Illegal actions of the investigator or his inaction should not go unpunished. Citizens do not always know how an investigator is obliged to conduct criminal cases and perform various procedural actions. Sometimes, when faced with chaos or in an incomprehensible situation, people get lost.
Do you need to go all the way (up to filing a lawsuit) if your rights have been violated?
Not really
In reality, controversial or outright illegal cases often arise. These are, for example, deliberately delaying the process, accepting bribes, terminating criminal prosecution for unknown reasons, disrespect for honor and dignity, distortion of facts that could help the investigation, violation of search and interrogation procedures, refusal to hand over seized property, etc. The list can go on for a long time.
What to do in such situations? One of the protective measures is complaints against the investigator. The legislator (Article 19 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation) allows citizens to appeal unlawful decisions of the investigator, as well as any of his actions (inaction).
The investigator is an official, he performs his duties in accordance with instructions and legislation. The activities of the Investigative Committee (IC) are regulated by the special law of the Russian Federation No. 403-FZ “On the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation”.
The powers of all participants in a criminal case, the rules for its conduct and the entire procedural order of legal proceedings are enshrined in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). The rights and obligations of insurance company employees are also regulated by separate legal acts.
In what cases can you file a complaint against an investigator?
Participants in investigative activities have the right to complain about any unlawful actions of investigators, including inaction.
The exception is repeated cases of appeal when written responses have already been received.
All rights and obligations of investigators are described in Article No. 38 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, which must be addressed in controversial cases. And the right of a citizen to appeal the actions of the investigator is specified in Article No. 123 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.
Most often, complaints about the inaction of investigative authorities are associated with such cases as:
- Refusal to initiate a case . It should be remembered that refusal to initiate criminal proceedings is lawful if there are no signs of a crime, the statute of limitations has expired, and the investigator does not have a statement from the victim.
- The criminal case has been discontinued . This is legal if the culprit has died; in accordance with the new legislation, the committed action ceased to be criminally punishable; a peace treaty was reached; the punishment came into force; an amnesty occurred.
Before filing a complaint against the investigator, you need to make sure that he is the one causing the problem, since it could also be the prosecutor or prosecutor.
Reasons for contacting
The most common reasons for appealing the actions of representatives of the Investigative Committee:
- illegal confiscation of property;
- misrepresentation of facts in the case;
- unlawful detention or violation of statutory requirements during the detention process;
- illegally conducting a search or performing a procedure with violations;
- violation of the procedure for carrying out investigative actions;
- refusal to initiate a criminal case regarding the commission of illegal actions against the victim;
- disclosure of personal data of participants in pre-trial proceedings and violation of the secrecy of the investigation.
Complaints can be written in other cases if the victim believes that his rights have been violated.
If a citizen writes a knowingly false denunciation about the commission of a crime by an official or other person, he may be prosecuted under Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Who can file complaints
- Suspect, accused and their representatives.
- The victim and his representative.
- Representatives of minors participating in the process
- Witnesses, witnesses, translators, experts and other participants in the pre-trial investigation.
If a person is not a participant in the process, then he does not have the right to write statements against investigators and other representatives of the Investigative Committee.
Where can I complain about the Investigative Committee?
Citizens' applications can be considered by higher management, the Central Office of the RF IC represented by Chairman Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin and his deputies, as well as the prosecutor's office and the court.
Where can I file a complaint against an investigator?
The first step should be to contact the executor’s immediate superior, that is, the head of the investigative agency. As practice shows, already at this stage many things get off the ground.
And also according to Law No. 27 of 03/07/2017 “On Amendments to the Federal Law on the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation”, supervision of the Investigative Committee is entrusted to the prosecutor’s office.
If a complaint to the prosecutor's office has not brought the desired result, there is no point in writing a second complaint. In this case, you should file a complaint with a higher authority, for example, the regional prosecutor's office or the Prosecutor General's Office.
What is inaction?
If we rely on the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure, we can conclude that inaction can take any form, therefore the author of the appeal is practically unlimited in formulating his demands.
Illegal inaction is considered as evasion or unreasonable refusal to perform his official duties, which the investigator must perform due to the requirements of regulations. This is a fairly significant violation and entails sanctions, since inaction implies a violation and infringement of the rights and interests of citizens and directly affects the timing and results of the investigation.
