The current criminal procedural legislation does not provide normative definitions of the concepts of “report of a crime” and “reason for initiating a criminal case”, but only lists their types in paragraph 43 of Art. 5 and part 1 art. 140 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
A crime report is the primary source of information about a committed or impending crime, a signal to law enforcement agencies. A report of a crime can be considered as a reason to initiate a criminal case only after it has been accepted, registered and verified.
Thus, a report of a crime is information about the commission of an act prohibited by criminal law, and the reason for initiating a criminal case is the circumstances established by law, prompting law enforcement agencies to make a procedural decision in accordance with the provisions of Art. 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation on the initiation of a criminal case or on the refusal to initiate a criminal case.
Reporting a crime in accordance with paragraph 43 of Art. 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation is:
- reporting a crime;
- confession;
- crime detection report;
- the prosecutor's decision to forward the relevant materials to the preliminary investigation body to resolve the issue of criminal prosecution.
However, in accordance with Art. 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the reasons for initiating a criminal case are:
- reporting a crime;
- confession;
- a message about a committed or impending crime received from other sources;
- the prosecutor's decision to forward the relevant materials to the preliminary investigation body to resolve the issue of criminal prosecution.
As you can see, in Part 1 of Art. 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the third reason for initiating a criminal case is not a “report on the discovery of a crime,” as it is called in paragraph 43 of Art. 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, but a message about a committed or impending crime received from other sources. The wording of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Art. seems more correct. 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, since the criminal process begins not from the moment the report on the discovery of signs of a crime is completed, but from the moment when the competent authority (official) has at its disposal the reason and basis for starting the criminal process. The reason in the situation under consideration is based not only on the content of clause 3, part 1, art. 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, but also from Art. 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation is a message about a committed or impending crime received from other sources.
Reporting a crime
As a general rule, the legislator does not establish restrictions on the subject composition of crime applicants. Thus, any person can report a crime, regardless of the violation of his subjective rights as a result of a committed or suspected crime.
According to Part 1 of Art. 141 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a statement of crime can be submitted both orally and in writing. The written application is signed by the applicant. The oral statement is recorded in the protocol, which is signed by the applicant and the person who compiled it. The applicant is warned of criminal liability for knowingly false denunciation under Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, about which a corresponding note is made in the application, which is certified by the signature of the applicant.
Sample crime reports:
- Reporting a crime. Sample (general form)
- Reporting a crime to the police about beatings (beatings for hooligan reasons were inflicted by unknown persons on the street)
- Statement of assault to the police. Sample (injury was caused by an acquaintance)
- Statement of a crime to bring a witness to criminal liability for giving knowingly false testimony in a civil case
- Reporting a crime (fraud)
- Application to initiate a criminal case of private prosecution to a magistrate
The application can be submitted either by the victim of the crime or by another person. The exception is cases of private and private-public accusations, for which the application must be submitted only by the victim himself or his legal representative.
The law does not contain requirements regarding the content of the application; it is only important that it is not anonymous, i.e. contained reliable information about the applicant. However, to ensure security, including when receiving a report of a crime, in accordance with Part 1.1 of Art. 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the person submitting the application may not indicate information about his identity. Such a message is formalized by a report on the detection of signs of a crime under Art. 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
An official authorized or authorized to receive reports of crimes is obliged to take measures to immediately register the received message in the book of registration of reports of crimes (KUSP).
An unreasonable refusal to accept an application for a crime, its failure to include it in the prescribed manner in the register of reports of crimes, as well as an unjustified refusal to issue the applicant a notification coupon about the acceptance and registration of this application is unacceptable.
In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the inquirer, the inquiry body, the investigator, the head of the investigative body are entrusted with the responsibility to receive and verify reports of any crimes committed or being prepared. Based on the results of the inspection, a procedural decision is made to initiate or refuse to initiate a criminal case or to transfer a message to the jurisdiction or to the court (in cases of private prosecution).
