Terms of pre-court investigation in the form of inquiry

Abstract

The aim of the work is to establish the specifics of terms of pre-trial investigation in the form of inquiry and to identify problems that arise in practice and need to be resolved in order to increase an effectiveness of investigation of criminal misdemeanors. The methodological basis of the work made up provisions of the modern theory of scientific knowledge of legal and social phenomena. While writing the article, both general philosophical and general scientific, as well as special legal methods of scientific knowledge were used. Results. The introduction of a simplified pre-trial investigation in the form of inquiry has accelerated the average terms of pre-trial investigation and trial of minor criminal offences, however, in practice, a number of problems arise, including those related to the terms, which find their ambiguous interpretation and the solution of which is of important practical importance. Thus, the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine does not provide for inquiry periods from the moment of entering information about a criminal offense into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations until the day of notifying a person of suspicion, which, according to most jurists, is a violation of the general principles of criminal proceedings. In addition, there are gaps regarding the order and terms of the prosecutor’s extension of the inquiry period. There are also questions regarding the reasonableness of the inquiry period: а maximum is one month, in particular with regard to proceedings that require the appointment of a forensic psychiatric examination of a suspect; and a minimum of 72 hours, as this period may fall on weekends, etc. It is obvious that the identified complications can be eliminated first of all by introducing reasonable changes and additions to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, taking into account the needs of practice and the results of thorough scientific research.