Examples of inaction include:
- refusal to call witnesses;
- refusal to order an examination;
- refusal to use measures that allow preserving property;
- not conducting interrogations;
- refusal to require evidence.
However, this list can be continued almost indefinitely; in fact, inaction is an unjustified avoidance of investigative actions, which are provided for by current legislation.
The main thing is to remember before filing a complaint with the prosecutor about the inaction of the investigator (a sample is given below) that not only this official, but also the prosecutor and the prosecutor are involved in the criminal process. Therefore, it is very important to determine whose fault the process is being delayed.
Making a complaint
The complaint document must contain the following information:
- Information about the applicant or his legal representative: full name, address, contact phone number.
- Information about the organization to which the complaint will be sent : name, address.
- Description of the specific problem of the person applying , it would be better to refer to regulations. Be sure to indicate the case number if it was opened.
- Request of the applicant.
- Date and signature.
A complaint about the investigator’s inaction can be drawn up and formatted in a free style, but it is better to use a ready-made sample.
Rules for filing a complaint
You can file a complaint by visiting the organization in person, in which case you should put an incoming mark on your copy. When sending by mail, you must use the service of registered letter with notification. In addition, you can draw up a complaint petition to the prosecutor’s office and on the Internet.
Copies of all documents on the case that are on hand should be attached to the paper.
How to write a complaint to the leadership of the Investigative Committee
The following methods of contact are provided:
- Personal visit to the head of the body where the pre-trial investigation is being conducted.
- Visit to the reception office of the Chairman of the Central Office of the Investigative Committee at the address: Moscow, st. 1st Frunzenskaya, 3-a. Schedule: 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. Reception days for deputies are posted on the official website of the department.
- Through the online reception on the website: moscow.sledcom.ru - the user must fill out an electronic form indicating personal and contact information, as well as describe in detail the circumstances of the offense. The total text volume should not exceed 5000 characters; The size of attached files is no more than 5 MB.
- Through the chairman's direct line: 8-800-100-12-70 - open every 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 14:00 to 19:00 or by calling the SK hotline: 8-800-100-12-60 (works around the clock).
- Written appeal to the address: 105005, Moscow, lane. Technical, no. 2.
There is no universal template, but the document is written in a business style, and its content should be informative.
Standard structure:
- Header – filled in the upper right corner. It contains the name of the authority, personal and contact information of the applicant.
- Document's name.
- Contents – the reason for the appeal is indicated, and the circumstances of the violation of the law or the rights of the victim are described. It is advisable to provide links to articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Criminal Code and other laws whose norms were violated.
- Petition – a request to consider the application and take appropriate action.
- List of attached documents - all facts reflected in the application must be supported by documents.
- Date and signature.
Departmental Order No. 17 establishes a single deadline for reviewing claims - 30 days. The response is provided in writing or electronically. According to Article 124 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the head of the investigative body considers the appeal within 3 days, with the possibility of extension up to 10 days. Based on the results of the inspection, a decision is prepared to fully or partially satisfy the complaint or to refuse to consider it.
Options to consider
The consideration of the complaint will vary depending on the grounds for disagreement. This is the feature that distinguishes a complaint against an investigator from a complaint against other government agencies and their employees.
Based on the Instructions
If the appeal is related to the assumption that the investigator has violated the law, in connection with which the applicant demands to hold him accountable, but at the same time the paper does not contain evidence of this fact, then it will be resolved according to the rules provided for by Federal Law No. 59 of 02.06. 2006 and the Instructions approved by Order of the Prosecutor General’s Office No. 45 of January 30, 2013.
This rule is established in paragraph 2.4 of the Instructions. You can submit a complaint in person, through a representative, using Russian postal services. In addition, in many regions of the Russian Federation an Internet reception desk has been created that allows you to submit an application electronically. To do this, you will need to fill out the suggested lines and attach scanned evidence.
If the document meets the requirements for it and does not contain the restrictions described below, then it is subject to mandatory review. If the issue has not been resolved by the lower prosecutor's office, then he is first sent there. Next, we will consider the rules for drawing up a complaint against the actions of an investigator and provide a sample document.
