person in respect of whom criminal prosecution has begun. The prosecutor, in turn, examines the grounds on which this measure can be applied to a citizen and makes an appropriate decision. Without the consent of the official, the suspect cannot be detained.
The Criminal Procedure Code assigns control over the implementation of laws by inquiry bodies to the powers of the prosecutor. So, if a person in custody has left without the help and supervision of minor children and other dependents, including elderly parents, the inquirer must take measures to transfer these citizens to the care of relatives or to specialized social institutions. In addition, the employee is obliged to take measures to ensure the safety of property and housing of the accused. The interrogator shall notify the detained person of the measures taken.
Indictment
Within the framework of control over the bodies of inquiry, the powers of the prosecutor include the verification of decisions adopted by the inquiry officer. If there is sufficient evidence, the decision to bring in a citizen as an accused is not taken. In such cases, confirmed conclusions are formulated in the indictment with reference to specific paragraphs, parts, articles of the Criminal Code.
Possessing powers to supervise the bodies of inquiry, the prosecutor approves the indictment drawn up by the interrogating officer and agreed by him with his immediate superior. If the suspect was placed in custody, the document must be executed within 10 days from the date of application of the preventive measure. If it is not possible to comply with the indicated period (due to the large volume of investigative actions, the need to carry out examinations, etc.), the citizen should be charged with the rules provided for in Articles 171-175 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Otherwise, the chosen measure is subject to cancellation. The subsequent actions in the framework of the investigation are carried out in the manner prescribed by chapters 21, 22 and 24-31 of the CPC.
Features of the act
When drawing up the document, the interrogating officer is obliged to comply with the requirements provided for in the CPC. The indictment is considered as a simplified form of indictment. However, this fact does not make it less significant.
In the indictment, the authorized employee formulates his findings, provides evidence that will be examined by the court.
The document is drawn up by the inquirer who directly carried out the preliminary investigation into the case in its proceedings.
Document structure
The indictment must include the following information:
- Date, time, place of compilation.
- F. I. O., position of employee.
- Information about the citizen involved in the status of a suspect. In particular, the details of his passport or certificate of birth are indicated, data established during the investigation, including information about a criminal record.
- The place, method and time of the crime.
- Form of guilt, purpose, motives of action.
- The magnitude and nature of the damage caused by the crime.
- The wording of the charge with reference to specific rules of the Criminal Code.
- Type of complicity (if it took place).
- A list of evidence collected during the investigation.
- Mitigating circumstances.
- Data on the victim, civil defendants / plaintiffs.
- The list of citizens to be summoned to the hearing.
If necessary, a certificate is drawn up for the indictment. It reflects information about the progress of the case, interim measures taken in a civil action, the location of the suspect and the storage of evidence, as well as the procedural costs of the case.
Actions of the prosecutor
After the compilation and signing of the indictment by the inquiry officer who carried out the investigation of the case, the document is filed with the pre-numbered production materials and transferred to the head of the unit. The head must study the information and approve the act. After that, the case materials are transferred to the prosecutor.
The employee supervising the bodies of inquiry should consider the documents received and make a decision on them. The prosecutor has 2 days to do this. During this period, he must make one of the decisions enshrined in article 266 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This rule provides for the powers of the prosecutor with respect to the materials received together with the indictment.
If the official considers that the circumstances to be considered by the court are established and fully reflected in the documents, he makes a decision on the approval of the act. After that, the case is sent for trial.
If the prosecutor finds violations in the execution of the indictment, he must return the materials together with his written instructions back to the inquiry department within two days. If necessary, an official may extend the investigation, but not more than three days. The written instructions of the prosecutor are binding on the inquiry officer.
If, based on the results of studying the materials of the case, the official comes to the conclusion that there are grounds for dismissing the case or prosecuting the suspect, he makes a decision on this. In this document, the prosecutor must motivate the decision.
The prosecutor may consider that the circumstances in the indictment are not fully reflected. In this case, he makes a decision on the return of the case materials with written instructions. In the same way, an official acts in case of detection of violations of the law by an inquiry officer.
Additionally
The prosecutor to whom the indictment is sent for approval has the right to exclude paragraphs / episodes from the prosecution or to re-qualify the crime as less serious. However, the law does not allow the deterioration of the situation of a person involved in proceedings in the status of a suspect or accused. Changes to the indictment may be made if they:
- exclude part of the charges and do not change the qualification of the act;
- qualify the crime under the new law, preserving the scope of the charge, but improving the situation of a citizen in a different way;
- exclude some qualifying features without changing the severity of the act;
- exclude part of the charges and suggest replacing the article with a softer one.
A copy of the act approved by the prosecutor is handed over to the accused and his lawyer. If necessary, the content of the document is translated into the language that the citizen speaks.
Differences between inquiry and investigation
The first sign by which these forms of preliminary investigation are differentiated is the method of criminal procedure regulation.
Investigation is mandatory in all cases, except for those for which the law provides for inquiry. As mentioned above, their list is fixed in 3 parts 150 of the article of the CPC. Moreover, the inquiry, if necessary, can be replaced by the investigation.
The forms of investigation differ in subjective composition. The law provides that the inquiry is carried out by the inquiry officer. Only in exceptional cases can an investigator conduct it. Such situations are enshrined in article 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (clause 7.8, part 3).
Of no small importance are the timing. Inquiry is considered an expedited procedure, since it takes no more than 25 days. If the authorized employee does not have time to complete all necessary measures, the case shall be transferred to the investigator.
Another difference is the procedural status of the citizen in respect of whom the prosecution is carried out. So, upon inquiry, he becomes the accused only at the final stage - at the time the indictment was drawn up. Until this time, a citizen is considered a suspect.
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