A report drawn up based on the results of operational activities
A report can be filed by a law enforcement officer not only after the crime has been committed, but also before.
If, as a result of the investigation, an authorized officer learns of an impending crime, he can draw up a report in order to prevent the commission of a crime. However, this tactic is not very productive. After conducting operational-search activities, it will be impossible to initiate a case due to lack of evidence. Therefore, the best option would be to expose the offenders during the commission of a crime, which will subsequently make it possible to bring them to criminal responsibility. Such crimes include various types of criminal acts, including:
- Crimes related to drug trafficking.
- Thefts and robberies.
- Socially dangerous acts, as a result of which other structures for the protection of citizens and law and order are involved (Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, etc.).
- Cases investigated within the framework of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.
- Crimes against government agencies.
As a rule, such cases are not recorded in the crime reporting book. They are recorded in special documents that are strictly classified and not subject to public disclosure.
In operational accounting, information is recorded by operational services in order to further improve operational developments.
After the arrest of offenders, an ordinary report is drawn up in accordance with all the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, which is subject to registration and transfer to the head of the law enforcement service.
The report and the information contained in it are checked within 10 days. In special cases, the inspection time may be extended for a period of no more than 30 days. However, in some particularly serious cases, when identification of particularly dangerous crimes is required, several months are needed.
The implementation of operational activities begins from the moment public verification actions begin and a case is initiated. Before filing a report, evidence and evidence are collected, suspects are detained, and the necessary documents are filled out.
Confession
A confession is, in fact, a type of statement about a crime, in which a citizen voluntarily reports that he committed a crime. Therefore, the procedure for procedurally filing a confession statement is similar to filing a statement about a crime. The only exception is that when turning himself in, a citizen is not warned of criminal liability for a deliberate slander.
The statement of confession and personal information are submitted in writing or orally. In the latter case, they are entered into the protocol, which is signed by the person who confessed and the person who accepted the confession.
Confession is a special circumstance mitigating punishment (clause “and” of Article 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Message from law enforcement officers about detection of a crime
Sometimes information about the discovery of a crime is reported by law enforcement agencies. Then it becomes available only to specific military personnel who, due to certain circumstances, were witnesses to the situation. A soldier should not keep what happened secret. He must, in the form of a report, notify his superiors about what offense occurred, where exactly, and also what part the serviceman himself took in it. For example, a crime occurred before his eyes, and now the serviceman is a witness in the case.
In such a situation, silence occurs only if law enforcement officers insist on silence in order to ultimately obtain a favorable outcome of the case.
A message about a committed or impending crime received from other sources
A message about a committed or impending crime received from other sources is any official source of information received by an official in the course of his official activities from any individual or legal entity. These may include messages contained in the media; information obtained during any inspection, operational search activity, road patrol service, etc. The data is drawn up in a report from an official about the detection of signs of a crime, which is the reason for initiating a criminal case. The report is compiled by employees of operational units, other bodies of inquiry, and preliminary investigation. Messages from enterprises, institutions, organizations and officials must be made in writing and certified by the seal and signatures of managers.
Report on citizens' reports
In total, there are two sources of obtaining information about atrocities, when committed, a report is drawn up on finding signs of a crime:
- Information can be obtained from any citizen of the country orally or in writing.
- Information may become known to law enforcement services as a result of its publication in the media, the Internet, etc.
A message about a committed or planned crime can be transmitted by a citizen orally or in writing. For example, a person who has information about someone being kidnapped or held hostage can report this to a police officer. The employee, in turn, is obliged to report this information to his management by writing an appropriate report. It can also be compiled even on the basis of a telephone call made to the all-Russian number 02.
If a crime was detected by a law enforcement officer, and the citizen refrained from filing a statement about the offense committed, this officer is also obliged to draw up a report and send it to the leadership of the internal affairs department.