For example, there is an appeal against the decision of an investigator working in the district. The complaint should first be submitted to the prosecutor of the same district. If the application is sent to the regional or General Prosecutor's Office, it will still first go down to the district level.
The period for its consideration is a month. If additional checks or a request for missing materials are necessary to give a reasoned answer, then it can be extended another month, but not more than for a month.
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Reasons for return
If it is discovered that the information provided in the application is not sufficient to resolve the issue, it will be returned within 7 days with a request to provide the necessary data.
In addition, the appeal is returned if, upon reading it, it was decided that the applicant was unlawfully interfering in the work of the prosecutor's office.
If the application cannot be read, then it is not processed at all. If the address is legible, the applicant will receive it back after 7 days with a request to provide the paper in proper form. If the addressee is unknown, then it remains unchanged. But all these requests are stored in the nomenclature department.
If the applicant abuses his right, uses obscene language in the document, or threatens employees of the prosecutor’s office, then it is also ignored. But if the text contains information about a crime committed, then no matter what, it is sent for verification, according to the rules established by the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Applications that make no sense or if it is known for certain that the applicant suffers from a mental illness and is therefore declared incompetent will not be considered.
Paragraph 4.12 of the Instructions provides the opportunity for prosecutors to stop correspondence when more and more requests are received from the applicant on the same issue, but they do not contain other information, and the answer provided has already been given more than once. Then the citizen is sent a message with a link to the norm and a decision to stop exchanging papers. If previously unprocessed information is discovered, work on the issue is resumed.
Prosecutor's office
A complaint about the actions or inactions of the investigator to the prosecutor's office must contain the following information:
- The name of the structural unit of the prosecutor's office.
- Applicant's full name, contact details.
- Description of the actions/inactions of the investigator that you want to appeal.
- Request to recognize the actions of an authorized person as illegal.
- Date and signature.
Complaints against the investigator to the prosecutor's office can be found here.
The appeal must be sent to the prosecutor's office at the place where the preliminary investigation was conducted.
The application must be submitted in writing in one of the following ways:
- personally into the hands of the secretary.
- by mail.
Consideration of the application is carried out within up to 3 (in rare cases up to 10) days. The prosecutor's office does not accept repeated complaints, therefore, if the decision made does not suit you, you should contact higher departments.
Reasons for appeal and subjects of appeal
Legislative basis for the work of an investigator The appeal is drawn up in an official business style, without emotional statements, much less insults.
- During personal appearance at the selected government agency. In this case, the application itself is submitted to the office of the authority, where it is then registered and sent for consideration to its authorized employee;
- By post. Having chosen this method, you should send the application by registered mail with a list of attachments and notification of acceptance;
- Online. Today, you can file a complaint online when contacting almost any government agency. To do this, you need to go to the official website of the selected authority, and then leave your appeal using the Internet reception.
According to the rules of the Criminal Procedure Code
If an investigator’s decision taken during the pre-trial proceedings of a criminal case is appealed, then such an appeal is subject to consideration in accordance with Chapter 16 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
All participants in criminal proceedings have the right to file an application:
- victims, accused, suspects and their representatives;
- employees of the prosecutor's office, investigative committee, court;
- witnesses, experts, translators, witnesses.
In addition, this right is enjoyed by all those who, although not formally a participant, were infringed in their rights by a decision of an Investigative Committee employee. Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court No. 1 dated February 10, 2009 states that they can be a guarantor looking after a minor, a person who was refused to initiate a case, or someone whose property was damaged during investigative measures.
The application itself is subject to consideration within 3 days, but if there is a need to conduct additional investigation or request documents, the period may increase to 10 days. Based on the outcome of the inspection, a decision is made; it may fully satisfy the requirements, partially, or they may be refused.
For example, the statement describes disagreement with the actions of an employee of the Investigative Committee and a request to fire him. Based on the results of the audit, it was decided that the investigator had indeed exceeded his authority, but the size of the consequences of this offense did not lead to such liability as dismissal. Then the applicant will be given an answer that a violation was established based on the materials, the employee was brought to other responsibility, that is, the complaint was partially satisfied.
