The Criminal Code considers inquiry as a form of activity in the investigation of an incident. Within the framework of urgent investigative actions, inquiry is a form of investigation of the situation with the aim of quick and accurate administration of justice. This phenomenon is typical for clarifying the circumstances of cases in criminal departments of law enforcement agencies. The official classification of such activities is a procedural form of investigation. Decisions made by persons during events must satisfy the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure currently in force.
Organization of work is the key to a successful result
In order for the inquiry to be as effective as possible within the framework of urgent investigative actions, it is necessary to be able to organize the work process with the highest degree of efficiency. Responsibility for this lies with the leadership of the law enforcement agency, which controls the subordinate staff, all affairs are carried out by the department. Management should be particularly clear about situations requiring prior thorough investigation. The right to initiate such cases in the general case belongs to investigators.
Efficiency of the production of urgent investigative actions, inquiries is the key to finding evidence. The speed of reaction of government agencies responsible for preliminary activities to identify useful information, allows you to effectively consolidate all the important information. Based on this base, you can understand who is guilty of the offense, which means that exposing the criminal will require less time. The purpose of urgent measures is to minimize the time interval separating the commission of an unlawful act and the official announcement of the sentence to the guilty.
What to do
Conducting urgent investigative actions is allowed if such signs of an act violating the laws of the law are found that require appropriate action. The complete list, as well as the official procedural procedure itself, are described in Article 146 of the current Code of Criminal Procedure. In accordance with the regulations of this norm, the responsible state body begins a criminal case, within the framework of which urgent actions are being organized to study the situation. As a rule, the need for such actions is due to the impossibility for the investigator for objective reasons to begin an official documented case study as soon as possible. An investigator who opens a case that is not relevant to him becomes the initiator of urgent measures. In his sphere of obligations is the transfer of such a case to the prosecutor, so that further the study of circumstances is organized in accordance with the official regulations.
An urgent investigative action is carried out by the inquiry body if the interrogator initiates the case in accordance with the article of the Code of Criminal Procedure, while the severity level is assessed as small, and further development of the situation shows that the particular case is under the jurisdiction of another inquiry body. In such a situation, the official is obliged to refer the case to the prosecutor, who sends the documentation to the department responsible for this category of offenses.
Official terminology
In accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code, urgent investigative actions are an important concept mentioned in this collection of regulatory acts at least four dozen times. At the same time, a clear unambiguous official definition in the current legislation is not formulated.Lawyers assess this as an initiative of the legislator to present the category of actions in question as a subtype of procedural activity. If you pay attention to the information published in articles 86 and 87, you can understand that the main task of such an event is to collect data about the case and then verify the evidence base. At the same time, procedural activity is a much deeper, broader phenomenon than urgent measures.
Inquiry as urgent investigative actions of the preliminary investigation is the identification of the most relevant information immediately upon receipt of data on the offense. In a philistine environment, this is indicated by the intuitive expression "in hot pursuit." Within the framework of such activity, law enforcement state institutions can stop the crime even in the process of commission, if there is enough time for this. Otherwise, the goal of law enforcement advocates is to search for the offender, as soon as the wrongful act has been committed. In this case, the suspects are delayed, the responsible persons carry out the activities prescribed by the established procedure. As part of the activity, it is necessary to detect the maximum amount of evidence, provide measures for the preservation of objects, consolidate the evidence base.
What can be done?
The concept of urgent investigative actions involves such activity, for which the investigative state body has the right. Such events can only be carried out if the features of the criminal case allow this, taking into account the declared law. Officials record the traces of an unlawful act, officially identifying it, seek evidence, secure it, and seize it for further study. About these measures reads the nineteenth paragraph of the fifth article of the CPC adopted in our country.
The standards to which the investigative authorities of our day are subordinate are somewhat different from the rules that were previously in force in the RSFSR. Although modern laws stipulate the order of urgent investigative actions, there is no clear absolute list of actions admissible within the framework of such activity. If we analyze a literal explanation of the concept, we can conclude that any actions of investigators can be considered urgent at a certain point of view.
Pricing correctly
Since an exhaustive list of urgent investigative actions is not given in the CPC, it is necessary to analyze the measures against their inherent criteria, identifying whether there is urgency among them. This is based on the probability of loss, transformation of evidence. If there is an assumption that the person who committed the crime may hide, it is the basis for urgent events. The laws regulate the need for the fastest possible arrival to investigate the place of events, a corpse, conduct interrogation and search of a person suspected of committing an unlawful act. For the correct conduct of the case, an urgent examination is required.