In the case when a person refuses to report the act committed, the report is still drawn up in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Intentional concealment of actions of a criminal nature is a violation of the law, and therefore the citizen bears criminal liability. This is due to the fact that many offenses are potentially dangerous both for residents of the city and country, and for the state as a whole, even despite the fact that a crime can be committed against an individual.
There are also public matters that do not require a statement from an individual or group of individuals to identify them. A report drawn up by a law enforcement officer, which contains all the necessary information, is the basis for initiating a case.
All types of crimes, the commission of which requires a statement from the victim, are classified as private cases. Their list is determined by Article 20 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
Grounds for initiating criminal proceedings
Along with the reason, another mandatory condition for initiating a criminal case is the basis associated with the presence of sufficient data indicating signs of a crime (Part 2 of Article 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).
The basis for initiating a criminal case is the presence of sufficient data indicating the signs of a crime that relate to the object of the crime and the objective side of the crime, if the case is initiated upon the commission of a crime. If a criminal case is initiated against a specific person, then information about the subject and the subjective side of the crime is required. There are certain crimes for which cases are always brought against a specific person. These include:
- non-payment of funds for the maintenance of children or disabled parents - Art. 157 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- refusal to provide information to a citizen - Art. 140 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- disclosure of the secret of adoption - Art. 155 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- abuse of power and official authority - Articles 201, 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- receiving a bribe - art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation;
- giving a bribe - Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, etc.
From the moment a criminal case is initiated, such a person acquires the status of a suspect (Part 1 of Article 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation) and has the right to receive a copy of the resolution to initiate a criminal case.
Report form on detection of signs of a crime
A report is an official document that is submitted in relation to the command of a specific company or unit . That is why this document has a unified form. Despite the fact that a single form and sample does not exist today, the following information should still be reflected in the document.
- In relation to whom the document was drawn up.
- Date and place of compilation.
- Who compiled the document?
- The reason for writing the report is stated.
- The date is indicated and a signature is placed.
Some units have their own special standards, which are called local regulatory legal acts, since they apply their effect only to a specific military unit.
Despite the fact that there is no single standard , the military is very meticulous about this document. Indeed, if a possible offense is confirmed, most likely, this report will be attached to the case, which means that various military personnel will become familiar with it.
It is impossible for such a document to be drawn up unlawfully.
The report is presented on an A4 sheet. It must be completely white, without unnecessary extraneous entries. Design can be done by hand using black or blue paste. But in this case, the information must be presented in understandable handwriting.
Computer printing in a standard font is also .
There are no spelling errors allowed in the document itself.
Illegal report
Work on indicators
The media quotes about increasing the security of medium and small businesses. The President of the Russian Federation also demands to protect small businesses and at the same time asks to strengthen the fight against corruption. If we take the work of the police, then every newly appointed chief wants to show improvement in the work in the area entrusted to him, and only indicators can serve as proof of this.
The new boss, who is not against becoming a general, begins working on a goal - how to achieve improved performance in the fight against crime?
This requires an increase in the number of complaints about crimes committed or being prepared, an increase in the number of solved crimes, a certain number of solved corruption crimes, etc. In times of declaring the fight against corruption and theft of budget funds, the detectives of the Department for Economic Crimes pay priority attention to this area and are required to report on these indicators. A report is needed.
What should the detective do if there are no allegations of a crime in this area? How can he look for such violations if there are no legal grounds for starting verification actions within the framework of Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation? Not only the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, but also the President of the Russian Federation demands an increase and strengthening of the fight against corruption. Only numbers can show the result.
According to Article 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the reasons for initiating a criminal case and starting an inspection in accordance with Article 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation are: 1) a statement of a crime;
2) surrender; 3) a message about a crime committed or being prepared, received from other sources; 4) the prosecutor’s decision to forward the relevant materials to the preliminary investigation body to resolve the issue of criminal prosecution. The latter can only be determined based on inspection materials. Report on the discovery of a crime
If there are no materials from prosecutorial checks, statements about a crime and confessions, then the only option to start searching for possible crimes remains the execution by the employee himself of a Report on the discovery of signs of a crime, which, in accordance with Article 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, is equivalent to a message about a crime committed or being prepared, obtained from other sources, provided for in clause 3, part 1, article 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
Investigative officer's report
Signs of a crime are not flowers; they themselves are not revealed or shown. They can only be detected after verification activities. For this reason, sometimes, to begin verification actions, they literally resort to writing a Report on the detection of signs of a crime, without any messages, information or statements.