If there is a complaint about a violation of the deadlines for carrying out procedural actions, then the response indicates what exactly was done in order to speed up the receipt of a result in the case. The procedure for appealing the prosecutor's decision is also prescribed.
Methods of circulation
You can submit the document yourself by contacting an employee of the prosecutor's office, at a personal reception or through a representative. You need to understand that only legal representatives of those who are incapacitated or not fully capable have the right to apply without a power of attorney; for other representatives, there is an obligation to draw up a power of attorney from a notary.
You should prepare 2 copies of the document. One remains with the employees, the other is given back to you with a mark of acceptance. In addition to the signature, the prosecutor's office must put a date on the document. It is from this point that the deadline will be counted.
You can submit your application using the services of the Russian Post. It is important to do this via a notification letter. Thus, you will have in your hands a document confirming the fact of transfer of paper.
Everything is quite clear when the appeal comes from people who are at large. But if the application is submitted from a person in custody, then an additional link is provided - the administration of the place where he is located. Art. 126 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides for the obligation to immediately forward documents, including complaints to the prosecutor's office.
Federal Law No. 103 of July 15, 1995 in Art. 21 gives rules for the implementation of such a duty. So, if there is a complaint to the prosecutor's office, then the application must be submitted within 3 days after the date of its submission; it cannot be processed, read or rewritten.
The answers are read out to the detainees and added to the materials. If the suspect wishes to receive the paper in hand, a copy is made at his expense and issued.
It is strictly prohibited to persecute or use other means of influencing a person for appealing to the prosecutor's office. Those who commit this offense will be held accountable.
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Challenging decisions
If you are not satisfied with the decision of the prosecutor's office, you can appeal it. For example, contact a higher prosecutor's office with a request to conduct an investigation into the legality of the adopted verdict.
You can protect your rights in court. The rules for considering and filing a complaint will depend on the area where the inspection was carried out. If the supervision was in relation to a criminal case, then the document is submitted according to the rules established in Art. 125 Code of Criminal Procedure. This complaint is subject to consideration within 5 days with the participation of all interested parties.
If a dispute occurs in relation to complaints considered under the Instructions, then its processing will take place in accordance with Chapter 22 of the CAS. This document is subject to consideration within a month, and if the complaint is sent to the Supreme Court - within two.
Court
Where to complain about the actions of the investigator
During the judicial investigation, violations are often observed, expressed in deliberate non-compliance with the norms of professional regulations on the part of an employee of the Investigative Committee, the central figure of which is the investigator. Taking into account the role of this employee, as well as the consequences of the decisions he makes, if illegal elements are detected in his activities, this should be immediately reported by filing a complaint in the prescribed form.
Grounds for claims
The most common reasons for filing a complaint against an investigator include:
- Refusal to initiate a criminal case.
- Termination of criminal prosecution without valid reasons.
- Violation of the rules for conducting investigative actions.
- Insulting the honor and dignity of a citizen.
- Violations of the order of detention of citizens.
- Disclosure of investigation information.
- Refusal to consider the application.
- Distortion of facts or incorrect interpretation of events.
You can also complain about the investigator if he deliberately delays the investigation process.
Complaint to the prosecutor's office about unlawful actions of the investigator
When conducting a criminal case and investigating a crime, representatives of law enforcement agencies often violate the rights of citizens. This applies to both suspects and accused, as well as victims, witnesses, and other participants in the process.
You can submit a document at any time during the criminal case.
What could be the reason for applying?
A complaint to the prosecutor about the actions of the investigator is sent in case of behavior of a non-procedural nature. This includes rudeness, humiliation, insult, intimidation of participants in the process, as well as physical actions against them.
Violations of criminal procedure legislation are a direct reason to file a complaint. The most common case is when the investigator interrogates the accused without a lawyer. If a government representative refuses to hand over materials for review of the case, violates the rules for conducting investigative experiments, interrogations, confrontations, or does not explain rights - all these are violations.
The most common reasons for appeal are decisions to initiate or refuse to initiate criminal proceedings. Unlawful detention, selection of a preventive measure in the form of detention, seizure of property - all these measures can be appealed.