In general, lawyers say that it is not worth delaying the implementation of urgent investigative actions in criminal cases if there is serious reason to believe that an early arrival at the scene will provide more information than a simple interrogation of, say, a citizen whose interests and rights have been infringed . If the situation is accompanied by causing damage, it is important to formulate a recovery plan at the very beginning of the conduct of the case. Usually, a suspect is searched for this, property belonging to him is arrested. You can write an order to the state authorities responsible for the inquiry for the purpose of search activities.
Everything has its place
Although the production of urgent investigative actions in many cases is a necessary part of the investigation, it cannot replace all preliminary measures to clarify the circumstances of the case.The state agency responsible for the inquiry procedure cannot organize other studies within the framework of the case, except for urgent cases; you cannot engage in procedural activity that is able to adjust the results of the data examination. It is impossible to take such actions within the framework of emergency measures that are assigned by law to the investigator’s responsibility and are not given to anyone (with the exception of this official).
Considering examples of which investigative actions are not urgent, it is necessary to mention:
- statement of charge;
- choice of restraint;
- termination of criminal proceedings;
- suspension of case investigation;
- writing a conclusion.
Theory and practice
When considering the production of urgent investigative actions, it is necessary to pay attention to the closely related concept of procedural action. These include, as can be seen from the 32nd paragraph of the fifth article of the current Code of Criminal Procedure, the activities taken by the court, the investigation and a number of other government agencies.
The state agency conducting the urgent investigative actions, which is responsible for the inquiry procedure, has opportunities, preferences, thanks to which it is possible to organize operational measures, search. But a specific inquiry officer has no rights to such an initiative. The possibility of organizing certain measures to identify circumstances in a particular case is strictly regulated by applicable law.
Features and Rules
Carrying out urgent investigative actions, the state body responsible for the inquiry procedure selects the person who is charged with the obligation to conduct operational activities, search. An interrogator is selected for this. The decision in favor of a particular official is made by the head of the structure. This fact is declared by the first part of the article of the CPC adopted under the 41st article number. The laws establish that powers cannot be entrusted to a person who has previously conducted a search, operational activities in the framework of the same case or has already been made responsible for them and is currently conducting it.
Among the rights given to investigators by the current laws regarding urgent investigative actions, special attention should be paid to the possibility of organizing investigative actions, of a different kind of procedural. An official has the privilege of making appropriate decisions. However, there are exceptions - these are situations directly specified in the CPC that require preliminary coordination of the planned measures and conclusions with the head of the department. In some cases, authorization, approval by the prosecutor, the court is required.
It’s necessary - it means it’s necessary
If the case is such that urgent investigative actions involve the organization of operational measures, search, you can arrange a meeting of the official responsible for the inquiry of the authority and the suspect after the incident. To do this, you must first contact the interrogating officer for official permits. Responsibility for the execution of such a written permission lies with the interrogating officer conducting case management on a specific case.
Necessary and necessary
The current legislation contains standards regarding the competence of inquiry structures. At the same time, an assessment is made of the assessment of the functionality of the state body, the jurisdiction taking into account the subject, persons, the rules applicable to them. Particularly noteworthy is the article of the Code of Criminal Procedure, published under number 157, namely, its fourth and fifth paragraphs. It follows from them that the assessment of competence obliges to pay attention to the place where the unlawful act was committed.
Investigators included in the structure of the internal affairs department have the right to organize urgent investigations in cases falling under the Criminal Procedure Code, if any - in the area of responsibility of internal affairs investigators.Modern laws largely reflect the standards of the law adopted in the RSFSR on the work of the police and declaring that the criminal department of this structure has the right to organize urgent events. If the object of the crime is connected with the trafficking of psychotropic substances that are capable of provoking drug intoxication of substances, which are contrary to the rules, the responsibility and rights to organize urgent measures are assigned to the investigators of the structure associated with such substances. If the crime is assessed under the second paragraph of the second part of Article 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the responsibility for organizing the inquiry rests with the federal security agencies. Certain crimes are committed by the customs law enforcement agency.