The report is signed by the head of the department and the deputy head of the police department or the chief of police himself.
If a report is written, then usually people up to the head of the department initially know that he was born out of nowhere. By law, they must not allow violations of laws. But, on the other hand, the task has been set. If they don’t comply, they have no right. They may be kicked out of the service. If the detective’s report on the discovery of signs of a crime is not endorsed, then you can pay for it. If suddenly a criminal case is born from the report, then the indicators will increase and, perhaps, encouragement awaits. If not, then it's okay. There is always a salary, but the service continues. Operator's report
When the time comes to show a plan for statistics for a certain period and it seems that there are signs of a crime, although this is not a fully established fact, then the operator writes in the report on the detection of signs of a crime that there are signs of a crime. The investigator is also an employee of the same police department and his decisions are also somehow formed taking into account the opinions of the management.
Is a police report always a reason to initiate a criminal case? Read the article “IF A CRIMINAL CASE IS INSTITUTED WITHOUT A STATEMENT.”
Consent of the prosecutor
The resolution to initiate a criminal case is written briefly and, basically, in the circumstances set out in them, some signs of a crime are almost always described, and more often than not, when the resolution to initiate a criminal case describes some signs of a crime, the supervising prosecutor agrees on the initiation a criminal case, because according to Part 2 of Article 140 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the basis for initiating a criminal case is the presence of sufficient data indicating signs of a crime.
The operative officer under the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation is not authorized to issue a decision to initiate a criminal case. Time limit for canceling the decision to initiate a criminal case
The prosecutor can only cancel the decision to initiate a criminal case within 24 hours from the receipt of the materials that served as the basis for initiating a criminal case.
If the prosecutor was late with this deadline, I personally have not yet seen a prosecutor who, after 24 hours, admitted his negligence and admitted the illegality of the decision to initiate a criminal case, which he had agreed upon and previously recognized as legal. If after 24 hours he realizes his mistake, then according to the law he can no longer cancel the illegal decision to initiate a criminal case. In such cases, the prosecutor has no option but to stand in solidarity with those police officers who knew about the Report that was composed almost out of nowhere about the discovery of signs of a crime, so that, indeed, evidence of the crime would later be discovered and thereby the report made up and the consent of the superiors would be justified and correct . The power of a businessman
It is very difficult for an entrepreneur, against whom a criminal case has been initiated based on a report on the discovery of signs of a crime, to seek truth and justice alone under such circumstances. Delay can turn out very badly. But, as in Rus' they said from ancient times, “Until thunder strikes, a Russian man will not cross himself,” so self-respecting, proud Russian entrepreneurs do not immediately resort to the help of experienced criminal lawyers, because they themselves have gone through this difficult life and overcome many difficulties , obstacles, intrigues, falls, they achieved success, and here they think that they themselves will figure it out, decide or come to an agreement.
The sooner an experienced criminal lawyer gets involved in such situations, the greater the chance that his actions will protect the fate of the entrepreneur and his business and will seriously force the police to think about not making illegal moves, and in some cases will be able to prevent the illegal initiation of a criminal case.
Report date
The gap between the date of preparation and registration of the Report on the discovery of signs of a crime and the date of initiation of a criminal case can range from several days to several months.
