After receiving information about unlawful acts, the police and prosecutors do not always initiate criminal proceedings. Why? There are several reasons that we will cover in this article.
How is a criminal case instituted?
Without good reason, no criminal case will be brought against a person or group of people. In the norms of Article 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation (the current version) we see a list of grounds and reasons for initiating criminal proceedings. The first is a crime statement. This can be a paper officially registered by authorized bodies from any individual, organization, enterprise, group of persons, etc. Secondly, the reason for starting a criminal case is the personal recognition of the person who committed the crime and admits his mistakes.
The law also mentions such a ground as reporting a crime or an impending act, which was received from anonymous sources. And, finally, the last reason is the decision of the prosecutor on sending the case materials to the body that is engaged in the preliminary investigation.
This is not to say that in the presence of these factors, the case is automatically instituted. The facts indicated in the information are verified. If they are not confirmed, a decision is made to refuse to institute criminal proceedings.
Lack of evidence of crime as a reason for refusal to institute criminal proceedings
There are certain signs of a felony. These include the danger of action for people, severe physical consequences for humans, material consequences. The main sign that a person’s act is a criminal offense is the public danger of his misconduct. Not every action of a person with any consequences is a criminal offense. If the competent authorities do not find evidence of a criminal offense in the descriptions, testimonies of witnesses and other evidence, a decision will be issued to refuse to initiate proceedings.
Procedural Reasons for Possible Failures
The Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation (the current edition) and the theory of criminal law generally distinguish two groups of reasons, as a result of which an act of refusal to institute proceedings is issued: procedural and substantive.
First, we will consider procedural aspects in the criminal law process. There are two reasons for this group:
- the person who committed the act, even if it has signs of socially dangerous, died before the initiation of criminal proceedings;
- there is no statement from the victim.
In some cases (for example, rape), a necessary moment for initiating proceedings and initiating investigative actions is a statement from a person who has been harmed.
Legal and material obstacles to initiating criminal proceedings
There are also legal barriers to initiating criminal proceedings. For example, the situation is such that it seems that there are signs of a crime, but the presence of such moments during the commission of the act was immediately established, such as:
- extreme need;
- necessary (forced) or imaginary defense;
- the commission of a crime as a result of psychological or physical violence against a person in order to force him to do something;
- if a person performed some actions related to serious risk according to his official duties.
If there are signs of the above factors, a decision is made to refuse to institute criminal proceedings. Law enforcement agencies will not open criminal proceedings if there is no corpus delicti in the human misconduct .
Decision to refuse to institute criminal proceedings (sample)
Town _________
Investigator of the investigation department ______ police department of the city _________ (full name), having examined the statement of Mr. __________ about _________
installed:
"___" _______ 200 * years _______ (the essence of the actions taken is given with a detailed per-minute description of the situation, if possible). These acts, although they carry a certain social danger, do not constitute a crime. In addition, ______ (full name) did not reach the minimum age prescribed by law, from which criminal liability may arise .
Given the above factors and guided by Article.Article. ________ Code of Criminal Procedure
Decide:
1. Refuse to open a criminal case on the application of Mr. _____ about a crime committed by Mr. _______ "____" _________ 200 * years.
2. A copy of the document should be sent to the city prosecutor _______.
3. A copy of the document should be sent to _______- to the applicant.
Investigator of the investigation department ________ city ________
A copy of the document was sent to the prosecutor ________ city _______
"____" ________ 200 * years "___" hours "____" minutes
A copy of the decision was also sent to the applicant _______________ (full name)
"____" ________ 200 * years "___" hours "_____" minutes.
What to do if criminal proceedings are started?
A person considers himself innocent, and the investigation has begun? What to do in such cases? There is only one option - a complaint is filed for instituting criminal proceedings. The essence of this statement is similar to a regular appeal, which sets forth evidence that an act committed or incriminated to a person is not a criminal offense.
It should also be understood that the concept of initiating a criminal case does not include anything particularly scary, because the institution itself can be challenged. In addition, the guilt of a person still needs to be proved in court.
Conclusion
Law enforcement agencies are working to identify the people who actually committed the crime. Therefore, if the person is not really guilty, the investigator will decide not to institute criminal proceedings.
Such decisions are now made quite often, because citizens who submit applications do not always clearly understand where to go. Criminal offenses and administrative offenses are often confused. If there is no corpus delicti, the criminal case will not be opened, but if the misconduct is serious, the information is sent to specially authorized bodies for investigation.