Special occasion
Special rights are given to commanders of military units, units as part of a military force, heads of institutions, military garrisons. Their area of responsibility is the conduct of urgent measures as part of a study of the circumstances of the subject to the CPC case in which a military person or citizen who finds himself at a military gathering passes to the suspect. Responsibility for urgent measures lies with this group of chiefs, if someone from the civilian personnel of the Armed Forces, other military units, and military agencies is suspected. The main condition is the fulfillment of service obligations associated with the commission of an unlawful act. We will also have to consider all those cases when an event occurred with the participation of the above categories of citizens in a unit, garrison, military institution, or military unit.
A separate issue is the penal correction system. The heads of state bodies and institutions of this system are responsible for organizing urgent measures as part of the investigation related to the case instituted under the CPC, if the criminal act was completely against the official order. The indicated category of persons has the right to organize urgent measures if the offender is an employee of a state body, state institutions in their area of subordination, as well as another person who committed an unlawful act within the boundaries of a state body, an institution for which the designated managerial staff is responsible.
You won’t get away from duties
There is a certain category of persons not directly specified in the law, but which has the rights to organize urgent actions and is obliged to deal with these issues when revealing the unlawful behavior of a certain citizen. We are talking about officials who are not included in the structure of the inquiry bodies, but who have the appropriate authority in fulfilling a number of conditions.
The Criminal Procedure Code refers to such specialized categories of ship captains cruising on rivers and open water, if long-distance sailing is performed. Their area of responsibility is an unlawful act that occurred on a particular ship. If the event happened during the wintering period of the group conducting exploration and geological work, then the responsibility for urgent measures lies with the leader. With regard to criminal events identified within the consular posts, representative offices of our country in other states, the right to organize an initial investigation is given to the head of such an institution.
What to do?
The indicated categories of persons under the mentioned conditions may initiate a criminal case and organize an urgent investigation into it as part of the investigation. It is important to immediately notify the prosecutor. All materials on the occasion, the decision officially declaring the institution of the case should be sent to the prosecutor as soon as possible. Such a condition is contained in the fourth part of the article of the CPC, published under the 146th number.
How and when?
The deadline for the production of urgent investigative actions is a rather controversial issue, as follows from the current laws, since no clear final determination has been submitted at present.Among the urgent should include activities that the body responsible for the inquiry carries out immediately, as soon as the case is opened. The following fact is taken into account: it is important to conduct a preliminary investigation to reveal justice, but a delay in time can cause the loss of valuable information. Urgent activities allow you to timely explore and consolidate important facts.
If we analyze the 157th article of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it can be revealed from it that the presence of criminal signs specified in this legal document allows and commits to conduct preliminary investigative activities up to ten days from the start of the criminal case. After this time period has passed, the inquiry body, which has taken the initiative and has undertaken the investigation of the situation, is obliged to redirect all the documentation on the case to the head of the investigating authority.
Laws: put into practice
The indicated period of urgent investigative actions is given to organize the immediate measures necessary for the subsequent successful determination of all the features of the situation. In the framework of such an initiative, the responsible body, official take mandatory measures, which are categorically unacceptable to postpone, otherwise there is a high probability of difficulty in revealing justice or a complete exclusion of such an opportunity.
It is important to remember the need to comply with the deadlines for urgent investigative actions if the activity of law enforcement agencies is aimed at preventing an unlawful act. A correct approach to the situation, allowing you not to delay time, makes it possible to intercept an attacker before harming citizens and property, or to catch him at the time of the misconduct. It is likely that the investigator, if one is already leading the case, is not able to personally initiate an investigation. The reasons for this should be strictly objective: geographical removal, conducting research of another place in the framework of another case under study. They estimate how likely it is that the culprits will hide from the scene.
Everything has its time
More than once, experienced lawyers have drawn attention to the fact that it was correctly and promptly organized urgent actions that made it possible to collect the necessary evidence and uncover the wrongful act with the exact identification of the perpetrators and the identification of their guilt.
The previously existing normative act (back in the period of the RSFSR) allowed only a limited set of interrogator activities as urgent. Such measures included site investigation, examination, work with a suspect (seizure, search, interrogation, detention), with witnesses and persons whose rights and interests were impaired (interrogation). When organizing events, you need to consider some features. For example, victims, witnesses over time forget the exact details of the incident, so it is important to get information from them as quickly as possible. Moreover, there is the possibility of moving, a complete loss of communication with the person, which will cause an information gap for the investigation. Often, this is not even about ten days, but about hours and minutes.