Sometimes the decision to initiate a criminal case can be made on the day of registration of the Report on the discovery of signs of a crime. Playing on the brink of a foul
Not every written report on the discovery of signs of a crime leads to a decision to initiate a criminal case.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, announced on February 20, 2019. in his message to the Federal Assembly, 45% of cases against entrepreneurs are terminated before reaching court. As a result, for every entrepreneur whose business falls apart as a result of such police harassment, an average of 130 employees lose their jobs. Comes into play: the honor of the uniform
Many entrepreneurs will feel the unpleasant consequences of a written report first-hand and in business. Such a report gives rise to and serves as the basis for inspections, seizures of documents of financial and economic activities, computers with Internet keys, C1 databases and electronic documentation, etc. Moreover, sometimes they carry out illegal inspections of offices, illegal seizures of documents, and return documents with great delay, paralyzing the financial and economic activities of the entrepreneur.
When the case according to the written report does not go well and there is nothing to stitch together except numerous complaints and acts of fruitless and sometimes illegal measures, then, as some police say with their heads held high, they have a period of “defending the honor of their uniform.” Then almost the entire law enforcement system prowls and digs everything around the non-criminal businessman in order to find the corpus delicti. They begin to passionately interview the businessman’s subordinates, his counterparties, and try in every possible way to persuade them to hand over the person they want, for which purpose they begin to harass the business of the counterparties.
In many such cases, the innocent entrepreneur has the feeling and rumors that he was allegedly ordered by a competitor, although sometimes the reason lies in the nature of the systematic work of the police.
The search for a crime lasts until it breaks down, and for this, a criminal lawyer must systematically make complaint injections into all possible authorities. Given such a nightmare, many people will feel the pressure of possible criminal or administrative punishment. For some, this may lead to curtailment of business activities. Illegally initiated criminal case
Is it possible in such a situation to initiate a criminal case under Part 3 of Article 299 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - illegal initiation of a criminal case, if this act was committed in order to impede business activity or out of selfish or other personal interest and resulted in the termination of business activity or damage major damage?
It is not possible to differentiate between a custom-made Report on the discovery of signs of a crime or a custom-made initiation of a criminal case from a Report on the discovery of signs of a crime drawn up in the usual manner.
Moreover, it is unlikely that an investigator who illegally initiated a custom-made criminal case will admit that he was carrying out someone’s order. It’s easier for him to say that he did his job as in all other criminal cases and inspection materials. It is difficult to imagine that an even slightly competent investigator will admit that he illegally opened a custom-made criminal case if the question of whether his actions constitute a crime depends only on his words. If the inspection after a year, two or three finally ends with a decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case or terminate the criminal case, then no one is responsible for this mental police pressure. Responsibility for reporting a crime
If a citizen reports a crime and his statement about the crime turns out to be false, then his authorities will prosecute him under Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - for knowingly false denunciation of the commission of a crime. According to current legislation, a police officer who wrote a report on the discovery of signs of a crime and thereby caused a lot of trouble, and possibly thereby depriving citizens and entrepreneurs of sources of income, taxes to the state, does not bear any responsibility. When compared with scheduled prosecutorial inspections, it is precisely when conducting inspections based on written reports on the discovery of signs of a crime that the police carry out massive carpet bombing of the business environment and freedom of entrepreneurship.
Responsibility for illegal reporting
I believe that it is necessary not only to equalize, but to establish increased liability for police officers who write a report on the detection of signs of an economic crime, without appropriate confirmation and calculations of the damage caused from the business activity of a citizen or organization. For this purpose, the policeman who draws up a Report on the detection of signs of a crime, like an ordinary applicant, similar to Part 6 of Article 141 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, must be warned about criminal liability for a knowingly false denunciation under Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which should be stated in the Report on the discovery of signs of a crime enter the same mark as for a regular applicant. If the Report on the discovery of signs of a crime turns out to be false, then its author, like the applicant of the false report of a crime, must bear criminal liability under Article 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Is it necessary to have a statement from the victim to bring the person involved to criminal liability for each part of the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation? Read about this in the article “CRIMINAL CASE TERMINATED DUE TO THE LACK OF A VICTIM’S STATEMENT.”
Prepared by: criminal lawyer Vasiliev A.L.
